Today I want us to talk about what to do with that money you pay yourself.
First, build a three to six months emergency fund.
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What is an Emergency Fund?
Have you heard of these phrases before?
The middle class is one crisis away from poverty…
Or…
I’m one paycheck away from being broke…
The sad truth is these are not just hypothetical statements. They’re true.
Many people are heavy on overspending, and less on saving for a rainy day. They spend everything they earn to maintain their inflated lifestyles, and then they spend some more by borrowing loans from mobile apps, banks, friends, and relatives. They believe in YOLO, living today and letting tomorrow take care of itself.
While I’m not against one’s choice to live in the moment, the thing is, it only takes one crisis for the House of Cards to come crashing down.
You cannot predict an emergency, but it remains an inevitable part of life.
At one point or another in your life, whether you’re ready or not, an emergency knocks on your door.
It could be an illness.
It could be the loss of your job.
It could be the death of the primary income earner of your household.
It could be your car broke down.
An emergency could be anything like getting a job that requires you to move to another city but you don’t have the means to facilitate the move.
Life happens.
However, wouldn’t it be nice when an emergency happens, to not have to worry about the financial turmoil it has brought with it?
An emergency fund is a financial cushion that allows you to pay off an emergency without affecting your lifestyle or forcing you into debt.
It’s a shock absorber of a crisis.
Got laid off suddenly?
No worries.
Your six-month emergency fund will allow you to continue supporting yourself while you figure out your next steps. And the best part is, you won’t be desperate to take any job you can find because your emergency fund gives you both time and flexibility.
Where Should You Put Your Emergency Fund?
Should you invest the money in your emergency fund?
I know this temptation.
There’s a small voice that tells you it’s better to invest that money to generate more income than to have it just lying around somewhere.
But I’ll tell you what, resist!
Resist the urge to invest the money meant for your emergency fund.
No, don’t buy land with your emergency fund.
No, don’t buy stocks with your emergency fund.
No, don’t lend out your emergency fund.
When you invest away your emergency fund, you lose liquidity.
Liquidity is how easy and fast you can convert an asset into cash, and if there’s one thing land, cash, and loans have in common it's they don’t have a fast turnaround. If anything, in case of an emergency, having to liquidate these assets causes you to lose money instead of a profit which only causes them to lose their purpose. How fast can you sell land to raise two million Kenyan shillings to pay for an urgent surgery?
The wealthy and the mafia are right.
Cash is king.
And in an emergency, cash is everything.
So, What Should You Do?
Open a bank or a mutual fund savings account and put your emergency money there.
Yes, there’s little to no return on having a bunch of money lying around in a bank account, but what you gain is worth more in case of an emergency.
You’ve peace of mind.
You’ve liquidity and fast access to your money within twenty-four to 48 hours.
How much should you put in your emergency fund?
There’s no one-fits-all number for everyone.
This is because we all have different bills to pay to facilitate our varying lifestyles.
What you should do is, sit down with your pen, paper, and calculator (I’m traditional like that, lol), and calculate how much you spend in a month. Calculate how much you pay for rent, water, electricity, food shopping, subscriptions, and whatever else you need to survive every month.
Then, whatever your total is multiply it by three months or six months, and if you’re anxious like me, multiply it by twelve months.
Once you have your number, figure out how much you can comfortably save towards your emergency fund every month. Don’t strain yourself to save everything at once. If you can, well and good. But if you can’t, give yourself grace and patience to save consistently month after month until you reach your goal.
And that’s it.
Until next time, bye!
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In the last newsletter on personal finance, I shared three YouTube channels you should watch to educate yourself on personal money matters, getting and staying out of debt, and saving for your future self. If you haven’t read it or this is your first time reading the TLLF newsletter, you can read it here.
Personal finance is tricky and looks different for everyone, but it definitely follows similar principles despite your background or earning level.
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And it always starts at the same place – personal finance awareness.
