Are people in Africa happy? Are people in the North America happy? Of course, the answer in both cases is: some people are; and some people aren’t. Whatever our situation, how we act and think can increase our happiness.

Recently, a good friend of mine sent me a blog post entitled, “12 Things Happy People Do Differently.” Always on the lookout for inspiration to send to SIA partners at home and abroad, I printed out several copies and sent one of them to Canaan Gondwe, our fantastic Small Business Fund (SBF) Coordinator in Malawi. This sparked a great conversation between us, each sharing how we act to incorporate these “happy habits.”

Below is an except of Canaan’s response to five of the attributes.

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Happy people! Ofonime Nkoko (SBF Coordinator, Nigeria) and Canaan Gondwe in Kenya.

Tanya, thank you very much for sharing this article with me. This will help me and the management and the whole MAVISALO to reflect on our conduct, character, and to move to things that happy people do in life. Sometimes we fail to increase our levels of happiness because we are harboring wrong views and attributes of ourselves.

1. Express gratitude

My college lecture once said and I quote “don’t despise your small beginnings but in them thank God in order to excel.” We usually tend to look down on our current state and think nothing is being done. As we do that, we lose a sense of gratitude and happiness.

2. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison

Very strong statement and advice. When one over-thinks and lives a life of social comparison, it has a negative impact in the way you look at things and this also cultivates poor social relations. When you embrace such values in life, you lose a sense of happiness. You easily burn out and lose balance. But it is good to have mentors in life. Make connections with people who have succeeded and employ good ideas from them and move. One mentor of mine said “walk your pace and vision, walk your talk and walk your level.” I saw this as avoiding social comparisons.

3. Practice acts of kindness

Kindness is one the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22). This is God’s own fruit in us as human beings. God’s kindness is shown in giving and helping the helpless human beings. I see this being emulated in SIA in rolling out SBF to our communities. Is this not God’s own kindness? Is this not kindness in its fullest form? Are the sponsors and board members of SIA not celebrating in a sense, for bailing out one person from poverty, elsewhere in Africa? If Canaan can spend hours helping a less privileged person in this rural community, is this not an act of kindness? Very important attribute indeed.

Tanya and Canaan in the MAVISALO poultry house.

4. Nurture social relationships

One person said, “a problem shared is half solved.” Man is a social being from creation. We need to be connected to other people and this brings balance as we share views, successes and challenges. We are molded holistically as one said and I quote, “there is beauty in diversity.” In nurturing social relationships, we are able to understand our people better. This is very true in even in providing the leadership to our organization. As leaders we need to come down and listen to the people we lead. I have personally succeeded as a coordinator by nurturing relationships. I respect each and every person and relate deeply with them because they are God’s own creation.

5. Learn to forgive

Keeping hatred makes one feel low. Hatred spoils facial expressions. Truly, when you harbor hatred, you walk a sick person. We need to forgive those who wrong us. God forgave us and this is wanted even for us. Forgiveness brings healing to the forgiver and the one forgiven. We enter a new life indeed if this is done.

Tanya, I once more thank you for the 12 tips. I will share this with my friends. Send us more of these when you bump on them. They are fruitful indeed.

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Alan woke up one morning last July filled with gratitude. He was up early that market day to set up his bicycle repair business in the village center. He turned some bikes on their handlebars to replace missing peddles with pieces of wood. To other bikes he would affix new handles or fancy seats to the back for bike-taxi passengers. That morning, when Boyd and I met Alan in Manyamula village in Malawi, Alan thanked God for getting him through the night so that he could meet us and thank us.

Tanya, Alan, and Boyd at the Manyamula Market

He was thoughtful as he told us his story of receiving a Spirit in Action Small Business Fund grant and starting his repair business. He paused often to make sure we understood the impact that this had on his life: his son now attends high school; his wife started her own small grocery kiosk. And so he thanked us that day as representatives of Spirit in Action.

