Spirit in Action is honored to partner with amazing community-based organizations, run by people who are passionate and knowledgeable about sparking change in their own communities. Below is a report written by Margaret Ikiara, Founder and Program Coordinator of CIFORD Kenya, about the impact of a SIA grant on women in her community.

Grandmother Rebecca Ncekei (left) is proud to receive a water tank from Jolly Kathambi, the CIFORD Kenya Gender Issues Program officer.

Rebecca Ncekei is one of the grandmothers who attends the weekly meetings for the Muthara Guardian group*, which meets next to our office.

The group meets every Monday afternoon and has a total of 41 members who are all guardians. Rebecca comes from the furthest village, walking for almost ten kilometers [6.25 miles] to attend the group, and still she has been among the very committed members of the group.

Rebecca has received ridicule from the neighbors who laugh at her and tell her that she does useless work walking for 1oKm to and from for just a group meeting.

Margaret (in purple) acts as mentor to all the guardian groups.

But Rebecca knows the value of the group. On April 26^th she was among the people to receive the water tanks from CIFORD Kenya. When she went home with the tank, she became the hero of the village. Everybody wants to know where she got the tank from!

Talking about the value of the tank, Rebecca was quick to say, “I have been having problems with my legs when I  go looking for water, and I had to wait for my grandchildren to come from school to fetch water. Now the problem is solved.”

“All the people in my village can now see  that I have a group which can support the elder women in the society,” were Rebecca’s words.

I have decided to share this story from Rebecca because every time she comes for the meeting she has to tell CIFORD staff of a new group wanting partnership and the way the water tank has helped her be recognized in the society.

Rebecca has been an ambassador for CIFORD in the villages nearby. She has also been a catalyst for CIFORD, as those are groups that CIFORD had wanted to work; they were slow in making decisions and are now very eager to be active to work with CIFORD.

We thank all of you for making Rebecca a proud grandma and making it happen at CIFORD. We appreciate your continued support and encouragement.

Tanya’s note: The water tanks collect water in the rainy season, storing it to be used further into the dry season. This water storage reduces the need to walk far distances to gather water. Since many of the families in the area rely on small gardens to produce food to eat, these tanks can nourish a family and help them produce extra food to sell. The tanks are purchased locally.

*The Guardians groups are support and self-help groups for men and women who are caring for children (often their own grandchildren) whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS.

The guardians usually spend part of their time together dancing and singing.

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.

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).

It could have been a scene from my own visit to in Kenya in 2011 – the dusty roads, the matatus (taxi vans) with hawkers hanging out of the windows, children singing and dancing with glee – but actually, it was just the setting of the beautiful, uplifting film, The First Grader.

Stunning scenery in Meru National Park in Kenya.

The movie, from 2011, is based on the true story of Kimani Maruge, an 84-year old man who hears in 2003 that the Kenyan government is now offering “free primary education for all” and decides to take them up on the offer!

See, Maruge has an important letter from the Office of the President and he wants to learn to read so that he can read it himself. And he overcomes many challenges from the community and haunting memories to keep studying and learning.

Throughout the film we see flashbacks to a traumatic past when Maruge was held in the British Detention Camps along with other members of the Mau Mau movement, who fought against the British in 1952-60. (This is a complicated history! For more about the Mau Mau Uprisings, read the Wikipedia page.)

Seeing Kenya

Hens in Rose’s chicken coup. She bought 6 chickens with her SIA grant and now has over 60!

The movie, filmed in Kenya with local school children acting as Maruge’s classmates, shows so many typical scenes from the country.

You see the use of cell phones (which are very common throughout Kenya, and are now helping people transfer cash electronically; read more HERE), and the ubiquitous chickens, goats, and dogs running around people’s houses. There’s also the mandatory reference to Obama, the Kenyan who moved into the White House.

We also see a wide variety of homes, from huts with inside cooking fires and no electricity, to brick houses with tin roofs and barred windows, to middle-class apartments in Nairobi.

Valuing Teachers

A mural on the Samro School, run by Rhoda Teimuge, in Eldoret.

The First Grader shows the teacher Jane being frustrated with lack of desks. But it also shows her being able to achieve teaching with few materials and in a wooden building. Sometimes it’s not the infrastructure that matters most with schools, it’s the teachers. Jane is engaged, passionate, loves the children, and gives generously.

Sometimes, with the enthusiasm for building schools in Kenya, we forget the importance and centrality of teacher training, pay, and good working conditions.

Accessing “Free” Education

For me, the movie was an important reminder of the value placed on education in Kenya and the barriers to even access the “free” primary education. Students must buy uniforms and shoes and bring pencils and other supplies. They may either have to walk long distances or pay for a bus or bike ride to school.

So, it’s understandable that many families who receive Spirit in Action Small Business Fund grants to start a business, use their first profits to send children back to school.

In Kenya, we visited Rose Ayabei, who received a SIA Small Business Fund $150 grant in 2009 to start a poultry business. In 2011 she had over 60 chickens! She told us that she dedicated to keeping the business working so that she can pay for her children to continue attending school. The boys walk 2km on muddy roads to attend school.

Maruge knew the importance of education, and overcame prejudice and ignorance, and his past struggles, to patiently learn to read and share that importance of learning with the other children in the class. Let’s help more families send their children – boys and girls – to school, making a better future for Kenya.

Rose Ayabei’s children

Stories about Africa aren’t always in our mainstream news. Yet, I still like to keep informed about where we are working, so today I share some of the great alternative news sources with stories from Africa.

1. Kenyan Elections

Important Kenyan elections are coming up on March 4th! Since the violent response to the last presidential elections, many organizations have been working to ensure a peaceful process this time.

You can read helpful updates about the coming election here: http://kenyanelections2013.org.

The website is an initiative of the African Great Lakes Initiative, which “promotes peace activities at the grassroots level in the Great Lakes region of Africa (Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda).” Let’s keep praying for a peaceful election on March 4th.

Post-election violence and reconciliation workshop in Eldoret, 2010.

2. Food Shortage in Malawi

The United Nations Department of Public Information recently published an informative article about the current food crisis in Malawi.

I asked Canaan Gondwe, our partner in Malawi, for his view of the situation: “Yes, there is hunger in the southern regions of Malawi and the president is everyday on the roads distributing maize to thousands of people. Subsidy program seem to have flopped. Farmers can get coupons to buy fertilizer but you can sometimes hardly find the fertilizer on the market.

My visit to Kubadwa Tembo’s farm in Manyamula in July 2011.

“The past 3-4 years we had our food basket full but in the last year it has been empty. WHY? Lack of political will to agriculture programs and a “top down” approach to agriculture production. There is a need to involve and hear from people at grassroots level.

3. Africa Today

For people who like to listen to their news instead of read it, there is the short and eclectic Africa Today podcast from the BBC. (You can listen to the news stories on your computer, or transfer it to a iPod/iPad.)

Yesterday’s episode had a news update about the clashes in Mali, opposition in Egypt, and a beautiful story about Malian musicians singing for peace. It’s a good mix of culture, continental politics, and local stories from many countries across Africa – all with a African perspective.

**And after you’ve read the news, I invite you to experience a moment of prayer, with this, from Del, about how we can influence the world:

We can, in balance, rhythm, and alignment with God, and in working with others, open ourselves as instruments for God’s symphony, prayer-soaked members with hearts open wide to be used by God, instruments of love and caring.