One of the best parts of my job is getting to hear from people who are putting change into action through their ideas, leadership skills, and open attitude.

And often the skills and ideas they have can also be useful for someone else who is working to improve things in another community. Making connections and matchings people’s questions and answers – fostering dynamic networks – is a vibrant part of the SIA model for change.

Recently I wrote a blog post for Amazon Partnerships, a blog collecting stories and new perspectives on community development, about two such Spirit in Action connections. I invite you to read the full post here.

Bringing together SIA Small Business Fund Coordinators from Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, & Uganda in 2011 resulted in a lot of new connections, and some constructive dialog about how to make our programs better.

I love the new 50 second video from Oxfam America. It’s message is clear and to-the-point, “Aid is not the solution to poverty, people are.”

It’s not the big structures that help people out of poverty. Or the governments talking to governments….

Rather, we know that it’s the dedicated people, passionate for change, that make a difference. It’s the people, working with their families and organizing with others in their communities, that move step by step towards something better. It’s people supporting each other that bring hope.

If you need any convincing, consider these people who are solutions in their communities:

Women’s Self-Help Group with CIFORD Kenya:
Women in groups of 10-25 encouraging others;
sharing their challenges and solutions; combining
savings to help pay for school uniforms for their children and grandchildren.

Leaders of one of the self-help groups in rural Meru, Kenya

Nalu Prossy, SIA Small Business Fund Coordinator, Uganda:
Nalu works all day at a tailor’s shop; after work and on weekends
she trains and mentors new business groups to help them succeed.
She’s a good employee, so her boss sometimes lets her leave early to do this work for SIA.

Nalu and Tanya

Canaan Gondwe, Manyamula Village Savings and Loans, Malawi:
Canaan is the tireless leader of the successful savings and loans
group MAVISALO, which helps community members access low-interest loans;
he has been elected to the national board of cooperative groups in Malawi;
in June he’ll travel to Zambia to train another community to start their own local savings and loans cooperative.

Canaan (in blue) with members of the MAVISALO executive committee

Oxfam calls for us to “Support citizens’ efforts to determine and lead their own development.” And that’s just what Spirit in Action is going to continue doing!

Earth Day celebrations may last over a weekend but what about the long-term? Here are three examples of Spirit in Action partners promoting techniques that benefit the earth and their communities:

Ester shows the bounty from her family’s farm.

1. Intercropping in Malawi

Have you heard about the Three Sisters? Beans, squash, and corn grown together get the blue ribbon in the intercropping category. Corn stalks grow tall, beans use the stalks as bean poles, and squash leaves provide shade that  stunts weeds and locks in the soil moisture. Also, the nutrients in bean plants keep the soil healthy year after year.

More and more people in Manyamula Village are adopting this beautiful combination that is good for the heavily-used farmland and reduces the amount of fertilizer needed. We visited Saul and Ester’s farm in 2011 where we saw their flourishing intercropping of beans and corn.

Saul and Ester are members of the MAVISALO Savings and Loans cooperative and they share and learn with the other 150 group members about intercropping and other sustainable farming techniques.

Beans planted at the base of the corn use the stalks as support.

SIA partners from 5 countries are enthusiastic to try new bio-intensive agriculture methods.

2. Ukweli Training Centre in Kenya

Anyone who has met Samuel Teimuge knows his passion for simple methods and technologies that can help people produce more food and protect the environment. At his Ukweli Training Centre in Eldoret, Kenya, local experts show groups of people from all over eastern Africa a sampling of these beneficial technologies. For example:

• The kitchen garden plots use double-digging (a method of turning the soil before planting) and composting;
• A chicken pen extends over a fish pond and chicken droppings fall into the water to provide nutrients to the fish, increasing the size of the fish (more about chicken-fish farming);
• An agroforestry display shows about starting seedlings, and replanting and caring for trees; trees provide shade, fruit, and fencing, and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The poultry house over the fish pond provides plenty of nutrients!

Joshua shows off the great crops grown with compost and no other inputs! More food and less expensive to produce.

3. Side-by-side Comparisons

With such good results from simple agricultural techniques, why doesn’t everyone take on the methods? Joshua Machinga and his team at Common Ground know that old habits die hard, so they have planted two sets of crops to convince people to change.

The 5-year experiment places crops that use conventional fertilizers next to crops that use rich, organic compost to display tangible benefits of using compost for long-term soil health. The evidence right in front of people is pretty convincing!

*Spirit in Action has a number of resources about composting, double-digging, organizing model farm days, and intercropping available for free. If you would like me to send you any of these materials, please email the SIA office.

Related Articles:

• A Better Way to Grow Food (About methods that benefit small farmers)
• How does your garden grow? (About the farms we saw in Malawi)
• Planting trees for a “greener Kenya” (About the reforestation work of SIA SBF Coordinator, Dennis Kiprop)

Our partners are cooking up big change in their communities and there are so many inspiring stories, photos, and quotes to share! I couldn’t fit them all in the Spring & Summer 2013 Newsletter, so today’s blog is a bit of newsletter leftover stew…

(The newsletter went off to the presses yesterday but you can download a PDF COLOR copy here today.)

