It is always interesting to read how companies get started. Here is our story:

After graduating from Bowdoin College in May 2008, Sara Holby headed to Kisii, in western Kenya, to volunteer for a health-related non-governmental organization (NGO).  Sara previously studied in Kenya for a semester through St. Lawrence University. Sara worked closely with Nick Miyogo, a Kenyan co-worker who spent hours patiently teaching her the local language, introducing her to friends and family, and answering her endless questions.  Sara came to love the community--the incredibly welcoming people, its bustling streets and markets, and the beautiful rural areas outside of town where many of the HIV/AIDS patients live.  The NGO provided free medication and food to the patients, but in January 2009 the organization lost its funding and this support abruptly stopped.  There was no longer money to pay the local workers nor funding for the drugs that the organization had been dispensing. Sara began to question the role of "aid" in helping Kenyan communities. It became obvious that the aid had fostered dependency and that the people needed sustainable economic opportunities to empower themselves.

After being laid off in March 2009 after 30 years as a financial editor, Ann, Sara's mom, decided to return to Kenya, where she had studied in 1978, to visit her daughter.  Following lots of discussion, Sara, Nick, and Ann decided to launch Ajiri Tea. The company's vision and mission is rooted in the opinions, passions, and skills of people living in the Kisii community.  In addition to the hopes of employing local women, a recurring theme voiced by many in the community was the serious need to pay school fees for the growing number of orphans.

In May, Sara's sister Kate Holby traveled to Kenya to visit her sister and to scout out the feasibility of a tea company that would directly benefit the local women, farmers, and orphans.  After visiting numerous tea factories, Sara, Nick, and Kate chose the Nyansiongo Tea Factory to supply our tea.  Pauline, one of the managers, was especially helpful in educating us about Kenyan tea.  Florence, in Kisumu, helped us with the initial banana leaf label designs and continues to help us.  Today, our women's groups have over 40 members making our labels, beads, and twine.

Amidst these travels, we ate a lot of goat meat and kale, spent an afternoon with Mamma Sarah Obama--President Obama's grandmother--and hurtled around the country in matatus (terrifying public transportation) all the while struggling to communicate in a mixture of English, Swahili, and Ekegusii (the mother tongue of the Kisii people). Thanks to Nick, it all pulled together. He is at home in Kisii, working with the Ajiri Tea Company and coordinating the Kenyan activities.  

Ajiri Tea embodies the richness of the land and the people. We are excited about our idea and about the product. Thanks for your interest and support. 

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