Spirit in Action

“Environmental protection has become a priority in this country and there is a lot of technical input the government is employing.” This statement could easily have come from any U.S.-based environmentalist. But, it comes from one based in Kenya.

Dennis Kiprop, a Spirit in Action partner in Eldoret, Kenya wrote recently to share with me about environmental movements in his country and explain how people are employing bio-intensive agriculture to replenish the nutrients in the soil. Dennis, SIA-supported small business leaders, and many others are planting trees to create a “greener Kenya”.

Kenya emits significantly less CO₂ than the United States and still Kenyans are seeing the effects of global climate change. Currently, only 3% of Kenya’s original forests remain, a result of trees being cut down for timber and firewood. To help reforest their environment, four new tree nursery businesses were started with $150 Spirit in Action Small Business Fund (SIA SFB) grants in early 2010.

The SIA business groups grew indigenous seedlings for two reasons. First, they are businesses, so they harvest the trees in a sustainable manner and sell the wood to neighbors. The businesses have so far been very successful and all have reported high demand for their product.

Secondly, they are working with other groups from three surrounding villages and Samuel Teimuge, a long-time SIA partner, to raise and plant the seedlings to protect their local water source. This part of their work receives additional support from Trees for the Future, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that has been supporting reforestation efforts for over 30 years. Since 2008, Trees for the Future has distributed just under half a million seeds to partnering organizations in Kenya, including Samuel Teimuge’s Ukweli Training and Development Center.

After a meeting with the groups to discuss their goals, Dennis reported, “They will protect six streams whose waters drain to Lake Victoria by planting around the catchments to maintain the reservoirs. They also want to eradicate predicted dryness. I like the way they are giving their time and energy more in long-term investments.”

As with all Spirit in Action projects, these groups are also thinking about how they can pass on the gift they have received. Dennis is enthusiastic as he tells me, “I think reforestation is one of the largest dreams for Kenya and we are all participating in Sharing the Gift and “paying it forward” to the three villages and their surroundings that benefits the entire region for a long time.”

“Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.” –Psalm 96:12

Dennis Kiprop tends to the tree seedlings.

Del Anderson, the founder of Spirit in Action, was a prodigious and dedicated journal writer and here in the SIA office I am lucky enough to have many of his actual journals. He seemed to use his writing time as a moment to let his thoughts flow, allowing time to explore his ideas about God, our purpose, love, and anything else that came up. He used regular 1-subject lined notebooks and a four-color pen, wildly switching colors and adding emphasis and extra words to his sentences.

I like to glance at his entries every now and again to be able to reconnect with Del’s strong spirit and passion for service to others. This morning I’d like to share the entry from Del’s journal for this day in 1998.

July 27^th, 1998

Beholding as in a mirror the glory (that is the beauty) of Christ we are changed into the same image from one stage of character growth to another. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

It is a process of contagion, perseverance and growing in the Spirit. For life there must be a plan, a pattern, a purposeful intent. Life must have unity, humanity and purpose – with serenity, and a spirit of adventure with a resolute will. There must be a sharp focus on compassion, mercy, and justice for the common good.

All so often, we have great gratitude for the will to act, even as we often regret our failure to trust and obey. It is as we nurture our souls, we let God come forth: in, for, with, and through us. This living from within out is our passage to victory.

It is in nurturing our heart (intention) actively we grow from sense to soul, from self to Christ. Love, joy, peace, etc. are feelings. To partake of God’s character and nature, we need to feel the heart process of our nature.

If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. (John 7:37)

An important part of Spirit in Action’s mission is to respond to the real needs of the people and support already existing grassroots community organizations abroad. We start by acknowledging the experience and local knowledge of the community leaders and encourage with them as they hone projects that will work for the their specific community.

One such grassroots organization that Spirit in Action has supported is Welfare Concern International (WCI), in Livingstone, Zambia. Moses Chibanda, the current director, left a job in teaching in 2005 to run WCI full-time because he felt a deep calling to help those around him work their way out of poverty. The organization’s mission, in Moses’ words is “to bring hope and give people life survival skills through training and economic empowerment programs”.