It was a short encounter and it left a strong impression on me. Maybe it was because he was the first shop we visited that day, but I think there was also something about his kindness and openness that impressed me.

That was not the last time we saw Alan during our short visit to Manyamula nor was it the last time we saw his kindness. The next day, we met up with him in one of the village churches. Alan’s short testimony told of how the church brought him out of the dark pit of alcoholism onto a road of light and faith. Then he showed his gratitude by giving his pledged tithe of maize to the church to be used to help others less fortunate than himself.

After church, Alan hung around outside, waiting while people took pictures with us. As the group thinned, he shyly approached us with a gift – a wooden spoon used for serving the local staple food, nsima. For a third time, his kindness was an unexpected blessing.

Alan’s gifts and kindness perfectly embody the sentiment of Sharing the Gift – realizing that we have received kindness and acting to share that kindness with others. As the quote by Bob Kerrey reminds us, kindness that comes at an unexpected time is the “most underrated agent of human change.” I have no doubt that we saw just a small sample of Alan’s kind actions and that even today he is helping more people know hope, joy, and gratitude.

How has a recent act of kindness changed you? What kindness will you share with others today?

More photos! Click here to see more photos of Alan and the other people we met that day in the Manyamula village.

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A round-up of some of the exciting things to cross my desk in the last week:

1. SIA Business Groups Receive Reinvestment Grant – Dennis Kiprop, the Small Business Fund Coordinator in Kenya, sent me this photo of himself with 4 of the newest SBF businesses in his area. He met with each of them this week and gave them the $50 reinvestment grant, which comes three months after their initial $100 business grant.

2. Offertory Prayer – I really appreciated this prayer at my church last week and I think it’s appropriate for my daily work with SIA:

O God, through the offering of these gifts, may we become more open people:
open-minded in heeding your wisdom,
open-hearted in healing a broken world,
open-handed in responding to your call for cherity and justice.
With thanks for all good gifts, we dedicate these offerings today.

3. Cellphones for Health - A long and interesting article about technology start up companies in Kenya. One new business created a system for automated text reminders to go to patients reminding them to take HIV/AIDS medications or to get maternal health check-ups. So cool what cellphones can be used for in Kenya!

4. Doing it Differently - The blog How Matters recognized Spirit in Action as an organization “doing aid differently” on her Pinterest Board! How Matters is dedicated to discussing the ethics, complexity, and importance of community involvement in international aid. (Don’t know about Pinterest? It’s a new media-sharing tool, and another thing making me happy this week!)

5. Monday Morning Inspiration - “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson (via http://www.dailygood.org)

Let me know what’s inspiring you this week!

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SIA SBF Coordinators watch a presentation about tree seedlings and reforestation.

Spring is in the air all over the USA this week! To celebrate the rain and the warmer temperatures, I am reposting this discussion of agro-forestry from last April on Spirit in Action’s blog.

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Our international partners working in Kenya have long recognized the value of agroecology. This type of farming system, also called bio-intensive agriculture, uses techniques that help to replenish the nutrients in the soil and uses minimal amounts of chemical fertilizers and other inputs to grow vegetables and fruits. Agroecology methods bring greater crop yields while using much less space, water and energy, than conventional, high input methods.

In Africa there is great hope for the widespread embrace of agroecology technologies, especially because it benefits “small farmers who must be able to farm in ways that are less expensive and more productive.”

“But, [agro-ecology] benefits all of us,” says a NY Times op-ed, quoting a UN Human Rights Council Report, “because it decelerates global warming and ecological destruction.”

The UN Report shows that “small-scale farmers can double food production within 10 years in critical regions by using ecological methods” including compost, double digging, and relying on beneficial plants, animals, and insects for pest management. Indeed, Olivier De Schutter, author of the UN report, said that “Malawi is now implementing agro-ecology, benefiting more than 1.3 million of the poorest people, with maize yields increasing from 1 ton/hectare to 2-3 tons/hectare.”

