Do you remember your 16^th birthday? For me, it was an important milestone – a transition from having to ask for rides to the freedom of driving my own car. Flying down the freeway in my yellow ’76 VW Bug with the engine roaring, gave me a sense of joy and excitement. (Don’t worry; the car maxed out at 65 mph!)

Tanya Cothran at 16 years old in her VW Bug!

But the car also brought responsibilities. My sister and I had to learn how to push start the car from second gear and figure out how it was going to pass the smog check. It was worth it, though!

On May 5^th, Spirit in Action will celebrate its 16^th anniversary and I think it will also bring the same mixed sense of joy and responsibility. We have the sense of moving forward – the wind in our hair, so to speak – the excitement of really changing lives and communities in Africa. Meeting SIA change-makers and community organizers last summer was a real thrill. At the anniversary event, I’ll share about Canaan Gondwe, who is one of SIA’s great role models effecting change in his village in rural Malawi.

Our “sweet sixteen” birthday also brings responsibility for Spirit in Action. We must figure out how to stay true to Del’s dream and innovate to provide the best support to our worldwide partners. I’ll be moving to Toronto, Canada this summer and we’ll have to work out some details regarding that change. I’ll keep you posted as we settle into these new situations.

Sharing the Gift

The motivation for the silent auction part of this celebration came after Boyd and I met with the Small Business Fund Coordinators in Kenya last summer. We were showered with beautiful gifts from our SIA partners and rather than keep them all for ourselves (as tempting as that was!) we recognized the chance to share the gift! Each of these items are an opportunity to take a bit of SIA home with you and also support more SIA craft businesses. Click here to see the full list of auction items. Here is a taste of our unique auction offerings (click on image for larger copy):

Handmade briefcase by SIA partners in DR Congo. Wonderful leather work. Boyd has his eye on this one!

Clay pot made by SIA Small Business craftspeople in Uganda. Safely brought back in our suitcases.

Decorative carved wood from SIA craftspeople in Malawi.

Necklace with wooden animal beads made by orphans at Samuel Teimuge's school in Kenya.

Leather patchwork purse from SIA partners in DR Congo. Distinctive and beautiful.

P.S. I hope that you will be able to join us in the celebration! You can RSVP to me at admin@godsspiritinaction.org, or 831-227-1169. If you can’t be there and you want to put an initial bid on any of the items, email me and I’ll put your name on the list!

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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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Rows of crops on the Common Ground "Feed the Village" farm

The view out the window of the minibus from Eldoret to Kitale, Kenya was surprisingly familiar. Though I was on a continent well known for its deserts, the rows and rows of corn made the Kenyan countryside look just like the rolling hills of Iowa or South Dakota! I now know that Kitale is the “breadbasket of Kenya.”

During our visit with Joshua Machinga of Commmon Ground just outside Kitale, Boyd and I were impressed with the abundant produce on his farm and kitchen gardens. Machinga uses bio-intensive agriculture techniques, which he learned at Manor House Kenya, to produce more food without chemical inputs. All the produce here goes to feed the 400 students at Pathfinder Academy, where Machinga is the director.

Spirit in Action Poultry Project

Next to the Pathfinder kitchen garden stands the impressive SIA Poultry Project – a sturdy building close enough to the kale and maize beds to provide the chickens with some greens and the garden with some chicken manure. Now that’s a great exchange!

SIA Poultry Project house made with sturdy materials and built to last many years. Maize in training garden grows in front. Chicken droppings are used for compost in the garden.

Students are assigned a rotating schedule to check for eggs. The chicken coop is right next to the school and cafeteria area.

As we entered the poultry house, five Pathfinder students proudly showed us around the two rooms, one for the layers (chickens for eggs) and another for the broilers (chicken for meat). Machinga has conducted several trainings with students on how to manage the chicks and student volunteers take turns caring for the chickens, feeding them, helping the vet with vaccinations, collecting eggs, and even slaughtering them when the time comes. He told us that the younger children like to care for the young chicks and keep them warm during their first nights.

Project Success

Some of the eggs are used in school meals, some are sold to local families, and most of the meat is sold to a local restaurant! After the initial Spirit in Action Community Grant, the Common Ground SIA Poultry Project is now self-sustaining, with profits from the chickens being put into buying more chicks to expand the operation.

What else? A scholarship fund has been created with some of the poultry project profits! The student with the best 2010 exam scores got a scholarship for this year’s school fees as he graduated from Pathfinder and went on to secondary school. “His favorite subject is history,” Machinga told us, which brought a nod of approval from Boyd.

Fresh eggs for sale! A Common Ground employee takes eggs to market on the back of his bike.

What’s making me happy this week: SIA supports education through the economic empowerment of our amazing community partners!