You can’t solve that which you don’t know.
Same way, you cannot be not broke or build wealth if you’re not aware of the money behavior and habits that are stopping you in the first place. Are you afraid of money? Do you operate from a scarcity mindset? Do you spend recklessly? When was the last time you had a money talk with your friends? Are you living beyond your means? These are just but some of the questions you need to answer yourself before you can embark on your financial freedom journey.
To Get the Money You Want, You Need to Read a Book First!
To help you out, I want to recommend you three beginner books on personal finance. I’ve read tens of books on money and personal finance but these three stand out for me because they’re simple, practical, and easy to relate to whether your money is in dollars or Kenyan shillings. And the best part which you’ll appreciate is that they’re all about two hundred pages or less. Even for chronic non-readers, with some discipline, you should complete one book in one week. Two weeks if you’re that lazy or maybe going through a hectic phase.
But listen here, understanding personal finance requires a level of commitment and discipline. Being broke isn’t a good feeling. Being unable to offset an emergency is depressing. Earning a high income and never having anything to show for it is flat-out heartbreaking. The worst part is, no one is coming to save you.
As an adult now, it’s your responsibility to teach yourself about personal finance – telling your money where to go and not wondering where it went.
Wouldn’t be nice to not have to look at price tags all the time when you buy something?
Well, you and I aren’t there yet, so until then, we have to have the discipline to do boring things like reading books on personal finance.
But these books are far from boring, I guarantee you that. Once you get started, you’ll see what I mean. Besides, I cannot recommend boring money books. I’m on a mission to encourage you to cultivate a steady reading culture and get you to read more books on personal finance and other essential matters.
Anyways, are you ready?
The three beginner books on Personal Finance are….drumroll!!!
1. The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
2. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
3. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
The Richest Man in Babylon:
I talked about the Richest Man in Babylon when I covered the money habit of paying yourself first, but I’ll go through it again. This book covers three aspects of money; how to make money, how to keep money, and how to grow money. It tells the story of Arkad who became the Richest Man in Babylon from a lowly scribe by following certain principles told to him by a wealthy money lender. The book shares seven ways to cure a lean purse (read broke wallet) and explores the Five Laws of Gold and also how luck plays into one becoming rich. The book is written in a novel fashion. It’s like a storybook and it’s only 191 pages. I wish I had read this book in high school or in the first year I joined the university.
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason is the simplest and most practical book ever written on personal finance, and it’s so interesting the same money laws followed in Babylon eras still apply today.
The Psychology of Money:
Of all the personal finance books I’ve ever read, this is the most famous one. It has trended over the internet since when it was published in 2020. I hate to disappoint you because I read it, and yes, it deserves every inch of fame it received and continues to receive today.
In the Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel talks of the laws money follows to be what it is. Did you know money obeys only specific rules?
Some of them include:
1. The Compounding Rule – Money obeys time. When you start saving and investing early, time becomes your ally. Money left undisturbed compounds over time and at some point, exponentially explodes which explains why many people become millionaires and billionaires in their fifties, sixties, and seventies.
2. Wealth is what you don’t see – Wealth is built by money not spent. If you spend every cent you earn, you’ll never have anything to save and invest. So while you’ll look rich, you’re one crisis away from being broke.
3. Everything has a price (but not all prices appear on labels) – When you buy new clothes you don’t need, do you calculate how much you’re costing your future self? Are you willing to be uncomfortable short-term to be comfortable long-term? Nothing is free or easy. Nothing is risk-free. There’s no free lunch.
In nineteen strategies, Morgan drives the point that being wealthy isn’t about how smart you are or how much money you earn, but about how you behave. He also emphasizes how many money decisions aren’t made on logic but on an emotional level. Your ability or inability to make healthy money decisions is influenced heavily by your growing-up experiences, your beliefs, your story, your environment, and other factors that are specific to you. It is until you understand where your money behavior comes from will you be able to make progress and make better financial actions.
