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Kelly, Marty, Rachael and Casey learning to dance

Letter from Managing Director, Lily Muldoon, in Kenya:

We are concluding another great week in Kayafungo.  In addition to our grueling fieldwork, we are getting to know our homestay families and enjoying the Giriama culture. A women’s group dressed Kelly, Marty, Rachael and Casey in traditional skirts and taught them their hip-shaking dance style (pictured).
In Kayafungo, the interns performed the capacity inventory analysis and compiled their results in asset maps.  ThinkImpact relies on asset-based community development practices to identify where and how to implement new initiatives and social businesses.  An alternative to traditional needs-based approaches that focus on a community’s problems or deficits, our approach helps community members understand their talents and resources.  Each intern is acting as a facilitator, not a direct implementer, to catalyze change in Kayafungo.

Nick and Kelly discussing community assets with students

Following the initial assessments, the intern has the opportunity to partner with an inspired community entrepreneur who shares similar passions and has motivation to initiate a social business.  For example, Paul performed a capacity inventory with the Kayafungo nurse who works in the government-run dispensary because he has an interest in health improvements and sees her as a potential resource.  Nick and Kelly are pictured discussing community assets with students from the polytechnic school.

This week we are starting our Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis.  ThinkImpact has developed this monitoring and evaluation program that relies heavily on the fieldwork of the interns.  This impact measurement is an opportunity for us to thoroughly appraise our effects in the community.  Using the SROI methodology, we take into consideration the social, environmental and cultural aspects of a community by expressing social value relative to investment. For the next two weeks, the interns will visit our past projects including: two schools, a dam, a sanitation program involving the construction of latrines and hand-washing stations, a community health trainer program, and a library project.  Using ThinkImpact resources and our own creativity, we will identify indicators and conduct a variety valuation methods to value our social impact.

Excursion to Ngomeni One Love Island

For a pleasurable excursion, half the group visited a magical island in the Indian Ocean.  Sunday through Tuesday, Jessie, Paul, Stephanie, Anna, Xin, Paddy, Rachel G. (team leader) and Abdallah (country director) ventured to Ngomeni One Love Island for a break on the beach.  The group is pictured having fun and eating in the main cabana.

A friend of ThinkImpact, Madi, has started an ecotourism project for community development in his coastal village called Ngomeni. Off the coast is a completely uninhabited island where we enjoy the beach, collect seashells, swim and relax in a tree house.

Meals on the island consist of coconut rice, shrimp, crab and fresh fish. This is a pleasant contrast to the peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches we eat daily in Kayafungo as we conduct the assessments.  Local women from the Ngomeni village are employed to cook.  We enjoy this excursion because we can appreciate the culture of the Swahili people of the coast and simultaneously give back positively to the community.

A non-profit called World Wide IMPACT formed to facilitate the initiative and is constructing a website to support the Ngomeni Eco-Tourism Community Development Project. Click on the “Photos” section to view the project and the island.

Saul meeting with the Kenya GDIs

Saul Garlick, ThinkImpact Executive Director, visited our Kenya site last week.  He met individually with each group to address any concerns, answer development questions, and reinforce the program and curriculum.  Saul is pictured discussing with the entire group on his first morning.

Everyone is spending the night in Kayafungo tonight and pass their regards.