Friends of Mombasa

It’s been a few days here since we blogged as the connection has been weak where we are staying here on Likoni (across the bay from Mombasa).  The last couple of days have been spent meeting with old friends and making new ones.  Saturday was spent with the church family of Miramani Church.

The Miramani Church Family

This is the church we spent time with last summer working on their new building.    We spent time with them meeting and praying with members of the village.  Also helped for a short time harvesting their Maze (corn for us in the US).  No automation so we did it the old fashioned way, by hand.

Sunday was spent with Pastor and Joyce Nzinga at the Chumani Church.  They have a ministry that provides food, schooling, and support for 120 kids who have been orphaned, mostly due to aids.  A year ago they only had 80 kids and that number is up 50%.  What a passion they have for caring for them.  A year ago we saw their church building that was under construction.  This year we

Patrick, Mary, and Family

worshiped in it.  Although not totally completed, it has a roof on it and a concrete floor.  It’s been great to see how God has worked in this ministry and provided for those kids.  However, there is much more that needs to be done.  As you can imagine, trying to feed that many people is both a financial and logistical concern.  We’d be happy to answer any questions you might have in regards to helping them out.

Pastor Nzinga, Mac, and Joseph Kim

Yesterday we spent time with Pastor Timothy Muthusi who is pastoring a fast growing church near the Mombasa airport.  Best I can explain the location as there is no way we could find it again!    This is a man with a vision and was obvious based on what has been done over the last 4 years.    We also had the opportunity to meet

Pastor Matthew, Esther, and Nathan

with Pastor Matthew and Esther Musyoki along with their son Nathan.  These are two precious individuals with a heart for ministry.  Although our time together was limited, we are glad we had a chance to visit with them.

Our last night at Amani Acre was spent with those that have taken excellent care of us.  Patrick and Mary, Daniel, and Michael.  We even had the opportunity to have them meet Angie (my beautiful bride) via Skype.  They are family while we are here at Amani.

Pastor Timothy, Panina, and Victor

We met with Pastor Kilonzo and the chairman of the Pwani Bible Institute this morning.  Had an opportunity to look at the work they have done with the stalls and learn more about their vision.   In fact, Kevin even got to do a little negotiating on some new shoes.   We are now preparing for our return to the states.  Hard to believe our trip is almost over with and  we leave with a full heart having seen friends and having new areas of ministry opened to us.  We look forward to sharing with all of you when we get back.

Liz and Family

Our “tour guides” over the last few days have been AIM missionaries Joseph and Lois Kim.  Great people who have spent almost half their lives serving here in Africa.  Their time is coming to an end shortly and will be moving to southern CA while serving in the capacity of liasons to the Korean church in America.  We will miss

Pastor and Eshter Kilonzo

Pastor John Alusa and Kevin

them, but know they will be closer soon and our paths will cross again.

Lastly, please congratulate Mac and Martha on 36 years of marriage today and wish Angie a happy birthday

Happy Anniversary Mac and Martha

tomorrow.  See you all soon.

Blessings,

Mac, Martha, and Kevin

Mombasa

It has been good to reconnect with our friends in Mombasa — the faculty at PBI, our friends in Miramani, Liz,  and Patrick and Mary along with their family.  Much like having been on a long  journey and having come home again.  The faculty at Pwani sends their greetings to the EWO family as does the congregation of Miramani church.  It was a blessing to spend time with Patrick and Mary here at Amani Acre.  What a special family!  Today we are headed to visit Pastor Nzinga and the church at Chumani north of Mombasa.

Our time is starting to be short before we return to the states.  We still are “processing” (much like Charlie Lyden does) and are looking forward to seeing how God leads us.  Would send photos, but our connection is not very reliable here.

Have a great day in the Lord.

Mac, Martha, and Kevin

Last Day in Nairobi

Friday morning here in Nairobi and will be leaving soon for the airport and onto Mombasa.  It’s been an amazing week of learning and meeting new friends.  More importantly, has been encouraging to see how God is working in lives here.

Spent yesterday with our friends from Maono attending a table banking meeting and hearing the impact of

Table Banking

microfinancing.  The one overriding theme was how the business owners can provide food for their family because of their businesses.  You also see the smile on their faces when talking about their businesses and the profits that come from them. Gee, not much different than us in the states.

We met with David Kitusa who belongs to the Association of Microfinance Professionals.  Although we didn’t have much time to spend with him, it was valuable to do so.  He is a wealth of information on the history of microfinance here in Kenya and where things are headed.  We look forward to working with him in the future.