The book is only 256 pages and I dare you to give it a try!
The Total Money Makeover:
This book is an absolute gem. It’s a practical guide to building wealth by Dave Ramsey. It simply explains in depth the seven baby steps Dave talks about in all his talks and the Ramsey Show. No, it’s not a quick get-rich scheme. Not in a thousand years. Depending on your income, amount of debt, expenses, and financial goals, it could take you as few as eight months or seven long years to have a total money makeover. But the end result is the same. By the end of the seventh baby step to wealth creation, your life looks more or less like this:
1. Peace of mind and control of your money
2. A super-emergency $1000 saved
3. Out of all debt, including the home mortgage
4. A fully-funded 6-12 months Emergency Fund in place
5. Maxed out retirement investing
6. College funding for your children set up
7. Building wealth like crazy
8. Giving and donating to charity comfortably
9. Living like no one else
Reading this now may sound like a fairytale and impossible, but I ask you to withhold any criticism until after you read the book. Just read it. It’s only 229 pages!
That’s it!
There are hundreds of other books I can recommend but since it’s only the beginning, I will not overwhelm you.
Until next time, bye!
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The best book I read last year was “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason.
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Why?
Because of this line:
“I found the road to wealth when I decided a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you.”
This one statement completely blew my mind on how I view income, spending, and savings. I promise you when I become wealthy in some years, I’ll always quote this in all my TED talks. Lol!
But let’s focus on the second part, how to keep the money.
The Story of Arkard, the Richest Man in Babylon
Arkad, who later became the richest man in Babylon, was nothing but a scribe who wrote on clay tablets for money. He worked hard but at the end of the day, he didn’t have anything to show for his labor. All his earnings went to food, clothing, and the usual things human beings spend on to make their lives comfortable and merry. And if he was being honest, he couldn’t even account for where some of his money went to. One day he has money, the next he doesn’t. Rinse and repeat.
One day, Arkad decided he was tired. He was done working hard while never having enough money for anything he wanted. He decided he also wanted to be like the wealthy men he would see on the streets with expensive garments and gold jewelry, riding on beautiful chariots and having men waiting on them in all corners. The problem, he didn’t know how.
Have you heard of the saying that when you decide you want something, the universe conspires to give it to you?
That’s what happened.
While going on with his usual work day, Algamish the money lender walked in and ordered a copy of the Ninth Law. Usually, carving such an order on clay tablets would take a week. But Algamish insisted the work must be finished in two days. Arkad labored hard on it but still, when Algamish came to pick it up two days later, it was incomplete. The money lender was angry and Arkad was terrified. But at that moment, Arkad did something he had never done before. He struck a bargain with Algamish. He said, “Algamish, you’re a very rich man. Tell me how I may also become rich, and all night I will carve upon the clay, and when the sun rises it shall be completed.”
True to his word, Arkad had the Ninth Law ready the following day. Impressed, the money lender also kept his word and said to Arkad, “I found the road to wealth when I decided a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you.”
Simply, pay yourself, preferably first.
A Part of All You Earn Is Yours to Keep
Let me elaborate.
When you receive your wages or salary, you have needs and wants, expenses to cater for with that money. There’s rent so you pay the landlord. There’s food so you pay the supermarkets and food vendors. There’s clothing, so you the boutique owners. There’s also helping your family at home, so you send your mother her urgent 2k. Not to forget the small purchases you make here and there just because. Your income, which you receive once a month, is split in a thousand different ways and if you’re not careful, the 5k you were to save disappears also.
In this case, you have paid everyone else except for yourself. For a whole month, you’ve been working for others but yourself. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at who ends up with your hard-earned cash. If you do this enough times, month in and month out, a year ends and you’ve nothing to show for all your hard work, yet you’ve got a steady income. Worst case scenario, you end up with nothing to show and a huge debt on top of it. God forbid you to lose your job today or have an emergency requiring a lump sum of money…
A part of all the money you earn is yours to keep.
