Quote of the day from Pastor Ron after telling the team a woman accepted Christ after his Evangicube presentation and promptly pulled out her breast and started breastfeeding her baby "Well, I said God would put us in some interesting situations and we would have to go with the flow. I'm looking forward to doing it again!" You can imagine the laughter and razzing in the room after that one. (note: people who were with him in the home noted that he couldn't stop looking at the floor and even the top of his head was red....LOL)
And the 'American With Good Intentions...but Not So Much' Award goes to Joanne who taught a group of 2nd graders today. I need to amend what I wrote yesterday about the kids being amazingly studious. They are when the teacher is teaching and certainly were when we were first introduced to them. But Joanne was relaying to the team that the kids are really rough with each other if there is any down time (which isn't overly surprising given the environment they have grown up in). Then she proceeded to tell us about how she had the kids do an activity with scissors. Well, none of these 2nd graders had ever used scissors before! So, she taught them how to use scissors and proceeded with her lesson. To which a team member comment 'Hey way to go Joanne....the kids are beating each other up and you give them sharp objects to play with!' Another good laugh for all.
Day 5 saw Beth, Sarah, and Kerri head up to Joska for the rest of the week to work with the 6th-8th graders that we met on Sunday. They reported they arrived safely and spent the afternoon meeting with teachers and getting ready to teach the rest of the week.
The morning began with a surprise as kids welcomed the teachers with song and dance saying "I want to be your friend." Their faces lit up with excitement as they saw us draw near. A few people joined them in the dance: first Rachel, then Lois, then Melissa. It was such a joyful welcome.
Rachel taught a second grade class in village two today (she thanks you for the prayers by the way). The students first sang a song on the days of the week. Then, "teacher Rachel" taught the class with her constant enthusiasm (despite the fact that she and the other teachers stayed up late working on lesson plans!). First, Rachel introduced the letter "B" by teaching the kids songs. She taught the kids about the "at" word family with several projects and songs as well. She also educated them on how to use percussion instruments in those songs. Then, Rachel and Sunny read The Cat in the Hat to the children. Later, Rachel used cubes (that connect like legos) to educate the children on addition and subtraction. The children had not used cubes like that before, so it was so exciting for them! The class was such a blessing to be a part of, and Rachel will continue to teach other kids this week.
We had a full day of Teaching in Area 2!
The morning began with a surprise as kids welcomed the teachers with song and dance saying "I want to be your friend." Their faces lit up with excitement as they saw us draw near. A few people joined them in the dance: first Rachel, then Lois, then Melissa. It was such a joyful welcome.
Rachel taught a second grade class in village two today (she thanks you for the prayers by the way). The students first sang a song on the days of the week. Then, "teacher Rachel" taught the class with her constant enthusiasm (despite the fact that she and the other teachers stayed up late working on lesson plans!). First, Rachel introduced the letter "B" by teaching the kids songs. She taught the kids about the "at" word family with several projects and songs as well. She also educated them on how to use percussion instruments in those songs. Then, Rachel and Sunny read The Cat in the Hat to the children. Later, Rachel used cubes (that connect like legos) to educate the children on addition and subtraction. The children had not used cubes like that before, so it was so exciting for them! The class was such a blessing to be a part of, and Rachel will continue to teach other kids this week.
Jim got a laugh tonight after reporting that he had a prepared an English lesson, showed up at the 5th grade class and the teacher wanted him to lead the class in a study of Kenya soil types. He deftly sidestepped that class and was able to teach his prepared lessons a number of times today. Those who know Jim may be shocked at this news....he went to work in a button down shirt AND a tie today. Teachers reported that the sleeves were buttoned and the tie tight at the beginning of the day. By mid morning the sleeves were a bit rolled up and the tie was a little looser. After lunch, the sleeves were up to the elbow with the tie noticeably loose and by the end of the day the tie was half off with half the shirt untucked.
Sunny and Martha gave a presentation to the K-2nd graders (nearly 200 strong) on the story 'Stone Soup' which was a big hit with the kids. They tied in the lesson with the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 with cleverly made fish and loaves that multiplied.....cool visual with an awestruck audience.
Meanwhile, Mark 'the Magician' Green wowed the kids with his science demonstration where he literally puts a skewer through a blown up balloon without popping it. Who knew our elders were soooooo talented? Perhaps we can get him to do that during church service someday. His lesson tie in with the kids was 'With God, nothing is impossible'...tis a lesson they won't soon forget.
About half the team spent the day with the Business Development team and left completely impressed with the vision of this program as well as its implementation. The key principle to remember as you read this part of the blog is the Missions of Hope mission statement:
"We share Christ's love in seeking to restore hope to individuals in the disadvantaged communities through spiritual, social, physical, and economic development."
