Back in Mariakani again and had a short time on the internet to connect with the outside world. I feel so oblivious to what is happening globally, as the only news we get here is in Kiswahili and primarily focused on the health of Raila Odinga (the Kenyan PM) as well as the upcoming vote to change the Kenyan constitution. It is quite nice though to disconnect from technology and just enjoy talking to people and spending quality time with others!!

So to quickly summarize this past week, the interns moved into the second chunk of our work here in Kayafungo, where we started with capacity inventories. Basically, we go around our subareas in Kayafungo, mine being Mbalamweni which is soo huge, but absolutely beautiful with palm trees and lush green everywhere. Along with our translators, we just go to different homesteads and ask people about their skills and talents. The point of the capacity inventory is to tap into the resources and assets that community members have, so as to get a better idea of the strengths of the community, as well as meet people that we potentially will establish partnerships with to launch a social business or advocacy project. It has been really incredible to find out about the hidden skills and talents of everyone we met. Nick and I met this incredible man Michael who just talked to us for about an hour and a half while grazing his cattle (and my feet were getting eaten alive by fire ants) about his crazy life experiences doing just about every job. He, along with several other community members I met, were very inspirational because they told us point blank that they didn’t want handouts, as USAID and the traditional aid system has focused on doing, but rather that they wanted the training and knowledge so that they can pull themselves out of poverty. So that was pretty incredible to hear their amazing mentalities and that they want to achieve for themselves…and that is exactly what ThinkImpact and my own personal philosophy on development is, that just handing out money to impoverished people (though out of good intention) ends up being detrimental and creates an atmosphere of total dependency, making it virtually impossible to break the cycle of poverty.

So after we met people and just found out about their skills and talents, the second half the week was asset mapping, where we made lists of the groups, institutions, physical resources and prominent individuals existing in our sublocation, just to get a good overall view of the community and what strengths it has to offer. It is so crazy that we have only been in the community for 2 weeks, since I already feel that I have learned SOOO much about Kayafungo, Giriama tradition, Kenya, and just the daily lives of the people in Kayafungo. And I’m slowly picking up Swahili as my host family patiently drills it every night while we make dinner! It really has been an incredible learning experience.

Okay, really must run now, but everything is going great, feel like I’ve been here forever and definitely feeling at home! Next weekend we are going to an island called Ngomeni, which should be incredible, so I’m already excited for that!!

Kelly Souls

GDI Kenya 2010

There are walls!

Construction is moving along. The community hall has walls, and we are thrilled.  We even spent the afternoon sitting inside the new building just getting used to it!

Azaph Sithole is the senior member of our committee.  He is an Elder and therefore is well respected by the community.  The group of Elders in Uta work to help the local traditional leadership to guide the community.  He has worked his life to support his 14 children, all of whom have successes that their father can brag about.  He has a reputation across Uta of being able to provide excellent life advice, some of which we’ve had the opportunity to witness.  As an Elder, Azaph has helped us bridge the gap between traditional leadership and Uta’s future leaders.  When the planning committee needed to secure permission-to-occupy from the local chief for the land, his role allowed him to help the group navigate this system and made that process possible.

Azaph announced at our last committee meeting that he would take it upon himself to survey the building site at 5am Friday morning in order to begin construction on the community hall fence.  Azaph has been getting price quotes for fence materials from local hardware stores.

The original and most basic purposes of the community hall are to hold meetings and facilitate pension distribution.  Azaph is an example of a member of the community who collects pension from the government but is currently is unable to do so in a comfortable environment where he and others can be protected from sun or rain. The government will be able to use the community hall as a pension site so that mothers and the elderly will be able to collect every month in a secure location.  Azaph’s leadership in the community and in the planning committee is a blessing and his commitment to the project has been an inspiration to the rest of the committee as well as to us.

