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Hi All,
Following chicken slaughters and special dances with ancestral sticks, the Kayafungo people wished the interns good-bye today. Tears were shed and coconuts gifted as the interns loaded into vans to return to Mombasa.
Over the past week, potential fellows diligently compiled the last components required for their social business models and advocates finished interviews, collected stories and completed survey research. The initiatives facilitated by the interns are remarkable and stories inspirational.
This Week’s Highlighted Projects:
As an advocate, Nick is focusing on issues associated with the stigma of having and speaking about HIV/AIDS in the Kayafungo Community. Following interviews with families personally affected by HIV/AIDS and tracking trends in testing, he is writing a research paper, which will be published with the University of the Pacific’s Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship.
Xin is reviewing the Ministry of Health policy regarding HIV/AIDS and breastfeeding for her advocates project. She was shocked to learn that the Ministry recommends that mothers who are HIV+ breast-feed their children, although the child may contract the virus through the milk. Xin is interviewing individuals affected by this policy and is writing a persuasive paper regarding the situation and possible alternatives to HIV+ mothers breast-feeding their children.
Rachael is following the fellowship track to initiate a poultry farming business with single mothers. This initiative will create jobs and also address malnutrition. With her community partner, she plans to educate the members on the importance of protein in diet and to create a system whereby the mothers sell both eggs and chickens in a widening market.
Using her public health and veterinary background, Leslie S. is an advocate for Rachael’s fellowship project. To demonstrate the problem of malnutrition in Kayafungo and how a poultry business can alleviate protein deficiencies, she intends to give a presentation about her findings to her public health class, write an article accompanied by photos to be published in an electronic newsletter and edit a short video.
Jessie is developing a micro-finance lending institution in Kayafungo. This institution aims to offer small sums of money in the form of loans to the Kayafungo community using a group loan scheme. Interest paid on the loans will go to fund financial literacy classes to improve business practices and money management.
The interns will stay in Mombasa for the next three days as we do final presentations and concluding meetings. They depart on Sunday evening and transfer through Nairobi, London and then to Washington DC. I bet you are excited to get them home and hear these stories in person!
The 2010 ThinkImpact Fellows arrived in Mombasa yesterday morning and are excited to stay in the new apartment and follow up on the initiatives they started in Kayafungo as interns last summer. Alexandra Crosson is developing a soap-making business with a local women’s group interested in health promotion. And Laura MacArthur is bringing together farmers in Kayafungo to share knowledge and mobilize local assets to combat starvation through a micro-drip irrigation business and demonstration farms. You can follow their blog posts over the year on the ThinkImpact website.
In national news, Kenya is likely to see a new constitution as citizens flocked to the polls yesterday to vote on the referendum. We witnessed a historic day as Kenya voted to pass a law that will drastically change the current constitution bequeathed by their former colonial power. The final results will be announced tomorrow.
Larry Street, Meredith’s dad and professional photographer, helps me reduce my pictures and optimize their exposure for emailing. He is now out of town photographing. We will send pictures when he returns in the next few days.
Peace and love,
Lily
Hello Everyone,
With less than two weeks remaining of our program, the interns continue to prepare their final advocates and fellows projects. Interns are excitedly forming important partnerships with local entrepreneurs, structuring committees and carrying out research using surveys, focus groups and individual interviews.
Early Saturday morning we transferred from Kayafungo to Mombasa for a day of shopping, researching on the Internet, and relaxing by the Indian Ocean. For dinner we feasted at an authentic Swahili restaurant in Old Town. Those not too exhausted from the demanding week in Kayafungo, joined Kenyan friends for dancing at a club on the water.
At 6am on Sunday we met for the start of our safari excursion to Tsavo East and Amboseli National Parks. We were delighted to see lions, giraffes, elephants, impala, waterbucks, monkeys, gazelles, zebras, dik diks and a variety of birds. Missing the hippos and cheetahs gives everyone another reason to return to Kenya. Kelly, Nick, Marty, Ari and Paul are pictured in one of the safari vans. Also pictured is a monkey crossing the road and a family of elephants, some of the interns’ favorites.
Marty turned 22 on Wednesday and Stephanie turns 21 this coming Tuesday. We will be celebrating together on Sunday evening during our last night in Mariakani.
In other ThinkImpact news, we identified the location of our new ThinkImpact office and apartment in Mombasa! As our new full-time country director, Abdallah will be running office logistics and supporting the Global Development Internship and Fellowship programs. Two ThinkImpact fellows arrive next week to stay for eight months to a year. They will be using the apartment and office as a base as they carry out their social business initiatives in Kayafungo.