Samuel Teimuge talks to a group about agroforestry to combat deforestation in Kenya.

Samuel Teimuge, who worked with SIA to start his Ukweli Training Center many years ago, teaches bio-intensive methods and has seen how they can increase production while having a minimal affect on the environment. He also leads workshops to help reforestation efforts in the Rift Valley. Trees are important for slowing erosion on the steep slopes.

Mark Bittman from the NY Times urges us to consider agriculture from a global perspective, understanding food as a human right and sustainable agriculture as a high-priority for the world.

In addition to supporting bio-intensive agriculture training in Kenya, it is just as important to support small-scale farmers here in the US, like these young farmers in Oregon.

Do you use bio-intensive methods in your own garden or farm? Share your stories in the comments section!

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Related posts:

• 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)

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Did you catch the hype and fury around the KONY 2012 video about Uganda last week? The video, by Invisible Children, Inc. told about the violence in Uganda in the recent past. However, many people in Uganda are presenting their own responses to the video.

“How do you tell the story of Africans?” asks Rosebell Kagumire, a Ugandan blogger, “because if you are showing me as voiceless, as hopeless… you shouldn’t be telling my story if you don’t believe that I also have the power to change what is going on.”

Godfrey shares the growth of SIA in his community.

How people and organizations present their work is as important as the work itself. Is the grant recipient downcast, child-like, and dirty? Or are they smiling, confident, encouraged?

Meeting all our Spirit in Action Small Business Fund Coordinators last summer in Kenya confirmed for me that THEY are the work of Spirit in Action. Our coordinators are not voiceless or hopeless – they are leaders working to make their communities better places to live.

Today I want to share some excerpts from my interview with Godfrey Matovu, SBF Coordinator in Uganda, about his work to uplift and empower his fellow community members. I hope that listening to him tell his story will also confirm for you that Godfrey, and all of our SIA partners, have the power to change their communities.

Godfrey Matovu:
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: “One time a local leader asked and I had to explain about Spirit in Action and what it is doing. I explained to him: SIA is bringing people together in Uganda.

Ugandans learning how to weave baskets

COMPASSIONATE WORK AT THE CROSSROADS: ”I organize and I train [people] and people know they are welcome to learn or to work. So these things come through Spirit in Action. One of the local leaders said, “this thing that you are sharing, is very good. Why don’t you start over there [at the crossroads] – they are drunkards.” So we are targeting the youth at the crossroads. I started teaching them how to start a business; the handicraft work [like weaving, pottery, and brickmaking]. I tell them “you can make this, you can make this.” We started to gain respect. So far we have trained thirteen people. I am planning more small workshops, for the school dropouts, and those who have lost their parents to come and to start doing this quality work. So that is why I give.

ON DEL ANDERSON, SIA FOUNDER: ”I tell people that Del Anderson came from a poor family. So he decided also to help the poor. I tell them and they understand.

HELPING THOSE WITH HIV/AIDS: ”There are people who are not involved in these programs who are suffering. So what do I do? I just care and counsel them, just give them advice when they are sick or suffering with AIDS. What do I do? I just counsel them; tell them how to handle the sick.

DEALING WITH PREJUDICE: ”Sometimes, most especially in Africa, when you are suffering from HIV/AIDS, some people they fear to touch you, they fear to be near you. So I go there and I am preaching the word of God. I again talk to them and the members who are around, tell them not to avoid him or her, just to get friendship with him.

Godfrey and Tanya in Kenya, August 2011

DEFINING CARE: ”I remember I went to one family and met with a man who was sick. He had skin that was [bad]. He was not doing much bathing or washing. So I started helping, that is what I call care.

GIVING THANKS: “So I have to thank you for this brotherhood of workers. It is not easy but I am doing very good. They are doing very good. We have the groups there [in Uganda] and we are doing good.”

Thank you, Godfrey, and all SIA partners, for serving God by empowering others! We are honored to support these committed change-agents.

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