How?
Traditionally, any amount of money we put aside not to use, we call it savings. But do we really ‘put aside’ or do we put what is ‘left over’ after use? Food for thought.
To pay yourself first means intentionally taking out a specific portion of your income and putting it aside as your savings before you can start spending the rest of the money on your needs and wants. Algamish put it so clearly, “For every ten gold coins I earn, one is but mine to keep”. This money you put aside when you truly think about it, it’s your actual payment for the work you do. That money belongs only to you, not to the landlord or the shopkeeper, you!
But if you’re not allowed to spend the money you pay yourself, what’s the point?
The money you set aside acts as your savings for you and your future self. Savings serve two purposes:
1. Readily available cash for emergencies
2. Seed capital for potential investments
When you’re tired of living paycheck to paycheck, want to start a business, or simply want more and better from life as Arkad did, it always comes down to if you’ve some money to change the course of your life. If you’ve some money saved up, it’s easier to take the risk of making a change. If not, you’re stuck or risk going into bad debt to finance your dreams.
How much should you pay yourself?
Algamish advised Arkad to ensure he doesn’t pay himself less than ten percent of his wages.
On the other hand, many financial advisers, blogs, and videos, encourage paying yourself at least twenty percent of your income. These are the percentages they feel would be comfortable putting away without altering their lifestyle drastically or straining too much. Well, as for me, I’d say save as much as you possibly could without killing yourself. If at the moment you’ve many financial responsibilities and can only spare ten percent, save the ten percent without guilt or wishing you could save more. If you don’t have many expenses and can afford to save forty to sixty percent of your income, save it. Another awesome book I read, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, said, in high season save more and in low season, save less. But that’s a story for another day.
That’s it for today.
Until next time, bye!
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After I completed my undergraduate studies a year ago, I found myself with perpetual sickness. I was always broke or nearly broke every month yet I was earning. Some months I would end up borrowing because I didn’t know where my money went. By the time we get to mid-month, payday feels like a lifetime away.
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It felt like I was in a hole I couldn’t get out of.
Was this adulthood? Was all my adult life going to look like this – being constantly broke, borrowing, and never having anything left to save?
No.
One of my superpowers is recognizing when I’m in a rut, then working a way out.
Personal finance is one of the most crucial subjects we were never taught in school. They taught us X and Y, and the advantages of colonialism (shame on them), but nobody told or showed us how money works. No one told us what debt is and how it may wreck our financial lives or how saving and investing could buy us financial freedom and peace of mind. No one!
And if you’re like me, a young Kenyan woman brought up in poverty, you definitely do not have the best role models in terms of money. You grew up lacking in almost every area of your life, running on scarcity and a survival mindset, racking years of poor spending habits, and afraid of the next money crisis which left you more impoverished than you already were.
Personal finance, chei!
Unfortunately, you can only blame your circumstances for so long.
It reaches a point when it is now your personal responsibility to see you get from where you are to where you want to be.
Regarding personal finance, that may look like not being broke seven days a week, thirty days a month.
It may also look like this:
1. Getting out of debt
2. Saving consistently
3. Sticking to a budget
4. Living below your means
5. Choosing wise investments
6. Setting up an emergency fund
7. Sleeping better at night because you’ve fewer money worries
Whatever your money goals are, the journey will always begin at the same place.
Personal finance awareness.
Some say what you don’t know won’t kill you.
It’s a lie!
What you don’t know is killing you.
It’s killing you with brokenness, stress, debt, out-of-control spending, gambling, and many more unhealthy money habits.
Personal finance awareness.
Personal finance awareness is self-educating yourself on what money is and how it works, taking a real close look at your money behavior, and re-evaluating your spending habits, income-earning abilities, debt-trigger situations, and any loopholes keeping you broke.