This Week’s Highlighted Projects:
Following the advocacy track, Marty is writing an article focused on the importance of family planning in alleviating poverty. She will compare two families, one with two kids and the other with many more, to show the benefits of a smaller family. Then she will present her research discussing the social barriers that inhibit families from participating in family planning.
Also an advocate, Patrick is working with three secondary schools in the Kayafungo Location to explore the issues surrounding access to education. He is using surveys and statistical analysis to evaluate the relationships between education, poverty, health and any other issues he discovers affect educational opportunities.
In response to health issues that exist as a result of people walking barefoot, Paul is developing a shoe-making business on the fellowship track. Using recycled materials, including old tires, he is working with local shoemakers to create inexpensive, atheistic footwear.
Pictured are Paddy, Meredith, Jessie and Leslie in front of the supply shop in Mariakani called, “In God We Trust.”
Hope you are having a good week!
Peace and love,
Lily
Hello Everyone,
After completing a grueling two weeks of monitoring and evaluation, the interns are excited for the next component. Each intern submitted an extensive report of their analysis on the effect of ThinkImpact’s past projects. Xin and Ari are pictured playing valuation games with the students to ascertain the monetary value of the impact of our latrine and hand-washing station project.
Over the weekend, we celebrated the birthdays of Jessie and Casey (pictured) with a delicious chocolate in the shape of a butterfly and fun at the hotel in Mariakani. Next weekend interns are looking forward to a two-night safari in Amboseli and Tsavo game reserves.
Interns who pursue the Fellowship are mobilizing community members around a business idea. The intern partners with an inspired community entrepreneur to leverage local assets to facilitate the creation of a social business. If selected, the fellow spends the next year deepening his/her understanding of the social business, expanding the network for product development, and fundraising. After completing the training in Washington DC and reaching fundraising targets, the fellow returns to Kenya for a fully funded year to develop the social business.
Global Development Advocates create projects to raise awareness of an issue they are passionate about. They use any medium they choose to demonstrate the values of ThinkImpact and the importance of innovation and social enterprise. Upon completion of the program, Advocates will have the opportunity to speak at conferences, present on college campuses, host film, photography and art showings and publish relevant research in magazines and in journals.
Some Interns are choosing to partner together so that an Advocate supports the initiative of a potential Fellow. On Sunday night Rachael Gordon (team leader) led a full group brainstorming session analyzing major issues in Kayafungo and potential projects. She is pictured taking notes on ideas spewing from the excited interns.
This Week’s Highlighted Projects:
Arianna and Stephanie are working on an Advocates project to create a collaborative art book with students from two local secondary schools, which will be compiled and published in the United States. The Advocates are asking students to discuss their passions, hopes, fears, problems and creative solutions for the future in art or writing form. The project will serve two main purposes. First, they will motivate and inspire students in Kayafungo while helping them understand that their voices are important and can be heard. Secondly, they will change the public’s misconceptions about rural education in Africa by showcasing the impressive skills and abilities of these students.
On the Fellowship track, Anna is proposing to develop a social entrepreneurship club in a secondary day school in Kayafungo. In Mwijo Secondary School, the school ThinkImpact initiated and built in 2009, the social entrepreneurship club plans to grow and sell soybeans in order to address malnutrition problems. Profit generated through the club will address challenges students face in education, particularly difficulties paying their school fees.
Kelly is following the Advocates track to partner with Anna on her Fellowship initiative. In a bound booklet she will provide information about and pictures of the school, biographies of the students, analysis of their educational issues and an overview of Anna’s project. She will present the obstacles restricting primary students from advancing their studies, particularly school fees, and how Anna’s innovative enterprise can make secondary education sustainable.
Also on the Fellowship track, Casey is partnering with a local seamstress and women’s group. The seamstress will train the women’s group and girls to sew school uniforms to be sold. Profits will fund the girls’ secondary school education.
Look forward to more projects highlighted next week!
Finally, the ThinkImpact Kenya staff wish you a happy day! Pictured: Lily Muldoon (Managing Director), Rachael Estess (Team Leader), Abdallah Mohamed (Country Director), Rachel Gordon (Team Leader) and Meredith Street (Team Leader).
Peace and love,
Lily
Letter from Sarah Whitney, Managing Director in South Africa:
As South Africa wrapped up the World Cup last night with a 1-0 victory by Spain over the Netherlands, the Global Development Interns are beginning on a whole new journey. After a relaxing trip to Djuma Game Reserve last week, with sights of Big 5 animals, delicious meals, and refreshing showers, the interns are back at work. They began last week on the second stage of the GDI, either choosing to follow the Fellowship or Advocacy paths that ThinkImpact has developed to showcase their understanding and commitment of poverty reduction, social enterprise, and global development. Those who choose the Fellowship path will be working over the next three weeks to facilitate the development of small businesses under the direction of local community members. Those who take the Advocacy path will be pursuing an interest of their own in conjunction with a community partner to develop a tangible representation of the community in which they live and work. They will use this to advocate to their home communities and universities about challenges and opportunities in poverty reduction and community development in rural South Africa.
