Report from Jonathan Hamisi TAI CBO Program Officer, Kenya At present, many communities are being forced to change rapidly because of changes in the economy and the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lives have changed so much that old ways of coping do not work anymore. In such situations, it really helps to have someone to talk. This is what TAI Community Based Organization (TAI CBO), in partnership with Spirit in Action, has done in Maua, Kenya. (See TAI CBO's website.) I

Kakuuto Development Initiative (KADI) is not just an education organization. It’s not just a farmer’s cooperative. It’s not just an advocate for health and wellbeing in the community. KADI in rural Uganda, does all three, plus so much more! Like so many of SIA grassroots grant partners, KADI is a true community development organization. Food security is one of KADI’s top priorities. They are coaching people to start kitchen gardens, which grow food for the family, but also ar

Spirit in Action is part of a collection of organizations that are looking at new ways to give grants that support a bottom-up approach. The message below is from Solomé Lemma, Executive Director of Thousand Currents, a leader in this collective. Her words so perfectly capture what we are seeing with SIA partners during this time. (Scroll to the end to read about the action Spirit in Action is taking right now in Kenya!) From Thousand Currents: “As we continue to grapple with

Spirit in Action is a learning organization. We continually reflect on ways we can be more responsive to the needs and expertise of our grant partners. We value the input that our long-time partners bring to the formation of Spirit in Action’s vision and operations. In a shift towards co-creation and transparency, we are formalizing the input of our grant partners through the formation of an African Advisory Board. The new African Advisory Board (AAB) includes a team of six m

Spirit in Action partners are working at the ground level – demanding rights for girls and young women, adding value to farmers’ crops, training and creating employment opportunities for female entrepreneurs, and more. At the beginning of December we approved another $47,000 in grants direct to community organizations in eastern Africa. Here are some highlights: 25 bicycles for young women in rural Malawi. Most people in Malawi don’t own a car and so walking is the most commo

When Chris Owino was ready to expand his grocery stall in the market, he joined the Matungu Community Development Charity’s small loan program. His shops supports his wife and their three children. A friend from church told Chris about the Matungu low-interest loan program and helped him receive a $150 loan to buy more items for his shop. “Thanks to Spirit in Action and Matungu for the small loan. If not for you, I am sure even today I would still be struggling in raising fun

Hello SIA friends! After a much-needed break, I am back in the SIA office and working through the photos, memories, reports, and stories from the trip. Part of difficulty in returning from any SIA trip to Africa is that the daily work of site visits is so different from SIA desk work in North America. What do site visit days looks like? Samson and Sharon from Universal Love Alliance (SIA partners in Uganda) wrote up the following summary about the three days that Barbara and

I met with the wonderful Spirit in Action Board of Directors on March 30th to approve another round of funding. We are working to get money into the hands of people who can use it to transform the future into a place that is more just, more equitable, and more supportive of women and LGBT individuals. Thank you for joining us on this journey! On-going support Community Initiatives for Rural Development (CIFORD) (Kenya): “There has been a gap in that a lot of information is gi

After having their chance to receive hens and nurture them for meat, eggs, and profit last year, the 28 original members of the Visionary Women’s Centre Poultry Programme in Turbo, Kenya are now doing their part to Pay it Forward! This week they donated 140 hens to the new group members! Sharing the Gift of hens with new group members! In a grand event of celebration, sharing, and training, all 76 mothers and grandmothers gathered together. All are learning about new methods

Members of the Manyamula COMSIP Cooperative first came together to fight against the exploitation of banks who were charging high interest rates with short repayment periods. Over the last nine years, they have supported each other in entrepreneurial activities and low-interest loan opportunities. (Read Sylvester’s story here). Now, the Cooperative is expanding its programs to combat another form of exploitation. Many of the members are farmers. And like farmers around the wo

Guest post by Turinawe Samson, Director of Universal Love Alliance (ULA) in Uganda. Friends, looking at 2018 we at Universal Love Alliance (ULA) moved a step forward and you are ones who enabled us to take this step. We received financial support from the U.S. Embassy–Kampala, Spirit in Action, the ULA Foundation and its Board members. I attribute your generosity to your love for justice, equality, inclusion, respect, and acceptance of all people. Human beings are inwardly al

“Greetings from Malawi, and in particular Manyamula COMSIP Cooperative in Mzimba. We send our love and joy to you!” So began the exciting audio message from Canaan Gondwe updating me on the transformation in his community after receiving a grant to bring the internet to their village. The installation process, perhaps unsurprisingly, was a bit rocky. First, the tower grid near their rural area in northern Malawi had never been upgraded and so was using 2G! Then, of course, th

Grant update from Fulgence Ndagijimana, Flaming Chalice International Grant Name: Flaming Chalice Refugee Café 1. The purpose of our grant is: To support Burundian refugees in Rwanda to set up a café 2. Who has benefited from this project? Twelve people have DIRECTLY benefitted from the project because they work on the project and get an income at the end of every month. Thirty children and dependents have benefited indirectly.  Approximately 100 people shop from those places

Have you heard the saying, “money follows money”? It means that once you’ve received some grant funds or donations momentum builds and more people want to give to your project. It happens in crowdfunding campaigns, and it also happens in rural Malawi. When we attended the grand opening of the Manyamula COMSIP Cooperative in May 2017, one of the speakers was Paul Chunga of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). ICRISAT had recently formed a

When you think of the work of girls’ empowerment, you might not think of bathrooms. But a changing room and bathroom is exactly what Hope for Relief – a youth-led, grassroots organization in Malawi – knew would help keep girls in school. Before the changing room was built, it was common for girls to stay home when they were on their periods. There is a stigma attached to being at school while bleeding and also the practical challenge of not having good material for pads. “Whe

At the end of 2016, the Namaylana Women’s Self-Help Group received a grant to build a curio shop to sell their traditional handicrafts to tourists at the popular Samburu National Reserve in central Kenya. I am excited to share this glowing report from Sayydah Garrett, founder of their partner organization, Pastoralist Child Foundation (PCF). This project has exceeded our expectations! The women are so proud of their store! They are business owners – something they have dreame

Mary Nyonges lives in Mundindi village, in the rural areas near the western boarder of Kenya. She is a member of the Matungu Community Development Charity (MCDC), which a community organization where people come together to improve their lives and their local economy. (Read about their poultry project!) In this part of Kenya, a majority of people are small-scale farmers. They are working the land, usually not more than one acre, to grow food for themselves and hopefully produ

Chicken is the most common source of protein in Kenya, and still it is not available to everyone. Many people eat mostly maize and other carbohydrates in an unbalanced diet. A Spirit in Action Community Grant to the Matungu Community Development Charity will help them address this malnutrition by making chicken more affordable in their community. full meal! Maize, rice, potatoes, kale, banana, and chicken (sources very locally!) Last year when I visited the cooperative in the

Last May, as the last bit of twilight faded, I met with the leaders of the Manyamula COMSIP Cooperative in Malawi. The twelve of us sat around a square of tables, in the newly constructed Cooperative offices. It was still warm, and we left the doors open for airflow and for the dim light still in the big open sky. It wasn’t late. Just south of the equator, the sun sets early all year. These men and women are all dedicated to increasing economic opportunity for everyone in the

I often toss around the word “partner” when I talk about our work. Who are these partners? How did we come to know them? Canaan Gondwe and the members of the Manyamula COMSIP Cooperative in Malawi are some of our partners. Moses Chibanda, director of Welfare Concern International in Zambia, is another. Our partners are individuals and grassroots organizations who are implementing the real work of Spirit in Action in their communities. Our partners are dedicated, generous loca