Community members meet to pray and plan for the new WCI building.

Most of WCI’s members are widows who have lost their spouses due to the AIDS pandemic, and many are working to have enough money for their children to attend school. Moses explains, “One of the crucial problems faced by guardians is lack of capital to start their own income generating activities to sustain themselves and their families.” WCI provides skills training and small loans for new Income Generating Activities (small businesses) for the widows.

To help WCI in their efforts, the Livingstone City Council, donated an old building (pictured right) that will house a resource center and serve as a place for skills training and other economic empowerment activities. Not wanting to let any space go to waste, the group will use the land around the center to raise chickens and plant a vegetable garden. Spirit in Action will continue to follow their renovation progress and encourage them to reach out to more widows in their community.

Through the challenges of starting to build a center for WCI and seeing the mounting poverty around him, Moses continues on, always expressing dedication to his mission and acting as a strong role model for those who are able to do great works in their community by starting small and dreaming large. Moses shares, “I desire to serve the less privileged people to the best of my ability and take Welfare Concern International to great heights of success. There are moments in my life when I have felt like giving up but because of Spirit in Action’s encouragement and prayer support I have continued to soldier on to drive the work of WCI.”

‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ –Matthew 25:40

Part of our mission at SIA is to serve God by empowering others. The passage above clearly states that, indeed, the best way to serve God is to help others, especially those in need. In the Bible parable, those who helped did so by providing clothing, caring for the sick, and visiting those in prison.

Prison officers and their wives enjoy Moringa-enriched meat pies.

An inspiring expression of this good action, Newton Amaglo, a SIA grant recipient and professor at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, is now working with over 400 officers and 2,000 inmates at four prisons new Kumasi to help them improve their diets.

So far Newton and his team have contributed free samples, 50 grams for each prisoner, of the highly nutritious Moringa leaf powder to the prisons. That’s a significant supplement to the prison diet, especially considering that just one gram of Moringa has the same nutrients as:

Considering the rumors of poor food in prisons in the US, we could take this as a lesson!

In these Ghanaian prisons, now, the leaves are used in tea and as a supplement in meat pies. Newton and his team have also recommended Moringa for use in the infirmary because of its many know medicinal healing qualities.

This is not just a handout; Newton also knows the importance of training the inmates. When giving aid the best help leaves the recipient with skills they can use long into the future. As such, Newton claims that the greatest success of the project so far is that “the prisoners are learning the technology of Moringa cultivation and processing so that they can live their lives on it even after serving their sentences.”

Not only do we want to care for our brothers and sisters, we also want to care for our earth. Moringa helps with this too. Newton, who also works as Scientific Manager for Moringa Partners, a Moringa discussion forum, recently recorded this podcast about the ways that Morniga can help combat global warming. (His voice is pretty difficult to hear, but the information is very interesting.) Since Moringa grows so quickly, it can help reforest the denuded land. Its green leaves are also high in chlorophyll and in the podcast Newton tells how these trees can absorb carbon dioxide at a faster rate than an average tree. Another interesting fact: there are currently studies being conducted to see if Moringa can reliably used as a biofuel, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. If you want to read more, Trees for Life has a good, reputable resource page about Moringa.

Wow! Every time I read about Moringa, it is a bit clearer why people call it the “Miracle Tree”. And Newton’s work visibly embodies our passion for providing individuals with simple tools that can drastically improve their lives.

50g Moringa samples are handed over to the prison officers

The best part about talking to librarians is that they know about books on almost any topic! It was through a librarian friend that I heard about the children’s book One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference by Katie Smith Milway and Eugene Fernandes. This beautifully illustrated book tells the inspiring story of a boy in Ghana, named Kojo, who starts a small business with a loan to buy one chicken.

The book, for children and adults alike, clearly shows how micro-finance works to change the lives of a family, community, town and country. On the grassroots level, people in a community pool their savings together to create a small loan fund. As the story explains “None of the twenty families in the village have very much money, but they do have a good idea. Each family promises to save a bit of money so that one family can borrow all the savings to buy something important” (p.7). The families take turns borrowing the money to start or expand their businesses. When they pay back the loan, another family gets a chance to borrow the funds.