Tanya and student volunteers at SIA poultry project house.

Related Posts:

• A Report by Joshua Machinga, Common Ground Program – Poultry Project
• Poultry Project Update – October 2010

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After the minibus could make it no further along the muddy road, we all got out to walk the rest of the way. Dennis Kiprop, always cheerful and positive, told us that it wouldn’t be too much further. Three-quarters of an hour later, with muddy shoes and cold toes, I and the other thirteen SIA Conference attendees finally made it the house of Rose Ayabei.

Our minibus couldn't make it any further up the muddy hill, so we got out to walk.

After a morning of meeting at the Ukweli Training Center in Eldoret, Kenya this past August, Dennis was taking the group of SIA partners and Small Business Fund (SBF) Coordinators from all over Africa to meet some of his enthusiastic SBF group leaders in the area. I use the phrase “in the area” loosely because we soon realized that Rose’s family lived at quite a distance from Dennis’s home in downtown Eldoret.

Dedicated Volunteers

It was sometime during the hour-long bus ride to Rose’s that I came to appreciate the devotion and dedication of our SBF Coordinators. Dennis had made this long journey more than a few times over the yearlong period that SIA follows the new SBF businesses. He continues to make the journey both because Rose is always inviting him come see the progress and because he is committed to supporting the new business leaders and encouraging them in their endeavors.

Our SBF Coordinators work as volunteers for SIA and receive stipends from SIA to cover their expenses (for travel, internet use, postage, etc.), as well as respect from their neighbors and communities for the work they do to bring development to the area through the Small Business Fund. Ms. Nalu Prossy, the SBF Coordinator from Uganda said at the conference, “I do that work as a volunteer because it is in my heart, I have that spirit of helping others.” When she meets with new groups for business and skills training, “I help them, encourage them, share the work with them, comfort the widows.”

Tanya Cothran and Nalu Prossy walking in the mud.

Valuable Conference

The conference this summer in Kenya, supported by SIA donors, was an important time for SIA partners and SBF Coordinators to share, learn, and grow together. We met for four days, reviewing training materials, addressing common challenges, developing African leadership, and planning for further collaboration after we all returned home. I heard beautiful stories of communities flourishing through SIA SBF and the Sharing the Gift program, which spreads the impact of SIA even further into the community. I also heard concerns about the cost of traveling to monitor the groups and after making the long journey to see Rose’s poultry house, I began to understand the length that the Coordinators go to make SIA SBF groups feel supported and encouraged.

SIA partners walking on the muddy road.

Even though it was costly to bring all the Coordinators to Kenya for the week, the benefits far outweighed the costs. I left the gathering with a real sense of gratitude that we were able to meet each other in person and establish an even stronger sense of community among the SIA partners. The coordinators developed connections among themselves and they are working to build resources that will help each of them in their work with SIA. One of the requests that came out of the meeting was to build an online community so that they can keep in touch with the whole group until we meet again –hopefully in a few years!  Canaan Gondwe, from Malawi, expressed his gratitude at the end of the conference, “Thanks to the SIA board and donors – it was not easy to bring us here. For some it was the first time to get into a plane, and the first time to come to Kenya. Thank you, thank you, so much. Yewo chimene.”

New shared experiences

The trudge through the mud to Rose’s poultry farm was longer than expected and the SIA partners, now friends with partners from other countries, caught each other as they started to slip, cheered as they finally reached the minibus, and even washed off my shoes for me after we got back to our rooms! Dennis said that Boyd and I had now had a true “African experience” and, more importantly, it helped the group create a strong bond of support and mutual respect.

We finally make it back to the minibus!

Washing Tanya's muddy shoes

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If a photo is worth a thousand words, this post is worth at least 5,000 words! You should be getting your SIA Newsletter in the mail soon, or you can download a copy here. I always have so many more photos to include than will actually fit in the newsletter, so here are five more for you!

SIA SBF Coordinator, Godfrey Matovu, with his new laptop! Before, he had to keep all his records in notebooks and now he can use this laptop, which was donated by a generous SIA donor. (Uganda)

Woman with a piglet, which she is going to give away through Sharing the Gift to another family in need. (Uganda) Read more about Sharing the Gift in the SIA newsletter!

Ifiok Ubong Friday (in the white shirt) started this retail fuel business with a SIA SBF grant. He has pledged 3% of his profit to help another group get started. (Nigeria)

This group of SIA partners and Small Business Fund Coordinators gathered for 5 days in Eldoert, Kenya this summer. We had people from all over Africa there!

We visited Stella in her farm with lush kale crops. She rotates the crop between maize/beans and kale to get the maximum yield. (Kenya)

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