The interns have already begun to showcase their talents, understanding, and creativity over the past week. While some are pursuing partnerships with local community members who wish to start social businesses surrounding farming, funeral services, and education, others are building advocacy initiatives focused on HIV/AIDS, marriage, leadership, and daily life in the communities. It is a very exciting time here in Manyeleti and I, along with the rest of the ThinkImpact South Africa staff, cannot wait to see the results of all this hard work. We will be sure to update you again soon on the great progress the interns are making!
Posted by Sarah Whitney
It has been an exciting week so far in Manyeleti, South Africa! The Global Development Interns for ThinkImpact have arrived in Dixie, Makrepeni, and Uta. There are 12 interns this year and they will be living and working in the communities for eight weeks. The ThinkImpact staff has already recognized so much potential in this year’s South Africa GDIs in the short time since we began training in DC last week. The GDIs spent the day yesterday visiting all of ThinkImpact’s past initiatives in Manyeleti, including the high school soccer fields, primary school libraries, and community centers. Today the GDIs began using field work tools for asset-based community development (ABCD) to learn more about their communities and create a foundation for the work they will be doing over the next eight weeks. With the excitement over the World Cup reaching its peak in South Africa (only three days before the competition begins!) we are equally excited to see what the GDIs will accomplish this summer.
As the Uta Community Center nears completion, we are anticipating an exciting opening celebration and great chance for the Uta GDIs to get involved. As soon as electricity is installed, the community will be able to watch the World Cup games at the center. This will provide a safe space for fun for the whole community and a great start for the revenue-generating activity and small business involvement at the center. Women will be able to sell snacks, drinks, and other goods at the games and community members will pay a small fee for entrance. The GDIs will be completing monitoring and evaluation assessments of the community center over the next month to determine the “social return on investment” of this ThinkImpact fellowship initiative. The GDIs will also have a chance to attend the opening of the center and will be able to see the development of community programs over the next two months. This will be a great resource for the GDIs to get a first-hand experience of the successes and challenges that come with pursuing a fellowship as they complete their internship field work and begin to develop a sense of where they wish to go next. We are excited to see the advocacy projects and fellowship proposals for social businesses that come out of this year’s GDI in South Africa, and will be updating you soon on all that’s going on Dixie, Makrepeni, and Uta.
Posted by Claire Bristow and Sarah Whitney, Global Development Fellows
Today a loved committee member passed away. Lizzie had a smile that could brighten anyone’s day. Her laugh was infectious. Lizzie died of TB while staying in a hospital 45 minutes away in Acornhoek. She had been in the hospital for over a month when it happened. She was so strong and so alive just a few months ago. She has young children that will now grow up without her.
We got to know Lizzie when she shared some brilliant thoughts with us about what she wanted to see in her community. She was looking forward to the business opportunities that the community hall would bring. As one of our most dedicated and involved committee members, Lizzie brought such valuable ideas to our meetings and played such an important part in making the community hall possible.
Posted by Sarah Whitney and Claire Bristow, Global Development Fellows
As construction on the Uta Community Center comes to an end, the Project Steering Committee has been working diligently to ensure that not only will the physical structure be functional and the programs empowering for the community, but also that the building and the land will be a beautiful addition to the landscape of the village. The committee has been debating paint colors at recent meetings and looks forward to working with members of the community, especially youth, to create murals on many of the walls of the center. Over the past few weeks, we have been working with members of the committee to begin clearing the land on which the hall is built. Hoeing and raking weeds in the afternoon sun is not an easy task, but the group is committed to creating a beautiful, clean space in which to plant flowers, design pathways, and highlight the new building in their community. Today, the leaders of the Uta community are holding a meeting to invite all members of the community to help in beautifying the new center. They are asking people to volunteer their time to clean the land, plant flowers, and prepare the center for its opening. This work will all culminate in a celebration in June to welcome all residents of Uta to the new community center, honor the work of the Project Steering Committee, introducing new community programs that will fill the building, and enjoy a day of food, music, and fun. We can’t wait to update you with more pictures of construction and look forward to writing about the opening celebration at the community center in June!
Shangaan word of the day – sasekile – beautiful
Posted by Claire Bristow and Sarah Whitney, Global Development Fellows
Now that the community center building has totally taken shape we are excited to really get moving on the INSIDE! The committee has made big plans for programs that will run inside for fitness, education, computer and world cup screenings. Now that the committee has all of these programs planned and ready they are looking for the equipment and furnishings they will need. The Project Steering Committee has decided to divide and conquer to get what they need.