SIA small business grant recipient in Kenya with her chickens

This idea is what Spirit in Action calls a “merry-go-round” loan or a micro-savings group. In fact, one of the grant proposals approved at the June 2010 Board meeting helps establish a small-scale chicken project in Malawi, where the profits are added to the micro-savings pot, to be lent to different communities members on a rotating basis.

Giving people a chance to borrow money gives them a chance to make an investment in their future. In the story, which is based on the real life story of Kwabena Darko, Kojo borrows a few coins to buy one chicken. He takes care of the chicken, selling its eggs in the market so that he can pay back the loan and buy more chickens to expand his flock. He and his mom also eat some of the eggs to add more protein to their diets. After a year Kojo has made enough to go to school!

Kojo and his mom also benefit emotionally from the initial loan. “Kojo is proud of his eggs. And his mother is proud of Kojo. Bit by bit, one small hen is making a big difference” (p. 11).

Del Anderson knew just how much a few words of encouragement could bring hope to a person’s life. People who know they are loved and supported are more confident in all their enterprises! That’s why, for SIA, sharing and communicating with all our international partners is an important part of our mission. As Del always reminded people: Don’t let impossibilities intimidate you ~ do let possibilities motivate you.

This women's small poultry business experienced high demand for eggs

If you want to find out about just how successful Kojo is in his chicken enterprise, why not check out One Hen? And then read it to a friend or a child and get them thinking about how one small gift can make a significant difference in our world.

What difference can the gift of one pig make? One of the key components of SIA’s Small Business Fund (SBF) is the concept of “Sharing the Gift”, which encourages groups that receive small business grants from SIA to pay it forward to others in their community.

As Boyd Cothran wrote in the Fall 2009 SIA Newsletter, “We take small amounts and give entrepreneurs in developing countries the opportunity to succeed. We don’t ask that they pay us back but that they use their success to give someone else in their community a chance to get ahead.”

The following story, written by SIA SBF Malawi Coordinator Canaan Gondwe, shows that one small act of generosity can put a new roof over a family’s head.

Winkly Mahowe with a family size of four entered the SIA SBF program in 2007 through the Sharing of the Gift program. The family received one piglet of seven months old in May. It was indeed a small beginning and it was as if there will be small impact. But today, the impact on the family is big and there are celebrations all over for this achievement.

In Malawi, 75% of the households live in houses that are grass-thatched and very small in size. Most people are not well accommodated especially these low-income earners. These houses leak during rainy season. Most of these households can’t afford the iron-roofed house and it really becomes a miracle to attain such a house in this category of people.

After successfully benefiting from the gift, the pig in 2008 gave birth two times in the year and there were 19 piglets (11 female and 8 male). These were sold at three months of age at the cost of MK 5000/each (USD$32). Money realized was MK 95000 (USD$626)! The family bought 38 iron sheets of 12 feet. In the year 2009 the pig farrowed twice again to 16 piglets and they were sold at MK 5000/each and the family realized again MK 80000 (USD$527) and bought 32 iron sheets. Total iron sheets were now 70 and now they have built a house and roofed it.

For a long time, the family was struggling financially to get the iron sheets and through the Sharing of the Gift of SIA they have managed. It is smiles on the family as they no longer stay in a house that does not leak. The family is thankful to the program as they can witness the love of Christ emanating within fellow Malawians.

I was pleased to read the following tribute from ERase Poverty to Dennis Kiprop, who is a SIA Small Business Fund coordinator in Kenya. ERase Poverty, a Washington state based nonprofit, recently coordinated the Second Annual Watoto 10K Road Race in Ilula, Kenya. The race raised funds from sponsors in Kenya and the US to build a water pump at the Illula Children’s Home, which Samuel and Rhoda Teimuge run. Congratulations to Dennis!

“We are honored to welcome several other participants from the community who are passionate about athletics and the work being done at the Ilula Children’s Home, including:

[...]

Dennis Kiprop

Dennis is currently enrolled in business classes in Eldoret, the nearest town to Ilula. He dreams to be an entrepreneur and athletic coach, and would like to help communities develop business skills so they improve the future for themselves and their children.”

