Little Victories

So, I talked to my mom last night and she said she had read yesterday's post and boy I must be p-oed! Looking back over the post, I can see how it could read like that but really the past month and half has been the most fulfilling since I have come to Kenya. Even though the process has been difficult and at times very frustrating, many of the groups I am working with now are motivated. Also, when they see you get tough and they know you are serious, I have found groups tend to be more serious as well.

Case in point, today I had a meeting with a VSLA group and we did our first share purchase. Now, this may not seem like much but it means the group has actually saved something and it has gone from me just explaining an idea to countless groups to an actual project. I could tell they were a bit frustrated because their group is small and they only save 400KSH (about $5) but I'm very excited to see how much they have saved at the end of the year. And, even though the chairlady was 40 minutes late, the group was sure to tell her that she needed to pay her fine as soon as she got there!

Also, I'm adding a picture of one of the businesswomen I have been in good contact with in town. She started out making beaded jewelry in her home and now she has been able to purchase another home and use that one as her office! She also does tailoring and even has made something for a royal member in Libya. I like hanging out in her shop because she gets business and she really wants to improve her life and the lives of her people. She has taught over 500 women in Kenya and Tanzania to do beading as a business. Spotlight!

Tough Love

Many apologies for my long absence in blogging. This time, thankfully, I have not blogged as much out of sheer busy-ness and not frustration. The past couple of months I have been trying to get a few projects started and, even though it's Valentine's Day, I've had to dish a little tough love...

Teaching

I started teaching at Masikonde Secondary School at the beginning of January. I'm teaching Form 3 (Junior in high school) business studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The kids were a little hard to crack at first but now I think we are getting used to each other. At first I was afraid they wouldn't understand my English but they seem to be getting what I say between speaking, writing on the board, passing out notes, and group assignments. But, I had to get on them a bit because many times they just stare at me. I ask a question and they just look blankly. We're getting there though. Teaching at the school brings a whole new dynamic to the picture. The school I teach at is mostly students who are very poor, most can't afford books or school fees and they get chased away by the school until they can pay. (Side note: this actually happened last week and I came to class only to find 7 of my 22 students.) Being at the school also allows me to be in contact with different kinds of people. There are 5 male teachers and one female teacher at the school, excluding me. The other week I was hanging out in the staff room after class and the only female teacher was in Nairobi that day. This turned into (of course) the discussion about marrying an American or white (they seem to be the same) woman and me trying to explain that there is a very slim chance your American woman is going to wait on you hand and foot. To this point, one teacher told me that it was "in the African blood" to treat women that way, that the Bible says women are to be submissive...yea you see where this conversation is going. I just responded that if you were to try that on the American women I know, it might not go so well. Then I asked, so you probably don't want to marry an American any more huh? Oh, yes of course we do! I give up...

NEST

Since late last year, I have been working with an organization in America, NEST , which seeks to buy handicrafts from women artisans in developing countries and sell them. It also has a micro-bartering component with it. Part of the program is that the women are taught on how to make things on time and to quality control standards. We have been trying to get an order together and I was very close with one group but... My contact at NEST told me she needed a sample by Friday for a beading applique a client had asked about. I gave the order to a group of disabled women in town. They had come to me before and told me that they would like to work to pay for school fees for their children and put food on the table but finding work as a disabled person is hard and beading is something they can do at home. From that, I thought they would have been overjoyed to have the order. I had given them a copy of the picture the contact from NEST sent to me a while back but they told me the design was too difficult for them to figure out. After speaking with NEST again, I met with them on Tuesday, gave them a picture of what the client wanted and explained that they are free to use their artistic license to create whatever design and pattern with whatever colors they would like. The only stipulations are that it must conform to the size and shape of the spec paper I had given them. We agreed I would come and take a photo of the sample on Friday at 10. Friday at 10 comes and I am waiting at the group leader's house. She is not there. Two other women are there but they tell me that they have not completed the sample. When I ask why, they say the design was too hard. I told them (again) that I told them on Tuesday they were free to do whatever design they wanted, it just needed to be that size and shape. Also, I am not happy because I told them that the client needed the sample today and if they had a problem with it they should have called me on Tuesday or Wednesday instead of waiting until today and having me come all the way to their house for no reason. Now's the time for tough love. I told them there wouldn't be an order if they did not produce a sample by today. They told me they would bring me a sample at 2PM. 2PM came and went and no phone call. So , I decided they are out. No more orders for them until they can show that they are really serious. Some people may say that is being too harsh. However, I want these women to know that this is a job, not a handout. There are literally hundreds of women who bead in my area and for them not to call and ask about a misunderstanding or even to produce the sample after I gave them extra time was just not acceptable to me. Also, as the representative to NEST on behalf of these women, I owe it to the organization to find the most reliable and best quality work that is available.