There are many different ways to learn about personal finance, but today I want to recommend only one method that’s simple and requires you only to buy data bundles and dedicate some time – listening to personal finance videos on YouTube. Yes, there are hundreds if not thousands of YouTube channels talking about money, personal finance, and wealth creation, and for starters, I don’t want you to listen to every one of them.
That’s why I’m going to recommend three of my favorite personal finance channels on YouTube. I literally binge-watch these personalities and shows like crazy.
Dave is an American Radio Show Host who’s been a multi-millionaire twice. The first time he became a millionaire, he went flat broke, lost everything, and filed for bankruptcy. After years of starting from scratch again, he became a millionaire again but this time, he learned how to stay a millionaire. As of now, he has a net worth of over 200 million US dollars. For thirty-plus years now, he’s been teaching Americans and people around the world how to get out of debt and start building wealth to pass on to their generations. He is famous for his most simple, practical, yet long-term strategy known as Total Money Makeover in Seven Baby Steps. If you watch nothing else on YouTube or personal finance, watch the 7 baby steps to building wealth by this guy.
Now Dave Ramsey as a person doesn’t have a channel in his name. Instead, he has the Ramsey Show, but I will get to that in a second.
The reason why I wrote Dave Ramsey is that this guy has been hosted in numerous videos on YouTube and I want you to watch everything that has Dave Ramsey in it. He is a total game-changer.
The Ramsey Show:
The Ramsey Show is a national personal finance TV and radio show hosted by Dave Ramsey and other personal finance personalities. It has been in existence for over three decades and generally, Americans call from all over the United States with a staggering range of money problems. You may be tempted to be skeptical at this point and ask how Americans’ money struggles relate to ours, but I promise after you listen to anything Dave Ramsey, you’ll realize the only difference to Ramsey Show talks is the currency. They’re dealing in US dollars while your money problems are in Kenyan shillings. Everything else is less or more of the same.
Susan Wanjiku, the Financial Coach:
Okay, I like balance. While Dave Ramsey is great, some of the advice he gives I cannot relate because I do not have access to such wealth creation vehicles. Kenya doesn’t have S&P funds, Roth IRAs, and 401Ks. So while I follow his advice, I do need to know what the Kenya equivalents of such wealth vehicles are.
She is a financial coach whom I discovered roughly four months ago but only began binge-watching her content at the beginning of this year. She talks of everything personal finance. From black tax, saving and investing, getting started with chamas and money market funds, how to budget, and much more. I like her because when she talks of five thousand shillings, I can see the money in my mind, and see what she is doing with it. Also, she came from poverty but right now she is coaching lots of people in different earning brackets. I relate to her story and in many ways, want to emulate her.
There are other Kenyan YouTubers in personal finance I love, but for the sake of keeping it simple, I will only recommend her.
I hope these two personalities get you started on your personal finance journey, and soon you break out of the constant broke or nearly broke cycle.
If you’ve already begun your personal finance education and knowledge of other YouTube channels we should watch, please recommend them in the comments.
Until next time, that’s it for today!
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Hudson is deaf and a software developer. In this interview, he talks about his life living as a deaf person, challenges, and his startup, Deaf Elimu Plus.
2022 is officially halfway, how does that make you feel?
On my end, I feel things could’ve been better but it’s what it is.
Anyways, today isn’t about me. Or about what ifs. Or about what’s not working. Instead, it’s a beautiful day to speak about what’s working. And what’s there.
Today, I want to introduce you to an incredible guy. He’s a Software Developer and a Startup Founder of Deaf Elimu Plus. Yes, he’s deaf. His name is Hudson Asiema. Since this interview is already five months late, I’ll jump right into it.
In November 2019, I visited Uganda to attend DevFest Kampala. During the conference, I noticed there was something different happening on stage. In one corner, there was an interpreter signing what the speakers were saying. As a community organizer, I’ve organized and attended my fair share of tech events, but I had never witnessed something like this. An interpreter meant there was a deaf attendee (or attendees) amidst the crowd. To be honest, in tech we talk a lot about accessibility, diversity and inclusion, but this was the first time I saw inclusion of a tech minority group beyond women, who we mostly focus on.