Alex Kiptanui from Ilula Children's Home was the fastest runner. Notice he's wearing an Obama t-shirt!

I have long been intrigued by the connection between peace and prosperity. When people are safe and free I believe they are better able to participate in their local communities and economies. As they become involved, they create prosperity and security for themselves and those around them. It all starts with peace.

Del Anderson, Spirit in Action’s founder, wrote often about finding peace within oneself and sharing it with others. In 2002 Del wrote, “Being and expressing this peace and participating with God in bringing peace here on earth as it is in heaven is an activity of being a co-creator with God. Bringing peace on earth is being in God’s grace activity and also brings forth a flow of health to mind and body.” In other words peace brings empowerment.

How do we begin to think about peace in a world so full of conflict? Mark Kurlansky’s book, Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea starts by exploring the concept of nonviolence – choosing to explain nonviolence as not merely opposition to violence but also as a positive action towards social change and equality. This is similar to what Martin Luther King, Jr. is advocating for when he says in his “I Have a Dream” speech, “Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” Oftentimes a violent person expects the victim to react with violence, however, if one can react by standing firm in love and peace it catches the aggressor off-guard, creating space for social progress.

I know this all sounds like a far-fetched dream but Kurlansky makes a great case for the possibility of nonviolent revolution. Also, The Friends Committee on National Legislation provides some great information about the effectiveness of diplomacy and development for the “peaceful prevention of deadly conflict”. Similarly, I am encouraged when I read about the work of the Nonviolent Peaceforce, which sends trained peacekeepers into conflict areas to encourage productive discussion and protect citizens. They point out that peace and diplomacy are much cheaper than war and armies.

Creating peace is a difficult and important job! At Spirit in Action we pray and act for peace with this thing Martin Luther King, Jr. calls “soul force”. We call on the spirit inside each of us to be put to action, which creates a positive force toward understanding, support, and empowerment. On this Memorial Day I hope you will join me in celebrating those brave souls who have stood up for a better world through nonviolence and the promotion of peace.

I will end with a blessing my Grandma Barbara often says: “May peace prevail on earth and in your heart.”

How and why do the poor help each other? This is the central question in the book The poor philanthropist, written in 2005 by several researchers at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. The authors asked groups of people in Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (who live on less than $1-2 dollars a day) about the ways that they help each other in their communities.

It was inspiring to read about the cardinal rule regarding help among all the groups interviewed: ‘if you have you must give, no matter how little’.

The book reaffirmed for me the importance of SIA’s practice of supporting grassroots organizations that are already set up to help their own communities. We allow the groups a lot of flexibility to propose and pursue ideas that they believe will work for their specific location rather than mandating program details from afar. By doing this we are answering the authors’ call for organizations that “respect the insights, norms and modes of assistance used by the poor as protagonists in their own development, rather than as recipients of ‘gifts’.”

Help is not understood only in terms of money but “high importance was assigned to non-material transactions as well” (p. 68). Sharing knowledge or giving emotional and prayer support are significant forms of help because they can be shared without taking anything away from the giver and they benefits both the giver and the receiver. People see prayer and blessings as a reward for the help they provide to others, particularly those that are unable to provide help in return, such as the elderly, infirm, or orphans.

The high importance of reciprocity in relation to help is particularly relevant to the work of Spirit in Action. One of the study participants explained that, “Giving is like depositing something, because tomorrow that same thing will come back to you”.

Reciprocity is the key principle to SIA’s Sharing the Gift program, which encourages all grant recipients to “pay it forward” and help another person. This spreads the blessings beyond the individual or group receiving the initial grant. Sharing the Gift help takes many forms, both material and non-material. Francine Murambi’s business in DR Congo has purchased 2 liters of gasoline for their church with their profits. Other groups, such as Shamauu Bitibiza’s shoe repair business in the DRC, train more people in business or craft skills.

Farmers in DRC share seeds with another group that can now start their own garden.

SIA Small Business Fund Coordinator Godfrey Matovu in Uganda relates his experience of promoting many different ways of helping: “Sharing the Gift is not about giving only, but you can share many ideas like praying together, uplifting some ones skills, etc. In my trainings, l quote some verses in the Bible which talk about giving and loving your friend.”