Two girls, Excellent and Ethel are making big plans for the computer room. They have been working on a business plan for an internet cafe that will provide people in Utah with computer access in their village for the first time! Excellent and Ethel will be looking for donations for anything to make this possible. They need computers, a printer, a fax, a photocopier, paper, desk, chairs. Their dedication to this project is amazing. They see huge potential for the people of Utah and for themselves. They are both very young mothers who are so intelligent and have so much to offer and this project can provide them with a job and skills they will need to further themselves. They both have had computer training so they will be able to assist the people of Utah with resumes, emails, job searches, news websites and much more! They will be writing letters and calling potential donors to gain the resources to get this idea off the ground.
Rames, a soccer and fitness enthusiast will be focusing on getting sports equipment for the hall so that soccer teams and individuals will be able to work on their fitness and wellness! He is hoping to find equipment donations from gyms. He is looking to start with free weights and simple exercise tools to get this idea moving. He wants to see people coming to the community center gym every day to lift weights and train. He knows how important fitness is for health and he wants Uta to have access to a new way to train.
Thoko is a member of the local government of Uta (the Community Development Forum). She is also a member of the Project Steering Committee and has dedicated her time to work to get those resources that will be necessary for community meetings. This means Thoko will be trying to find enough chairs, a podium and tables. She will be looking for wholesalers and donors for these.
The last initiative that the Project Steering Committee is looking towards is a projector, a screen and black out curtains! These can be used to screen World Cup soccer matches and films. This will help provide a safe place for young people to hangout and watch the games. This will also help to generate income for local women who can sell food and beverages at these events.
All of these programs are going to help give the people of Uta something they’ve never had access to and are going to generate income for the community. With these tools, anything is possible!
Posted by Sarah Whitney and Claire Bristow, Global Development Fellows
Today marks the two-month countdown to the 2010 FIFA World Cup here in South Africa. It would be an understatement to say that South Africans are excited. Everything in the country has revolved around soccer and preparations for the greatest competition in the sport since the host site was announced by FIFA in 2004. Things are no different here in Utah, where kids are looking forward to their four-week school break in June scheduled especially to accommodate the event and a lucky few community members have scored tickets to matches across the country.
The Project Steering Committee is hoping to make the most of the World Cup at the community hall and plans are underway to ensure that soccer-mania does not pass without taking advantage of the new facility. The committee hopes to host viewing parties for the community in the hall by setting up a big screen and projector for all of the matches. By charging a small fee for entrance to these events, the committee will be able to generate an income for maintenance and utility costs and future community initiatives at the hall. During the viewings, local entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to market and sell their goods to soccer fans, boosting their profits and developing business opportunities within the hall. Many women will be sure to make use of the building’s kitchen to sell snacks and beverages to hungry viewers.
The timing of the World Cup also brings a great opportunity for the Project Steering Committee to involve the local soccer teams in the opening of the community hall and its programmes. The PSC secretary, Rames Mndlhovu, is currently working with the three teams in Utah to develop a plan for their use of the hall. Rames hopes that the facility’s health and fitness space can provide players with a safe place to use equipment such as free weights, while also serving as a resource for health education initiatives. We hope that in the future, the teams can also make use of the meeting spaces for mentoring opportunities with local youth, taking advantage of their interest in soccer to motivate peer education and tutoring programmes within the schools and community.
With all the hype leading up to the 2010 tournament, the adverts are right: the world is watching. So are we, and we can’t wait to see what lays ahead for soccer, sport, education, health, and empowerment opportunities in the new community hall.
Shangaan word of the day – bolo – soccer
Posted by Sarah Whitney and Claire Bristow, Global Development Fellows
Programming begins! We are so excited to get programs running even before the community hall is up and running! The plan is to have groups and programs that can begin use of the hall the day it opens, so that means our committee has a lot of work to do to get these programs started. Each committee member is currently committed to starting one group to run inside the hall to help their community.
The most progressed of the programs is that of dramas! Two members of our committee, Angie and Lucky, have mobilized young people to participate in plays that teach of HIV/AIDS, TB, and safe sex.
The plays with older students will be performed in English, which is an exciting way for young people to further their language skills. Angie is helping children with their reading and pronunciation after school. She spends her time, for no money, to help children learn this language that will define their future. All students in Uta have to complete exams in English in order to graduate from high school. All employers require that their staff speak English, especially in a region where tourism is so vital to the economy. This extra practice is a push that the students really need.
Lucky is helping young children to practice and perform plays at a local church. These are done in Shangaan to ensure understanding. The children will learn about health issues through these plays and others will learn by watching the performances.
We can’t wait to go and watch these plays be performed once the hall opens!
Shangaan word of the day – rihanyu – health