After the event, I went to seek out the interpreter and found him with a group of guess what…10 or so developers who are deaf or hard of hearing! I was shocked. I thought he was only interpreting for one or two people. I introduced myself with the little sign language I knew (hang on, I’ll tell you in the end how I learned sign language), and the interpreter helped out where my signing ran out. When I mentioned I was organizing DevFest Nyeri, they suggested I invite their Kenyan friends who are deaf. Among them, Hudson Asiema.
For non-techies, DevFest is a large tech conference of mainly software developers and other professionals involved in the development of software products such as UI/UX designers and project managers.
When I came back to Kenya, I reached out to Hudson and invited him to our DevFest. I was excited but was soon crushed when I realized we couldn’t find an interpreter for him and his friends in good time. Also, we hadn’t anticipated the costs of hiring an interpreter. At the end, he couldn’t come but we kept touch and became friends.
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Now, enter Hudson Asiema.
From here, I’ll let Hudson tell you more about himself. I’ll fill in the gaps where necessary. Also, note this was a written interview for obvious reasons.
1. Who is Hudson Asiema? Tell us a little about yourself.
Hudson Asiema is the Deaf Founder of Deaf eLimu Plus (DEP), a Deaf-owned company that provides innovative educational products and tutorial services in sign language. He is also a software engineer.
2. How do you identify yourself; deaf, hard-of-hearing, late-deafened, or deafblind? What does that mean?
I am Deaf. It means I can’t hear but am able to communicate in sign language only.
Deaf: Complete loss of hearing. This total hearing loss cannot be cured or be aided by hearing and other assistive devices.
Hard-of-hearing: There’s a small level of hearing which can, sometimes but not always, be improved by use of hearing aids, cochlear implants, or other assistive devices.
Late-deafened: This is loss of hearing that happens in adulthood. A person grows up hearing, but then lose their ability to hear due to a disease, an injury, or other causes.
Deafblind: This is total loss of both hearing and vision. A person cannot hear nor see.
Note: When you look up different types of deafness, you’ll note there are those who identify as Deaf D/ and those who identify as deaf d/.
D/: Means total loss of hearing. Also, a person who identifies as D/ uses sign language as the primary way of communication and is quite involved in the deaf culture. Hudson identifies as D/.
d/: Means hard of hearing. Sign language isn't the primary way of communication, and a person who identifies as d/ is more involved with the hearing community than the deaf culture.
3. When did you realize or become aware you were different from the majority of the people around you? How did knowing you were different impact you?
I became Deaf when I was four years old. Since I was young, I didn’t realize I was different from the majority of the people around me. However, I knew the Deaf education system in Kenya was very behind because Deaf students like me joined primary little late because of the lack of Deaf schools in Kenya.
When Hudson was four years old, he suffered from Meningitis, a condition where the membranes protecting the brain and the spinal cord are swollen due to a bacterial infection. This causes the inner ear to be damaged, and sound can no longer be passed from the outer ear to the brain. This type of hearing loss is called sensorineural deafness, and is permanent.
4. What is your preferred form of communication?
Sign language
5. How do you interact with hearing persons on physical and video calling platforms? Do you use an interpreter?
We just use texting e.g. SMS and WhatsApp only if they don’t know sign language. If they know sign language, we can use video calling to communicate in sign language. We can do a written communication if we are just two or three people.
I only use an interpreter when I am called for a business meeting or an interview.
6. What has your education journey been like? What schools did you go to? What did you study? Any favorite subjects?
I went to a Deaf Unit at Aga Khan Primary School until class 6. I continued to study at Machakos School Primary for the Deaf. After I sat KCPE, I went Rev. Muhoro Secondary School for the Deaf until form three then went to a College in the USA to study computer science. In USA, I was the only Deaf student in hearing classes but I was provided with one or two interpreters.
