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.

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

Written 6/21/10

We are in the midst of the second phase of our Global Development Program in Kayafungo, Kenya. As we speak, the students are working hard to complete monitoring work on our past development projects. They are meeting with community members and leaders, teachers, students and partners to understand the impact that the Secondary School we built is having on students lives, to learn how youth are benefiting from the latrines we constructed at 14 schools, to see how behavior has changed in a community that received our Community Health Training workshop programs and finally, to see how families are benefiting from the new water dam built at Katsangani.

The group remains motivated and hard working, and we are excited to
see how their efforts lead to new projects and initiatives that will
continue to create opportunities for others in such a poor, rural
area. Life in the homestays has proven very rewarding and informative, and students have actually been requesting to spend more time in the local homesteads than at our small motel that is 15 km away. The cultural immersion is intense and exciting, and the group has really enjoyed it. Yesterday we spent the school day with the Youth Polytechnic, a wonderful community run school where children learn practical skills (construction, carpentry, metal work, auto repair) so that they may get jobs in the future. This was so inspiring, and we joined them for sports in the afternoon.

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.

Last week, SMRC asked its supporters to help us build a Dam and a Secondary School. We were running short of funds, and your help would get us past the finish line. Well, you did it, and here are the pictures to show your impact. Thank you so much!!!

Lily Muldoon, project director of SMRC, was featured in the National newspaper in Kenya for her outstanding work in Kayafungo and her commitment to the people in that location. The article can be seen here.

Three days ago we sent an email to our members and supporters to help us complete a classroom and water project. We were not only going to fall short on funds needed to complete the minimum project goals, we were going to cancel final touches that would make our work more effective. Instead of committing 450,000 Kenyan Shillings to building a dam, we were going to downsize to 350,000, which would render the project limited. We nearly couldn’t complete a classroom. Because of you, that all changed!

The outpouring of support that we recieved for the projects in Kenya made dreams literally come true. After the initial email was sent, we raised… wait for it… $3,615 for our projects in less than 72 hours, and we are not only able to complete the basic goal, but the more ambitious goals we had set out to achieve.

We know the economy is in trouble right now, and that gives us all the more reason to be grateful for your generosity. Over 60 people contributed to this effort, and it shows what a group of people can achieve in such a short amount of time. 

We will be updating the blog with pictures and video footage from the projects so you can see your impact. There is no substitute for seeing what your support has provided half way around the world. Check back often!

With Lily and Vanessa working hard in Kenya on our Global Development Internship, there is action for SMRC in the community. In addition to being busy with logistical planning, two projects continue to consume our Project Director, Lily’s, time. We are building a Secondary School classroom at Mwijo, a village in Kayafungo, Kenya, and a dam with the community for rainwater collection. Get involved: http://tinyurl.com/bo6wb8 

The school is essential because children are learning under trees and have inadequate space to study. The dam we are building will significantly reduce walking time for community members to collect water. In Lily’s words, “It is horrible to think that children at this time are leaving school just to find food or collect water. The situation is desperate.” 

That is the reality in Kayafungo, and we are calling on our supporters to help us complete these projects. We absolutely need $1,700 to finish these projects by the end of the month. If we collect $10 from 170 people, we will be all set. I feel so strongly about this, and have committed the first $10. 

There is no time to lose. If we don’t get support for this essential project, we will be forced to cancel a project midway through, and false promises undermine confidence in a community. There is simply now way we can avoid this. Visit the site http://tinyurl.com/bo6wb8 to make your contribution.

A Letter from Lily Muldoon from Kayafungo, Kenya

Dear Friends,

Hope you all are doing well. SMRC has just received a $40,000 Rotary Grant for our Kenya Water Project, and I am proud to report that our project is progressing quickly here in Kayafungo, Kenya.  We are half-way through with our first series of health workshops and are nearly complete with the construction of our first latrine.

Over the course of last week and next, 160 people are participating in our health and sanitation workshops.  Some walk up to 8km to get from their homes to the morning session. They participate with enthusiasm – particularly happy with the huge lunch we provide for all.

The workshops will extend for 10 days every month for the next four months giving us time to review what was been learned, reinforce positive behavior and give our trained participants the tools to train others.  A major focus of the workshops is promoting hand-washing with soap.  As part of the Rotary Grant, we are constructing hand-washing stations designed by the community members made from local materials.

Also, the pit is dug and walls are being erected on our first latrine.  At Gandini Primary School, located at the center of Kayafungo, we are building our exhibition toilet for all to admire.  The community participates in digging the pit and bringing hardcore and ballast to the site.  Pupils at the school bring water daily for construction.

One nearly done and 12 more to go!

My intention is not to only improve the health of the Kayafungo community but also give them the capacity to take on such initiatives independently after I have returned to the US. Therefore, women from the organizing women’s group participate at every step.  Two weeks ago we hired a truck so three women and I could travel together to the coral block quarry, approximately 50km away, and monitor the loading and unloading of the 1,500 coral blocks.

Hope you enjoy the pictures in this blog entry which show you how far we’ve come!  The first is a picture of the current latrine at one of the primary schools with the school headmaster. The next two are of our latrine under construction and the last picture is of the health workshop led by a facilitator out of Nairobi.

Thank you for all of your support!  I will continue to keep you updated.

Amani na updeno (peace and love),

Lily

Old latrine at Gandini Primary School

New latrine underconstruction

Lily at site of new latrineduring construction

Hygiene promotion workshop. First in aseries of four 10-day workshops in Kayafungo.

If you would like to support this important project, please join our 12 12 12 campaign. Donate Today!