VSLA

I don't know if I talked about Village Savings and Loan Associations in posts before but I have been working on trying to get them up and running in my area for the better part of 4 months now. Basically, they are self-selected groups where each member contributes or "saves" at each meeting and the savings are used to make loans to the group. Then, at the end of one year, each member receives their savings plus a proportional amount of the interest earned back. I really like the program because 1) groups can start one without any outside funds, 2)it promotes savings and helps women understand loans through small borrowing and repayment, and 3) it is sustainable (the magic PC buzz word). After one year the Field Officer (me) leaves the group to run on its own. They make their own constitution and major things like the interest rate charged, etc are determined by the group, not outsiders. I think this idea is wonderful. Some of the groups I present it too however, just wonder why I can't just give or find them a loan. I have been working with a couple groups though and it would have been two more but tough love had to come out. Both groups had two chances at meeting times and either no one showed up or only a few people showed up. Thus, I had to institute a new rule: If after three times your group does not show up for a meeting, you're out. Granted, I'm not the busiest bee in the world right now but my time is still valuable to me and waiting around for two hours with no reason from a group tells me they are not interested. After the second missed meeting with the two groups, I told them to gather their serious members and give me a call when they want me to come back and teach the VSLA system. That was over a month ago and I'm still waiting...

Books for Africa

I have been trying to do a Books for Africa (booksforafica.org) project with three other volunteers in Eastern. Basically, books are donated and then BFA sends them to Kenya and we just have to pay shipping. It ends up being about $4000 for 5000 books- not a bad deal. I never believe in giving something away for nothing so I am asking the schools who would like to receive books to pay 25% of the cost. This amounts to 15 shillings a book, or less than 20cents. That's about 10% of the cost of the cheapest novel these schools could purchase here in Kenya. Sounds great right? Well, some schools thought that was just too much money for them to spare, hoping I would just give them the books. Sorry, doesn't work like that! Again, it may sound harsh, but just giving them books only increases dependency syndrome and reduces the chance that they will actually appreciate and take care of the books. Also, as with the beads, there are plenty of schools that are very excited about the opportunity to purchase books for their students at such a reduced rate (schools are alloted government money to purchase books) and so those are the schools I am working with first. If there are extra books, I will donate them to a school that I know is very needy but as economists say, there's no free lunch!


So, those are most of the projects I am working on currently. Oh, expect for me to hit you guys up to help cover the other 75% for BFA :-) It might seem like I'm being unduly harsh but I would rather spend my two years here working with people that actually appreciate what I'm trying to do and actually want to be a partner in the process, not just a receiver. And, it's is INCREDIBLY frustrating to feel like you are giving something your all and those that you are doing it for don't seem to care. Also, by pulling out my Wall Street side and being tough, I have found some good partners to work with and I would rather work with 2 or 3 dedicated organizations and groups than 15 flaky ones. For me, it's not so much about the number of people I work with as the depth that I'm able to reach with those that I do.

SHOUT OUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dad&Tracy: Even though it took months and Tracy almost rained fire on the post office, I got both of my Xmas packages. Thanks so much!!! I have to learn or relearn many of the games in the 11 in 1 box set but once I teach the girls, I know they will love it. I'm also glad from some new shirts and JUNK FOOD!!!

Trenita: Yours also took forever but I'm so glad I got it. I am the ultimate fatty licking the wrapper of the zebra cakes and as I told you on FB, in the first week I wore one of the new shirts 3x and one of them 2x. Thanks :-)

Talibah: My Valentine, thank you for your package. I'm going home to watch for colored girls and your film submission. You and Trenita rock on with the Essence, you guys covered me on January and February.

Michanne: Happy Birthday yesterday :-) Hope you are catching the ballet!

Mom: Thanks for taking care of all the mundane stuff and sending me all I ask for, love ya!

I leave you with two pictures. These are pictures after walking around town all day. One foot has been washed and one hasn't. So tired of the dust!!!!!!!!!






To all those who write, email, gchat, and facebook it really helps me get through the good days and the bad. LOVE Y'ALL!