Hudson moved to the United States of America where he attended Ohlone College to finish off his high school studies and start junior college. His first programming language was C++ and later on used Java when he moved to California State University, Northridge. While studying there, he worked on a school group project that required him to build a mobile app for American Sign Language (ASL). When he moved back to Kenya, he pursued developing the app more as a side hustle, and now, it has become one of the popular Kenyan Sign Language educational apps.
7. What is your career profession and what are some achievements you’ve made?
● To develop and launch the Deaf eLimu Banking app, the first self-training app in Africa that teaches users common banking phrases in sign language.
When Hudson completed his studies in the USA, he couldn’t find any internships there as he wasn’t a citizen. He moved back to Kenya only to be faced with more challenges. At the time, there were less opportunities for software developers, and the few that were available couldn’t take him due to his deafness and the resulting communication barrier. Eventually, he managed to find an ICT job with a small water consulting company. Around the same time, he learned about the Tandaa grant, a program needing developers and aspiring entrepreneurs to create digital educational content apps.
The first time he participated in the Tandaa competition in 2011, he didn’t win. The following year, 2012, he applied once again and won the grant. This time he had switched from building a dictionary app for American Sign Language to Kenyan Sign Language.
In May 2016, he founded Deaf Elimu Plus, a startup that’s focused on building educational products for the Kenyan and global deaf community in sign language. In 2017, he participated the Facebook’s (Meta) Bots for Messenger Challenge where he built the first-ever Sign Language Bot for Messenger. The Messenger bot allows you to search for any word you want to sign but don’t know how. It also lets you know the meaning of the word. Within a year of developing the bot, it had over 3,000 active users.
In December 2021, Hudson and Deaf Elimu Plus launched the Deaf Elimu Banking App in a virtual launch that was attended by Central Bank’s Governor, Dr. Patrick Njoroge, and other big personalities in the Kenyan banking sector. The Deaf Elimu Banking app is a platform where both the deaf community and those working in the banking industry can learn over 100+ common banking words and phrases in sign language. The goal is to promote financial inclusivity and improve the banking services deaf persons receive.
8. You’re the co-founder and CEO of Deaf Elimu Plus which has created the KSL and Deaf Elimu Banking apps. Can you share what was the inspiration behind each mobile application?
Bridging the communication gap between non-hearing and hearing persons, as well as give people living with deafness more access to opportunities and the freedom to navigate the world more independently.
When Hudson became deaf at the age of four, there were practically no resources to help him and his family to communicate. His parents couldn’t sign. Neither could his sisters and brothers. There were no books or videos to teach him Kenyan Sign Language. Fortunately, his parents got him books on American Sign Language when they travelled abroad for business, and he and his siblings, learned how to communicate with each other.
Also, when he started school, some of his teachers couldn’t sign well. He took it upon himself to teach them how to sign better. The teachers would write the words they had trouble with, and together with the other students, he would help them sign the words.
By building KSL and Deaf Elimu Banking apps, among other educational products using sign language, Hudson’s provides learning resources to non-hearing persons, their families, and everyone involved in the community. For instance, the Fingerspelling Pro app supports over 4,000 children who are deaf in Kenya.
9. What unique challenges have you faced in your career as a non-hearing person?
The main challenge is the communication barrier. Also, it’s not easy to find a good job if they know I am Deaf for some reasons.
10. What other obstacles have you had to navigate in your life?
What other people think of me as Deaf person.
Other unique challenges a non-hearing person faces include:
Cannot take advantage of talk time offers such as Safaricom’s Tunukiwa and Airtel’s Tubonge.
Cannot use smart devices such as Google Home, Alexa, or Siri, whose main communication mode is talking.
Cannot understand videos, movies, songs, or tutorials without caption or subtitles.
