Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) – United States International University chapter is headed to Washington, USA for the global finals after emerging the national champion in a fiercely contested battle against other 15 Varsity chapters.
As national champions, the USIU club will participate in the 2012 SIFE world cup alongside 39 other University chapters across the world from 30th September to 2nd October.
SIFE-USIU rise to the top of the national ranking has been phenomenal considering the chequered performance of the club. At its inception in 2003, the club won the inaugural national championship and went on to defend the title in 2004. But the chapter dipped after that due to what the current club President Fortune Granville attributes to lack of leadership.
“When we took over the leadership in November last year, the club had only five members and only imaginary projects. No one could imagine that we would be crowned national champions in a matter of months,” said Fortune.
Together with Maria Nzomo and other team members, the chapter President drew a strategic plan and employed different strategies to recruit new members. The methods used included various social media platforms but the most effective, according to Fortune, was by word of mouth.
The concerted efforts of the club officials saw an exponential growth of members within a short period. It helped that the new members were absorbed and engaged in active sports.
SIFE USIU has initiated several projects including the Mama Shujaa cafe in Kasarani where the club has helped single mothers in the area earn a sustainable income through Micro Finance and business training, the Litre of Light project in Mathare where residents were trained on how to use eco-friendly solar bottle bulbs and the Green Army project which is perhaps the cherry on the cake.
The Green Army project transformed Kagumo High school in Nyeri into a ‘green’ school by introducing them to the idea of biogas as a source of energy.
SIFE USIU has demonstrated that sound leadership and vision can direct any organization to great heights.
“We now have mechanisms to ensure a seamless transition to secure future success of the club,” explains Fortune.
SIFE is an international not-for-profit organization that gives students the opportunity to make a difference in their communities and to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through business ideas using their local chapters.
