1. Joshua & Fastina's Fish Farm in Malawi Manyamula Village is hours away from Lake Malawi, so the only fish that arrives there is dried. Joshua and Fastina saw the opportunity to sell fresh fish. They used a SIA Small Business Fund grant of $150 to stock their newly-dug fish pond in Manyamula, Malawi last year. The business has been so successful that they have expanded to three fish ponds, started beekeeping, and sent their daughter to a private school. They have Shared th

Dennis in Kenya started with Spirit in Action in 2007. Samuel, also in Kenya, remembers talking with Del Anderson as he named our organization in 1996. Maggie, in California, was one of the original board members. Last weekend, the Spirit in Action North American Board and the African Advisory Board gathered on Zoom for a virtual meeting. Three new board members joined from California. (Welcome, Johnann, RuthAnn, and Dan!) The collective wisdom, experience, and openness to le

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

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

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

“I used to be very low. Business was up and down. Now, with a Spirit in Action Small Business Fund grant I am overjoyed. I bought a table and a big umbrella to shade my bake stand. I sell bread and cakes along the roadside. Life has changed. I can send my kids to school. I can pay rent. I contribute regularly to our saving group. “To Share the Gift, I have helped one neighbor with her business. My neighbor took over my business during my maternity. Now that neighbor has her o

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

Animals act as investments for SIA grant partners. Families use their savings to buy goats, pigs, chickens, and even cows. Then they can sell them when they need cash. Animal manure can improve crop output and the meat, eggs, and milk can enhance diets. Chickens In addition to being investments and a good source of inexpensive protein, chickens are also gifts. Family members may bring a live chicken to relatives when they visit. “Guests bring meat,” a friend in Malawi told us

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

“Of course I remain grateful to you and Spirit in Action for your patience with me and the encouragement you have always given to us in our work. Please remember that anytime you will be in need of expert knowledge to support any community-based Moringa project, in any part of the world, you can count on me to offer free voluntary service. It is not an exaggeration to say I can help in any work on Moringa from cultivation, processing and the entire value chain development.” S

Sometimes giving the perfect gift is more fun than receiving and unwrapping a gift, right? Do you know that feeling of knowing just the right gift for someone, and being in the position to get it for them? It’s exciting! This excitement of giving is right at the center of our Small Business Fund (SBF) program. Spirit in Action gives grants of $150 to families to start a small business and then this family is called to “pay-it-forward” to another family. They get a chance to b

How much a difference can $150 really make? While visiting Kenya and Malawi, Boyd and I saw many thriving businesses established through the Spirit in Action Small Business Fund. Read on to learn more about this life-changing program. 1. What is the SIA Small Business Fund (SBF) and how does it work? The Small Business Fund (SBF) is SIA’s program to support economic development in developing countries. SIA has supported 445 small businesses in Kenya, Malawi, DR Congo, Rwanda,

What difference can the gift of one pig make? One of the key components of SIA’s Small Business Fund (SBF) is the concept of “Sharing the Gift”, which encourages groups that receive small business grants from SIA to pay it forward to others in their community. As Boyd Cothran wrote in the Fall 2009 SIA Newsletter, “We take small amounts and give entrepreneurs in developing countries the opportunity to succeed. We don’t ask that they pay us back but that they use their success

Last year two generous contributors donated used laptop computers to SIA. After clearing the memory, we distributed them to 2 long-time SIA partners to use in their service in their community. As you can image, the benefits of receiving even an old laptop computer are great for our international partners. The first donated computer was sent to Musindo Sibiya in Chipinge, Zimbabwe, who is trained in computer repair but without a computer of his own. Not content to just use the