Women around Turbo in Western Kenya are excited about the Mothers’ Support Programme expanding in their rural district. The program is the creation of Benter, Lizette, and Rhoda – the leaders of the Visionary Women’s Centre -- and it has the effect of increasing self-confidence and building a sense of pride in the women who participate. The women also improve the nutritional and economic opportunities for themselves and their families. 110 mothers and grandmothers are now par

It’s not often that international aid is featured on the editorial pages of a major newspaper. So I was excited and pleasantly surprised to see the New York Times Editorial Board write the opinion Foreign aid is having a reckoning. The authors start by outlining the problem. For example, “planeloads of free American corn can help famine victims in the short term, but they can also put local farmers out of business, making the food supply in the long term more precarious.” Aid

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This is one of Romano Iluku’s favorite quotes and it comes up often as he talks about his work with families in the informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Romano has a fundamentally positive outlook and in the midst of the fear about the pandemic, he reminded me that he has seen his community in Kenya respond with resilience to the HIV/AIDS. Romano is a Spirit in Action Small

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

The Manyamula Community Savings and Investment Promotion Cooperative in rural Malawi is a vibrant force for local development. They provide low-interest loans, farming advice and assistance, and a maize mill for grinding the staple food, as well as a gathering place for community members. So who is it that keeps this organization running smoothly? Spirit in Action is proud to support the salaries for this amazing management team! (Read more about why we fund operations.) Wink

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

Thank you to the 13 people who donated to our Giving Tuesday Facebook campaign! You can still donate to that campaign here, or on our website here. Robinah Muganzi has a big job. A child, only five years old, was dropped off at her doorstep. Other orphans and girls escaping violent home situations come to her and she does what she can to accommodate them. Robinah is a social worker and director of Set Her Free, which provides safe space and vocational training for vulnerable

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

A grant update by Rev. Fulgence Ndagijimana, after his visit to the Flaming Chalice cafe in Rwanda It is 7pm in Gikondo, Rwanda and the small café run by Burundian refugees is very busy. Two dozen people are seated in groups, chatting together. They seem to know one another, and they say hi as they pass one another. This evening, four people are serving. Isabelle is at the counter and she receives money as the men bring their orders and take the drinks and the brochette (piec

“A place of discovering our potential.” This is how one of the vocational students at Set Her Free Uganda described the supportive environment training centre. Set Her Free is one of SIA grant partners and we visited their site last week in Kampala. MC at the Set Her Free Fashion Show with students modeling their tailoring class projects! Robinah, a social worker and the director of Set Her Free, helps children and teens who have experienced extreme sexual violence or who hav

Greetings from Uganda! Barbara and I landed Sunday morning in Entebbe and were greeted by our amazing local coordinator, Naomi Ayot. (Thank you, Naomi, for all the logistics work you have done for our trip!) That same day we arrived, we met with Samson and Sharon of Universal Love Alliance, who are supporting the rights of women, HIV+ people, and LGBT individuals. Here is Barbara’s direct account of that inspiring gathering: Today we met with 20 men and women who have taken p

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

An empowered woman breaks into a male-dominated field Teresa Mwonjaru is a 63 years old woman from Thinyaine, Meru County, Kenya. She is a single mother and a granny to two young boys and a girl. The grandchildren live with her after the death of her daughter. Women members of CIFORD who meet to discuss issues related to gender, health, economy, and the environment. Teresa was stressed and discouraged, feeling unable to provide for her family. Then a friend encouraged her to

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

Last month I wrote about the inspiring story of Denis Kasambala, 16 years old, who received the gift of a pig from his community in last year. His mother died when he was young and his father is often lost in his alcoholism. The Manyamula COMSIP Cooperative members have great hopes for Denis. They wanted him to know his great potential. When teachers sent Denis home from school in October for not having a school uniform, the community stepped up again. Through an act of Shari

Last week I wrote about Denis Kasambala, a sixteen year old boy who received the gift of a piglet from his community in Manyamula, Malawi in May 2017. (Read the story of the gift-giving here.) The members of the local Manyamula COMSIP Cooperative wanted to encourage and support Denis in making a better life for himself. His mother died when he was 9 years old and his father is often missing due to alcoholism. So Denis and his five siblings live with their uncle, who also has

The community has “taken a firm stand to root Denis into success,” says Canaan Gondwe. Denis received a piglet from the community May 2017. This story was originally published in our Fall 2017 Newsletter. I’ll be posting a very exciting update to the story next week on the blog. In May and June [2017] I spent three weeks visiting folks connected with Spirit in Action in Kenya and Malawi. With my team – Mike Hegeman, Dana Belmonte, and Boyd Cothran – we met with seven communit

“In a religious context among Christians and Muslims, people believe that all human beings are created in God’s image.” So began Samson Turinawe’s opening remarks at the International Day of Peace conference in Uganda last month. “Therefore, each of us here in this conference hall, as well as those in the streets, villages and slum areas of Uganda, are images of God. Why not treat each other as if we are treating God? In my view, if we did this, peace would prevail in all nat