Photo: Sophia Jones-Mwangi/IRC
NAIROBI, Kenya
Salon owner Susan Kayongo is one of more than 2,000 young women who are benefiting from an IRC program that helps teenagers escape the cycle of poverty by learning to operate their own businesses.
I have just returned from visiting Susan Kayongo at her salon. Since we last met in the summer, a lot has happened. She and her business partners, Diana and Mariam, have moved their shop, called Destiny, to Kiambiu, a busy neighborhood of Nairobi where the streets are lined with kiosks selling fruit and vegetables, clothes, pots and pans, charcoal, meat, and all kinds of fast food.