We have talked quite a bit in these notes about the education aspect of the organization and how that will pay huge dividends in these kids lives and their family's lives 10-20 years down the road. But the organization focuses on the 'here and now' as well through their community health education AND their business development services.
The business development group is simply amazing. In one part of this division, they take recommendations from social workers and CHE trainers concerning the most desperate families in the valley. These families are often single mother homes or homes led by individuals who have AIDS. The skills development program started just in the past couple of years. One focuses on jewelry making (what they call 'bead' work) and knitting. 74 individuals have graduated through this 6 month training program and are now earning incomes sufficient to cover expenses. All of the jewelry the team bought the past few days was made by these individuals.
In addition, 65 individuals have graduated from the Sewing course with 32 more in classes now. Orders for dresses etc are made while missionaries like us are here but the primary work these individuals focus on are repairs for community members as well as making uniforms for the 5700+ kids in Missions of Hope schools. Brilliant! The organization farms out their orders to people they have trained inside the community they are serving!
There are growing waiting lists to go through these programs, but what I found most interesting is that they focus on the most desperate cases. It is working and these families are experiencing economic hope in the here and now.
But the most amazing part of the business development division is the microfinance process they have set up. Started in 2005, this program makes small loans to small business owners in the community. Through the end of 2010 they had loaned out 57,000,000 shillings (around $675,000) and about half of that volume happened in just the last year. First loans range in size from $60 up to $250. Once the business owner pays that back (usually in 3 months to 6 months) then their 2nd, 3rd, 4th loans etc can be larger. Last year they loaned out 30,000,000 shillings and every shilling was paid back. In the history of the program only 177,000 shillings have NOT been paid back (and that was solely due to some political strife and violence that happened in 2008). That means this organization has a default rate of 0.31% Perhaps some of our banks could learn a few lessons from them.
The key is that to get a loan the business owner has to join a business group (10 to 30 other business owners), go through and 8 week training program through Missions of Hope, and a 2 Day intensive workshop at the end which reviews what they have learned in the 8 weeks. The program focuses on integrity, Christian principles, business planning, marketing, book keeping, saving, etc. Here is the key (and why every loan is basically repaid)....when a member of the group gets a loan, the ENTIRE group is on the hook for the loan if it is not repaid. Group members draft their own constitution on the rules for their group (so they have ownership of the group), elect leaders including a treasurer, and must have weekly group meetings where the Missions of Hope loan officer continues to train and collects the weekly savings + loan repayments (actually, the treasurer goes to the bank and makes the deposit for the group and the deposit receipt is given to the loan officer at the meeting....this avoids the loan officer having to walk through the slum with a lot of cash). The office then checks the receipt with the deposits and balances accounts.
Group members are accountable to one another. In fact YOU CANNOT GET A LOAN unless the GROUP approves the loan! That is only fair if the group is on the hook for the loan if someone fails to pay. It is the ultimate in peer pressure and it works! For example, if a business owner show a lack of integrity, starts drinking, falls away from Christian principles, fails to show up for weekly meetings etc then the group will not approve a loan for that business. This entire program is not only improving the economic outlook for the community but provides a powerful incentive to live a life of integrity.
This program had a slow start but is now accelerating quickly. The organization is very close to having enough capital to be able to become a regional bank (which has some benefits). In addition, they are just about to GO LIVE with a website which will allow anyone in our congregation to sponsor business owners and fund their loans. I know for some sponsoring a child for a year of education has stretched some budgets but with this program you can give as little as $20 to partially fund a loan. When that loan is repaid, you will be notified at the 25%, 50%, 75% and fully repaid levels. The money will then stay with Missions of Hope and be loaned out to other businesses. So, it is a donation (and yes, it is tax deductible). More details later but today we saw the website, saw the stories of the business people who are requesting loans etc. All I can say is this online donation program is going to be a game changer and inject millions of dollars into this community that never would have otherwise been there.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers....and if you have a moment, leave us a comment.
God Bless,
The 2011 Kenya Team
Thanks so much for taking time to do this each day. I know the days are very long and exhausting, and it's tempting to just call it a night and go to bed because you have to be up super early each morning. The folks back home are hanging on every word you write, especially the families of those in Kenya, and these blog posts are a welcome comfort to all of us, knowing you are all safe, enjoying your time, blessing others, and being blessed! We miss you all!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are ALL doing amazing work in Kenya. Thank you so much for your updates. We read them daily. We are praying for you and are so comforted to hear that you are having such a wonderful experience.
ReplyDelete