1. Women Starting Businesses in Kenya

SIA Small Business Fund local coordinator in Kenya, Dennis Kiprop, is excited about the new cohort of 5 women-led business groups:

“I thank God for such an opportunity to serve and train these small business groups. The greatest joy is to see them grow in God and be able to support their families in the long run with the businesses they are doing. Most of them are the key providers in their own families. Thank you for the great support, prayers, and love.”

Rose and Salina fill out their business plan after attending a training session led by local SIA Coordinator Dennis Kiprop.

Goats are kept in elevated pens in Malawi.

2. Forestry Project in Malawi

The front page of the newsletter has a story about 5 Small Business Fund groups in Malawi that are collaborating to start a forestry project.

The tree-planting business will not only help reforest the area and help the soil retain more water, the trees are also important for infrastructure in the rural Manyamula village. Tree poles are used for building houses and also for penning goats.

This photo shows the elevated goat pen which keeps the animals safe and allows the owners to collect manure for their gardens!

3. Short (and important) Supporter Survey

We want to hear your preferences! We have a short 9-question survey for our supporters. Will you tell us how you want to hear from us and what you like about SIA? Take the survey here. Thank you!

4. Memories of Del’s Encouragement

I asked Camily Wedende, a solar cooker entrepreneur in Kenya, about what words of inspiration from Del still stuck with him. (See the newsletter of how Camily is helping others promote solar cooking in Kenya.)

“Del used to write about letting go. To let go is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.

To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires but to take each day as it comes and to cherish the moment.

To let go is not to deny, but to accept.

To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive.”

5. Giant Cucumber!

I LOVE this photo of SIA local coordinator Canaan Gondwe (Malawi) with the giant cucumber that grew in his community with seeds sent by our dedicated volunteer, Aileen Gillem.

Seeds were given to needy families in the community for them to use in their kitchen gardens (small garden plots with many types of vegetables growing). Cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions all thrived, supplementing the staple food, maize (corn).

Seven years after a Spirit in Action Small Business Fund grant, Paulos and Skekiwe Lungu are thankful for the Luso Shoe Repair business and for their new home.

Paulos discusses his business with us during our visit to Malawi in 2011.

Paulos and Skekiwe have a story to share with you today. Before learning about Spirit in Action the couple and their two sons were living in very poor conditions. Without a home, the family had to stay at other people’s homes, moving from house to house, and they often only had enough food for meal each day. The parents could not begin to think of sending their sons to school because, although the elementary education is free, uniforms and other school supplies were too expensive for their budget.

When Canaan Gondwe, Spirit in Action Small Business Fund Coordinator in Malawi, first visited the family in 2006, he sat a long time listening to Paulos and Skekiwe and discussing an opportunity for the family to change their situation with a little help from SIA and a lot of work on their part.

In considering the family for a $150 grant, Canaan recalls, “The family had a land for cultivation and the husband had a skill of repairing worn out shoes. I began to explain about God and his purpose for giving us life. I talked at length about the potential held by all created beings. I listened to Paulos and helped him to remove all misdirected attitudes and begin to reorganize himself. I invited Paulos and Skekiwe to the Small Business Fund training that was coming forth.”

Things Start to Change

Paulos shoes at the market.

During the first training, Canaan discussed with the ten gathered families about forming business groups, communication, listening prayer and consensus agreements, and attitude change. “The training had impacted Paulos with knowledge on how to get established. His attitude changed and began to see himself as someone that had the power to change his situation,” remembers Canaan.

Business was good! Paulos devoted a lot of time to repairing shoes in the market, and selling rubber souls to people whose shoes needed reinforcing.

In 2008 Paulos bought a female pig, which soon gave birth to four piglets. The piglets act as an investment – one that keep growing with each new litter. For now, the piglets help pay for the books and uniforms needed to keep the two boys in school!

Also, the Lungus have been able to build their very own home. In 2011, they bought the 8,000 bricks (fired, for longevity) necessary to build a permanent place to live. The home was finally finished last year, topped with a thatched roof.

The Lungu Family in front of their new home!

Life continues to be a challenge though and recently both Paulos and Skekiwe fell sick and they were diagnosed with HIV.

Paulos and Skekiwe in front of their bumper maize crop.

The silver lining? Canaan reports, “The good news is that they can afford to go to private clinics and get treatment, and as I write they are both on antiretroviral therapy treatment.”

I admit that this last part of the family story really let the wind out of my sails. But Canaan finished his letter with an enthusiastic “WHAT A TURN AROUND OF THINGS ON A FAMILY!” referring to the home, the boys’ education, and the thriving maize field.

Following their lead, today I am celebrating with the Lungu family as they live with their newfound success, achieved with a small $150 grant and seven years of dedication.