Throughout the book we hear about the relationships and trust that is developed in a place where people believe that ‘if you have you must give, no matter how little’. The results? According to the authors, the main effects of help are: it helps people move out of poverty (for example, through micro-enterprise and educating children), it builds community, and it feels good!

What can you do today to help someone in need?

Jacky with an orphan and SIA small business leader Henry.

Jacky Buhoro has been blessed with eight healthy children of her own and yet many more children are lucky enough to call her mother. In 2004, one of Jacky and Jacob’s sons asked his parents to pay the fees for an orphan in his class. That was the beginning of Jacky and Jacob’s ministry to orphans…

Years of violence in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have left many orphans, fatherless children, and widows in need of assistance in Jacob Lipandasi and Jacky’s border town community of Bakuvu. Responding to the need, Jacky and Jacob, who is a SIA Small Business Fund Coordinator, now care for 25 additional children in their home and in other host families in their community. I recently had the opportunity to interview Jacky about her service; here is a longer version of the interview, which is excerpted in the SIA Spring/Summer 2010 Newsletter.

*We are deeply thankful for a grant from the Charles Wentz Carter Memorial Foundation, which enabled SIA to support Jacky’s school for orphans and other vulnerable children. THANK YOU!

1. Tanya: Tell me about your family.

Jacky: I am the eldest daughter of my family. My parents have given birth to 8 children including 6 girls and 2 boys. When I met Jacob, he was already mentoring orphans of the first church he led in our hometown. In my family with Jacob we have produced 8 children (2 girls and 6 boys). In 2004, our son, Philippe KOKO Lipandasi (our 5th child) asked us to pay school fees for an orphan in his class who could not pay for it. This is the beginning of our ministry to orphans.

2. Tanya: When did you first accept orphans in your family?

Jacky: After the war of the RCD (Congolese Rally for Democracy) families traveled with orphans and abandoned them in the street as they were unable to take charge. First we hosted 3 girls and one boy (4 fatherless) and a widow in other fatherless families in our community. The community knew that we accompany the orphans. Now we have up to 25 orphans in our family and in several other host families.

3. Tanya: Tell me about your work with orphans.

Jacky: To help these orphans living with us to study, I organized a nursery school. It helps my orphans and also other children of vulnerable families without access to public schools (because their parents are unable to pay). During the holidays the older could come and learn trades (carpentry) in the studio of Jacob with other orphans. Praise the Lord! Before, students who completed kindergarten were directed to public schools and Jacob could pay for them. But now we do not have the funds to continue this. As the curricula of these schools do not have the same goal as our training: I started primary school to continue our vision to support the most vulnerable.

Children play in a garden near the school.

4. Tanya: What are the biggest challenges for schools and teachers in DRC?

Jacky : A) Education in the DRC: The exclusion of the poorest in the education system. The girls, especially orphans have no easy access to school education. Schools provide teaching theory without practice as there are no materials. Only the rich kids access to quality training and focused. Lack of school library. Schools (especially rural) lack access to computers and especially the Internet. B) Important Challenges Teacher DRC: The Congolese government does not pay public officials in general and teachers in particular. The school is supported by parents when they are able. However, 80% of teachers are unemployed and others work without wages.

5. Tanya: How do the Women’s Garden Project and your school work together to help children?

Jacky: The community garden project for women helps us a lot to feed orphans. They help us with vegetables in their crops. It serves as a demonstration site to help children understand the importance of gardens and the role of working together.

6. Tanya: Tell me about how you and Jacob work together in your projects to help others.

Jacky: We organize our time to visit the poorest of our communities and put our attention to widows, orphans and disabled in our pastoral ministry. With the support of Spirit in Action, we organized the community garden and piggery for the widows. We initiated the widows to plant trees and banana trees, because before it was taboo for a woman to do in our communities.

Children surround Jacob and Jacky at home.

7. Tanya: Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself or your work?

Jacky: I want to have additional training in the care of orphans and vulnerable groups to improve the quality of my services to others. Thank you for your support.