Cathy Jackie of Baltimore, MD during the DUT opportunities meeting asked those already inside DUT to seize the opportunities as well as market the project so more Diaspora can be involved. Cathy who was introduced to the project when he read a story in DUT at Jamhuri Magazine said she was pulled by the vision first by the jobs creation and development in Kenya. The second thing was the opportunity the project presented for her becoming an entrepreneur and investor.
Cathy had marketed the project for barely one month and registered 10 persons to be townhouse developers when the late professor Raphael Njoroge passed on. She narrated to those attending the DUT opportunities meeting held in Saturday meeting that when she was talking to Dan Kamau in Worcester, MA she sensed that the vision could end. She made a decision to attend Prof. Njoroge memorial.
Cathy would rent a car and drive from Baltimore, MD to Worcester, MA a distance of 370 miles (600 km) to honor Prof. Raphael Njoroge and team up with those in Worcester, MA to progress his legacy. From that day onward Cathy never looked back. She was not just a marketer; she turned herself to a founder after hearing the stories of how the project had progressed and reached where it was.
One of those stories was the Worcester, MA to Raleigh, NC to Atlanta, GA to Houston, TX to Dallas, TX to Kansas, KS and back to Worcester, MA seven (7) days, 4,400 miles (7,000 km) meet Diaspora Kenyans by Prof. Njoroge and Dan Kamau.
The nine primary resources needed were reviewed as follows: (1) The Master Development Plan (MDP), this was ready; (2) The WPI Plan, this was ready; (3) 2,000 Diaspora Kenyans Townhouse Developers, about 60 were registered; (4) Land, the search was ongoing in Kenya; (5) the Design-Build plan, was over 60% developed; (6) the Energy plan, was conceptualised; (7) the County incentives, were written in the plan to be approved by County; (8) the Finance plan, would be based on the other resources, Diaspora remittances and Kenya banks; and, (9) the national government incentives, the Trust once incorporated would apply based on special economic zone act of parliament requirements.
Cathy narrated on how, after return back to Baltimore, MD, she embarked on getting Kenyans on board through the 2000 Townhouse Developers plan. In the next two months she talked to Kenyans in Maryland, DC, and the entire U.S. She would also fly to Las Vegas with a bull horn for the rugby sevens to talk to Kenyans. The effort by the team saw the numbers of those registered grow past the 500 persons in two months.
The project having achieved the 25% of the 2,000 registration would submit the Institution Development Plan to Taita Taveta County. The plan would be approved in 90 days. The plan approval achieved the resource of county government incentive that will fund the first 200 students enrolled. The approval also meant that the land search would be concentrated in Taita Taveta County.
Cathy Jackie barely two months after spending over $1,000 during her travel to Las Vegas, NV rugby sevens again booked an air ticket to Los Angeles, putting another $1,000 and time in the founding of the university town.
At Los Angeles, the inspirational stories of Dan, Cathy and others would inspire the L.A Kenyans. RN Bui Thuo and RN Mary Kinyanjui who had joined to start the medical hospital plan that is today progressing to open the Diaspora University Medical Hospital whose operation budget is expected to reach Ksh 4 billion as the first class graduates.
The RNs Bui and Mary would work with Cathy at Las Vegas, New York, and Baltimore as they put in money, time and resources and advanced the project. Today their resources input is recorded in the endowment, townhouse developers, and MSMEs capital of DUT that are valued at Ksh 5 billion.
Cathy's visits to Las Vegas to market DUT would kick off the DUT tourism plan. Inspired by the 45 million visitors a year, she would start working on a plan to have 1 million visitors pass through the DUT town a year and spend about Ksh 10,000. This plan will achieve an economic product of Ksh 10 billion that will support the hospital budget and MSMEs of transport, food, entertainment and others. Her work on the tourism plan has seen her visit the Embassy several times even with the other founders.
Speaking during the DUT opportunities meeting, Cathy said her tourism plan is ready and that she looks to develop a network of about 50 agents who shall advance the Diaspora products of investment, education and tourism.
Diaspora Kenyans in the next 7 years are projected to remit about $30 billion to Kenya after crossing the $4 billion remittances a year. Cathy's goal is to spearhead the DUT Diaspora plan and have $500 million come to Diaspora town through tourism, education, property investments and MSMEs investments. $500 million would be about Ksh 70 billion based on the current exchange rate.
She asked those who have established plans to put more effort so they can achieve the plan they are working on. She asked that all plan developers work toward the goal of 2,000 Diaspora Kenyans investing in the project.
