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.

Building community is central to Spirit in Action’s vision of empowerment and change. Our grants are about bringing people together – to plant a community garden, start a micro-savings group, educate girls – encouraging people to learn, work, and live together to improve a community.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how the Small Business Fund grants spark families to work and achieve together. Similarly, and not surprisingly, at the core of our Community Grants program is a desire to bring people together in larger communities.

I Was a Stranger

CIFORD Kenya engages support from the whole community to support education for girls.

For the last 40 days, Sojourners Magazine’s devotional emails have followed the “I Was a Stranger” Challenge, which used Bible verses about welcoming the stranger to highlight the need for just immigration reform in the U.S.

It surprised me just how much is in the Bible about the stranger. For example, “When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them. Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34). Over and over again, the Bible makes it pretty clear: treat people fairly, no matter where they come from; welcome them, because you never know when you might find yourself in need of hospitality.

Hospitality builds community, in part, because it is a gift to both the giver and receiver. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). Both the host and the hosted have the opportunity to meet angels.

Eight months ago I came to Canada – an immigrant – and I’ve received so much of the generous hospitality to newcomers. But just last week I was able to help a woman in the grocery store find what she needed, “I’m new in town,” she said by way of explanation. And so, I helped her, because I once was the newest newcomer. Plus, who knows, she might be an angel.

A very full community hall in Manyamula -
all are gathered for a presentation about financial literacy.

It’s Good For You

Welcoming all people as citizens is community-building. In our culture, we are used to focusing on the individual and we can forget the fact that most people are seeking connections and appreciate invitations to join community. Also, research shows that people in spiritual communities live longer and be in better health. This is not only because people are encouraged by their faith, but also because people in community – churches, meditation groups, prayer groups – are taken care of; people in community look after each other.

Spirit in Action grants are ways to build this community. The Manyamula Village Savings and Loans group established a social fund, along with their other business and lending activities. The cooperative, which now has 150 members, waives the initial fee for a number of widows and other poor in their community, so that they can join the group. This small act of generosity brings in the outsider, widens the community, and increases diversity all of which are crucial steps towards our goal of community and empowerment.

Related Posts:

• Who’s Afraid of Diversity?
• Family Matters – At Home and in Malawi
• There is Power in Community

The question “what does Spirit in Action do?” has many different answers. The thing is, Spirit in Action has two distinct approaches to empowering others.

Small Business Fund

Hastings and Ruth started a brick-making business in Malawi.

On one hand is the Small Business Fund (SBF). Started in 2005, the Small Business Fund is a SIA-specific program where all grantees, whether they are in Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, or Nigeria, go through the same training program of business and communication skill development. The local coordinators work closely with me and consult with each other as they implement this program in their communities.

In the SBF, we are directly giving $150 to families to help them take on a new livelihood and improve their lives. (For more about how the SBF works, see these FAQs.)

Community Grants

On the other hand, Spirit in Action is also a traditional grant-maker, like a community foundation or a family foundation, giving grants to grassroots organizations throughout the world that will implement their own programs.

These grassroots organizations (also called “community-based organizations”) are already working to eliminate poverty, grow more food, or stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, etc. in their community. Think of these groups as similar to your local PTA, community gardening association, local health clinic, or save the shore kind of group. They are concerned citizens who want to make things better for their neighbors and for the community as a whole.

Tanya and student volunteers at SIA poultry project house in Kitale, Kenya.

The small grants, ranging from $500-4,000, support a wide variety of local solutions for the challenges that each community faces. Past SIA grants have start community gardens and collaborative farming efforts, poultry projects, bio-intensive garden trainings, girl’s empowerment workshops, and a savings and loans cooperative.

Why don’t we just fund one type of project, like building wells? Because we’ve seen that 1) solutions brought forth from the community are more effective and quickly gain community buy-in; and 2) empowerment is about trusting communities to know what will best address their problems.

Sometimes a well might be the answer, other times the answer might be water tanks to catch rainwater.

Of course, we don’t just fund every proposal that comes in; I take time to review proposals, develop relationships, give feedback, ask questions, and pray for guidance. (Read more about choosing partners here.)

Common Principle

Sharing the Gift of a pig in Uganda.

Even though we have two methods of serving communities in Africa, one principle brings the two techniques together, and that is Sharing the Gift. This pay-it-forward initiative is key to both the Small Business Fund and community grants. It’s implemented in different ways: for example, tithing business profits in the Small Business Fund, or creating an emergency relief fund by a Community Grant group. In both, the idea of blessing others as we have been blessed and giving generously to others is central to SIA’s vision of change.

If you have more questions about what we do or how we do it, leave a comment or email me (Tanya) at admin@godsspiritinaction.org!

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist

I never doubted that the small group of thoughtful, committed people who came together two years ago to form the Manyamula Village Savings and Loans (MAVISALO) group in Malawi could change their community.

In explaining how small groups can achieve big things, author Henry Hemming looks to the power of giving. “Groups that last longer consist of members who make an equal contribution, creating fellowship, camaraderie and value.” With everyone giving, people can achieve more together than they can on their own.

Collective action to achieve a greater good was the reason for starting MAVISALO.

Pet shows us his farm, which he was able to expand with a small MAVISALO loan. (Malawi, 2011)

One of the great needs in Manyamula Village was access to capital; money to start and improve businesses and farms, money to pay for school and medical fees. The most common way of addressing this need, commercial micro-finance with high interest rates, is usually counterproductive.

Instead, people in Manyamula were ready with their own solution: a locally managed and collectively run savings and loans group. SIA responded to this enthusiasm with an initial grant for an income-generating poultry project and information about starting the cooperative.

Two years later MAVISALO is growing, thriving, and learning. They are continually improving access to credit, encouraging savings, serving others in the community, and creating fellowship among group members.

Improving Individual Lives

MAVISALO Treasurer with chicken feed for poultry project

Canaan Gondwe, in his annual report of MAVISALO’s progress, shared some of the “eminent and noticeable successes and impacts on livelihood” among individual group members:

• Easy access to financial services
• Creation of self-employment among members
• Increased asset creation (i.e. better houses, motorcycles, bicycles, livestock)
• Food secure households
• Members afford medical bills in private clinics
• Members support their children with school fees

Business Investments

Tanya with MAVISALO group members in 2011 – all wearing the MAVISALO cloth uniform.

The group has also made a collective investment in a cloth project as another way to increase their loan fund. Together they agreed on a cloth to buy and then purchased the fabric in bulk at a wholesale discount. Cloth pieces were sold to members at retail price with profit going back into the group’s loan fund.

Through this process they increased the amount available to loan to group members and also created a de facto uniform for group members!

Audit

Always looking at ways to improve and be transparent, MAVISALO hosted two officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the COMSIP Cooperative Union to audit their books.

Canaan reports that, “it was quite an enriching encounter for us for the first time to have auditors and look at our records in a comprehensive way. Their remark after a review was an impressive one, such that at national level they want us at the MAVISALO Cooperative to train many other community groups in effective and transparent recording. 

A page out of the MAVISALO expenditure records book.

“They were satisfied with our member filing system, cash receipts, payment vouchers, reporting, photography, and development of relevant forms for use.”

Perhaps most importantly for the small groups potential to achieve great things, the auditors also, “were surprised at the unity of the members and the way the Cooperative provides its services to the community.” Yes!

Congratulations to MAVISALO for all your accomplishments in 2012! I am confident that this year will provide many more opportunities for your small (but growing) group to achieve big things and change the world.