Unintentional discrimination that happens more often than not. What was the last event, workshop, or opportunity you attended that provided an interpreter?
11. Are there opportunities or activities you were denied (or couldn’t pursue) because of discrimination or they weren’t accommodating to you as a non-hearing person?
Yes. There was a conference I wanted to attend but there was no interpreter. Professionally, I rather socialize or network with people to know each other better when an interpreter is with me as personal.
12. What can hearing persons do to accommodate you in social, professional, and personal spaces?
For this question, Hudson preferred not to answer.
But I’ve looked for a few ways in which you and I can be more accommodating and supportive to non-hearing persons:
Include captions and subtitles in your videos, live streams, and meetings.
Transcribe recorded meetings and tutorials. Just transcribe.
When holding events and meetups, find/hire an interpreter. And when marketing the event, make sure your posts include an interpreter will be provided to encourage deaf persons to attend your meetup. Another alternative is to have an interpreter on speed dial for any situation like interviews.
Learn sign language. You don’t have to be a pro (but if you can be, the better), but at least know how to sign common words and phrases. If a deaf person came to you to ask for help, can you interpret they need help? Can you sign your name?
Where do you start? Download the ABC Finger Spelling app to start learning sign language basics.
Face the deaf person when communicating via an interpreter. When you’re using an interpreter to communicate with a deaf person, there’s the natural inclination to look at the interpreter because we’re taught to face the person speaking. But in this case, try as much not to look at the interpreter. Face the deaf person in front of you, and remember they’re the ones you’re speaking to. The interpreter is just interpreting.
13. If someone wanted to learn Kenyan Sign Language, where should they start? Are there apps, books, groups, organizations, and other resources they use or join?
Yes, they can find Kenyan Sign language apps on Google Playstore and Apple appstore. Also, they can learn some sign language from Deaf churches. There are some Deaf organizations e.g. Horizon Sign Language Training Centre where Deaf trainers can teach hearing people Kenyan Sign Language. For other resources, they can find more information from Kenya National Association of the Deaf.
14. What are your hobbies?
Traveling, hiking, biking
15. Do you have a parting shot?
No matter who you are or where you are from, if you do something good, you can show the people you can do it as long as they like your products/services.
16. How can someone reach out to you if they’ve any questions, comments, or wants to invite you to speak at their event?
How I learned basic sign language and how you can too
I learned how to sign my name and the entire alphabet in high school.
I was lucky to attend a school where some of my classmates had the privilege to learn sign language and foreign languages while in primary school. So, when they joined high school, they sort of had their own secret language. In class they’d talk to each other in sign language and you’d not understand a thing. Nothing! Nada! It was nothing like watching the French or Chinese students practice words you can’t pronounce. Or listening to two people talk in their mother tongue which you don’t speak.
The good thing is, they were always willing to teach you the basic finger spelling if you were ready to learn. It didn’t take a week to learn how to sign the alphabet. But it was sometime before I could sign all my three names without forgetting or mixing up a letter. Soon I taught myself how to sign common phrases like good morning, thank you, I’m sorry, and may I have a glass of water? Lol!
I’m not yet fluent in sign language, but I’ll get there someday.
Meanwhile, I want to give you a small challenge:
How fast can you master the alphabet in sign language? Even better, can you sign your full name in less than 30 seconds?
If you can, make a small video and come rub it off in my face. I’m waiting.
But first things first, let me show you how you can learn Sign Language too:
Download the ABC Finger Spelling app. There’s a small one-time fee of 200 shillings (This is a tiny sum for lifetime access, and you’ll be supporting Hudson build more products to bridge the communication barrier between non-hearing and hearing persons).
Set five to fifteen minutes every day and go through the 26 alphabet letters.
Practice signing the alphabet without the help of the finger spelling app.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you. I hope, if anything, you’ve learned something new. Also, please support me by subscribing to this newsletter and sharing this article with your friends and communities.