The depth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa is at the same time palpable and hidden in the rural communities. People often die for unexplained reasons at too young of an age, and the signs and symptoms of the disease are visible even in friends and family members who refuse to acknowledge their presence. And yet those who conquer the stigma of the disease face long distances to even find a testing facility. The nearest treatment—after expensive transport and the unreliability of the country’s ARV supplies—seems unreachable. It is estimated that one in four people in Uta are HIV-positive, and there is not a single member of this community who is unaffected.

The South African government was not only slow to address the issue of HIV/AIDS, it led the way in perpetuating myths and feeding social stigma. Under political pressure in 2002, the government finally appointed a task team to address the epidemic and committed to improving the provision of antiretroviral treatment. While promise from the government is a sign of hope, it is difficult to recognize how this commitment translates into action in rural areas far out of sight from the minds of city officials. Much of the struggle against the epidemic in these areas, therefore, is committed to education and awareness. In a sad reality, testing, counseling, and treatment take a backseat.

With international recognition of the hold that HIV/AIDS has on this country, it seems now that only local commitment and action that will generate forward progress in the fight against the epidemic. As Think Impact Fellows, we have the opportunity to see this take root in rural communities. As we finalize the details of constructing a community hall, we are able to look to the future and see how this will be so much more than a physical structure. The members of the Project Steering Committee, directing the planning and development for the Uta Community Centre, see the affects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on their community, and are searching tirelessly for ways to reverse the damage and stop the spread. Excellent, Lucky, and Rames—local leaders all under the age of 25—have committed the past few months to attending community health worker courses in HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. They envision using the hall to share what they learn with their community. There is excitement surrounding conversations of future health workshops and testing opportunities. Furthermore, Angie and Forget—a single mother and a grade 12 student—share a vision of leading learners who will gather at the community hall to watch dramas and participate in after-school activities that will among their various benefits, serve to educate kids and teens about health issues vital to their growth and success.

We are completely inspired by the people we work with here in Uta. Everyday we see the goals of the struggle against HIV/AIDS in South Africa manifested in the visions of our committee members. Each conversation and every new idea are encouragement for the success of the Uta Centre and the immense of potential in the community for future.

Take a look at a draft of our Kenya projects in a clear powerpoint presentation. It is simply amazing to see how much Lily and our team achieved in Kenya over the last 12 months.

I have been working at a small bakery here in Atlanta for the past few months, and it has been a good learning experience for me. It has prepared me for early mornings and other important parts of bakery-life. Although working at the register has not given me a lot of exposure to the bread-making part of this work, I have gotten good exposure to the daily grind that is running a successful small business. I woke up today to go to work (as I now know, bakeries have to start the day before the sun rises), and I realized that June is just around the corner! I could not be more excited about the project, which is slowly but surely coming to life! I wanted to reflect on my time working at this bakery, and I have come up with five key lessons that I have learned:

(1) Quality is everything at a bakery.

(2) You have to wake up early, no excuses.

(3) Appearance counts, the bread needs to look good and the bakery too.

(4) You must be consistent- when the bakery is open, bread must be available.

(5) People like sweet treats. Cookies are big sellers.

What a trip! We led 8 individuals to South Africa for a week, and we learned more, saw more, and met with more people that offered us insights into our development work in the community. Libraries, sports fields, classrooms, and more have been built there, but only when we see them in full use can we be sure they are becoming the sustainable development projects we hope to see. Here are some pictures from our visit, courtesy of Jessica Schwartz.

In 48 hours a team of 9 individuals will be joining SMRC on our Global Development Ambassadors (GDA) trip to Manyeleti South Africa. The following post was taken from an internal memo regarding our plans and goals. Enjoy, and we hope you will join us next time!

GOALS: The GDA is a special opportunity for SMRC to lead supporters and potential supporters to the community and its surrounding areas to understand the work that the organization has done, to learn about the future direction of our work in the community and to help guide our vision for local partnerships. The additional benefit to the organization is that we can review logistical needs for the Global Development Internships and Fellowships in South Africa beginning June 2009. These considerations will be elucidated in a separate memo entitled, “GDA: Planning for GDI/GDF.”

