Every week, GainesvilleScene praises a hero who is doing something pretty great in the world. What we don’t often do is highlight those that are doing great things closer to home.
A few weeks ago, I spoke with Jenn Jeudy, an intern with Rural Empowerment and Development Innovations, or REDI, a local organization focused on ending poverty in Africa through aiding local small businesses.
REDI began with founder Doctor Levy Odera, a former University of Florida Masters and Doctoral student.
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“I believe he was studying rural, small business and kind of realized there is a huge problem here,” Jeudy said. “He started to ask himself, ‘why?’”
Out came REDI, now an organization led by a UF team. The team itself consists of a seven-member board, including Odera and a group of officials who work with the team of volunteer students and experts they have in Kenya. The organization also has a local team of volunteers and interns, like Jeudy, who are all UF students.
“The interns are the knowledgeable non-experts,” Jeudy said. “We don’t have freshman. These are kids in the middle of their studies that already know some things.”
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For example Jenn, a 3rd year International Studies major mostly does background research so the team can create project solutions.
REDI gains funding for their products through a loan with Valdosta State University, where Odera earned Bachelor’s degree.
“We do projects to help support the business, sometimes financially,” Jenn said. “We don’t just give them everything. We give them enough so they pursue their own path.”
REDI, however, does not focus on “throwing money” at countries that are impoverished. The organization instead believes in using donations strategically to fund programs to aid the countries. Lack of “human capital,” they believe, is what causes poverty to be so high in these areas.
According to Jeudy, supporting small businesses and giving them a change to be successful. It means their children can have a better lifestyle, creating more opportunities like jobs for future generations, or , in other words, human capital.
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“Starting with those people, if you actually do the job the right way…we can reduce poverty in say 15 years, 20 years,” Jeudy said. “It’s a long time, but it’s worth a shot.”
It is Jenn’s belief that people don’t know about the issues of poverty and suffering because no one really told them about the very real issues out there.
Jeudy, 20, was born and raised on the island nation of Haiti, moving to Miami as a child. She references her experience as one of affluence, ignorant of the problems that many of us associate with the country: poverty, crime, lack of healthcare or infrastructure. Jenn grew up in Haiti, in a relatively prosperous neighborhood. She didn’t really know about the poverty that was facing her country until her dad told her more about it.
It is the hope of REDI and Jeudy that this program can both educate University of Florida students and help people in the countries that need their help.
Feature photo courtesy of: IFAS