TRIP PLAN: The GDA participants expect the opportunity to understand the local community’s conditions, experience life in a rural homestay, gain exposure to the issues related to poverty in the community including a review of past interventions, needs to address such as HIV/AIDS, water, access to education and health care and opportunities for future service and immersion into the local culture. In addition the community exposure, SMRC intends to provide a luxury resort experience at the game reserve, in partnership with Djuma Game Lodge. To ensure that the expectations of the participants are exceeded, the following programs will be developed to provide the GDA participants access to the issues described above.

HIV/AIDS & HEALTH CARE: There will be two distinct opportunities to communicate the challenges the community faces with HIV/AIDS during our visit. 1) Clinic visits and 2) roundtable discussions. Visiting the Bubezi Clinic at Lilydale that was funded by Richard Branson/PEPFAR et al. is a great opportunity to see the goals and opportunities before us for future medical trips/fellows, volunteer opportunities during the summer GDI, and funding needs that remain. Also, it will provide the participants some insight into the “best case” of health care access in Manyeleti for the foreseeable future. Participants will also enjoy access to real community input on the health challenges they face. SMRC should set up a series of meetings and discussions with community youth and women in particular to shed some light on the status of health in the community. These meetings will provide inspiration and purpose to the participants, but also input into what are useful and meaningful interventions in a region that is so badly struck by HIV/AIDS, TB and other serious illnesses.

EDUCATION: Understanding the local educational system offers incredible insight into the success and challenges in the community. Several opportunities to understand the educational system and its available resources will be included in the programming. The possible ways to engage in community education include visiting all schools where SMRC has worked and offered support (Mahlathi, Shiviti, Samson, Manyeleti, Uta Creche, Wisani Creche, Mdluli, Manyangana). Another resource is to visit the school while shadowing current students to get a sense of classroom life. We should split the group up to partner them, offering a “day in the life of” experience. Meetings with the teachers and principals would be interesting but a clear agenda would be difficult to identify. Finally, language lessons may be the most useful tool for understanding what the education system is like in South Africa, as well as what the legacy of apartheid has left in its wake. Teaching styles, critical thinking and methods would be best understood by actually learning from the local population.

CULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Learning about and understanding the local culture will add a critical component to understanding life in Manyeleti and also understanding the people who live there on a more personal level. Language is one part of cultural understanding, which will be taught during a couple classes in the community. Celebrations are another opportunity for cultural experience. We will visit Thlavakisa and enjoy local food and dance.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUTURE SERVICE: Among the goals of the trip, we hope to identify new opportunities to work with the community. Assessing need, evaluating our impact and finding new opportunities for student engagement will be essential to the trip. In this vein, SMRC will ask participants to consider what new possibilities exist.

The key to any project is collaboration.  I am happy to report that the Mundzuku Foundation is on track with its projected goals; we have raised the minimum amount to fund one student for four years, including all incidental costs, and are currently working to fundraise and find grants in order to make the scholarship sustainable.  All the information for the resource booklet has been compiled and a completed draft is currently being revised and formatted into a more eye-catching and easily readable format.  We have been working to finalize our model for a college counselor and worship process that will not only involve training a teacher, but also a committee of local students to form a peer-mentoring system at both Manyangana and Mduli high schools.

They reason I say that success depends on collaboration is that our progress so far has been made possible due to the tremendous support we are receiving.  The financial support and donations from our home communities in California, Pacific Palisades and Los Altos, is outstanding and continues to impress us.  The network of students at Georgetown University and the Mundzuku Foundation committee is an integral part to every step of this process.  We have been working very closely with eight to ten dedicated students at Georgetown on both the fundraising and research aspects of our project.  They are constantly coming up with new ideas for fundraisers and have strengths that complement our weaknesses.  For example, they are working to turn the resource booklet into something that will actually be eye-catching and readable instead of the boring Word document that I compiled.

We still have a long way to go and many goals that need to be fulfilled before we begin implementation of the project in June.  But with the continued support from our networks at home and at Georgetown, I am optimistic about our success.