Finally, Mac and Kevin were able to visit Tabitha’s clinic (http://cfk.unc.edu) in Kibera.  This clinic is the result of $26 that Rye Barcott gave a lady named Tabitha.  Tabitha had a vision, and passion, to start a vegetable stand that would ultimately fund a medical clinic in Kibera.  This is one of only 3 permanent structures in the slum and serves 150-300 people a day.  This was a fitting conclusion to this portion of the trip as it reinforced what people with passion and vision can do with a “hand-up” and not a “hand-out”.

Tabitha Clinic Sign

We are now off to Mombasa for the remainder of our trip.  Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Martha, Mac, and Kevin

Maono, Kibera, World Vision, and the Industrial Area

Thanks to East White Oak for the Computer

It was like coming home yesterday when we saw Daisy of the Maono Initiative (on Facebook as Maono Initiative).  It was with her last year that we experienced what life was like in Kibera and how microfinancing could affect the lives of people.  Maono, which means “vision”, is a relatively young organization, but staffed with a group of individuals who are passionate about meeting the needs of those in poverty.  Maono’s vision started with a study of the top needs of Kibera (there is a gift for the first person to respond below naming the top 4 items in Daisy’s study from last year) and has since taken the next step.  Maono’s vision expanded to addressing both the needs of those living in Kibera while also addressing the reason for why they are there in the first place.  The reason many are there is because there are few jobs available in the villages.  For every business to  be successful, there needs to be a market for their product.  Business people in Kibera need to purchase product to sell to their customers.  Much of these items are food products (eggs, chickens, vegetables, etc) so why not fund farmers in the villages to supply the business people in Kibera?  Simply put, figuring out the whole process, managing the supply chain, and helping twice as many people is what this group is doing.

Daisy and Martha with one of Maono's Clients

Maono has a creative vision for making investments in their clients.  Don’t have enough room now, , but sufficient to say, it involves establishing credibility, accountability, and a changing the thought process of how to look at life all with the underlying intent to show God’s love through their actions.    Also a big thanks to the EWO family for making the investment in the computer for Maono to use in their operation.  They have been using Daisy’s personal computer and sharing it.  This will go a long way in helping process the loans and other administrative tasks.

Today, we spent time reviewing Kadet’s program for urban programs.  Kadet is affiliated with World Vision and can go “deep” in areas that aren’t typically funded.  They also can go the opposite direction with larger loans.  An interesting stat given to us today is that Kenya holds the lowest area for microfinancing interest rates

Maono's Table Top Banking Process in Kibera

largely due to the competitive nature of the industry.  We were able to visit a lady that had taken a loan and started a kitchen on the street.  She also put up two “stores” on the opposite side of the street.   In talking with her, she shared how much of a difference this made in her life.   Another gentleman’s operation we saw today revealed a dairy operation of 6 milk cows, two bulls, rabbits and chickens.  We were told that was quite the operation for being where it was located.  Yes, it was within the city limits!

Our last item today was to have dinner with an artist who is trying to change the climate of the African entertainment industry to reflect God’s principles and love.  Kanji is the founder of Kijiji Entertainment and serves as the worship pastor at Mavuno Church.  It was an enlightening story and passion for the African people.  You can find more information at www.kijijientertainment.com .

One more day in Nairobi and then off to see our dear friends in Mombasa.  We appreciate your prayers and notes.  Time is going fast, but have absorbed a lot of information and look for to see where it leads.

God Bless

Rural Microfinancing

Yesterday we had the privilege of spending time with Nellie and Millie from the Microfinancing Organization -  Juhudi Kilimo which is located north of Nairobi in a town called Murang’a.  Their focus is on rural development and making loans to farmers for acquiring assets.  Now the assets we are talking about aren’t tractors or combines, but rather good dairy cows, chickens, forage choppers (not like we have in the states), etc.  Nellie is the regional manager and shared with us how they focus on getting quality dairy cows as those will be the ones that help improve the productivity of the farm.  The trade-0ff on quality is the ability to resist disease that most native cattle have so they aim to have cow that may not produce at the high end, but one that produces a consistent amount yet has some disease resistance.    A good cow will produce 20-30 liters of milk/day.

A rose between two thorns!

We visited a lady who had purchased a dairy cow a little over a year ago.  In that time period, she has increased the size of her herd (had one calf and is expecting another).  The cow doubled the milk production from her previous cow — old cow did 9 liters per day while this one does 20 liters per day.  She also raises rabbits (told her she could have the ones in my yard), coffee, corn, and other vegetables. Because of her investment, she can afford to provide additional items for her family.

Dairy Cows

Our second stop was with a farmer who took a loan to buy chickens to produce eggs.  He purchased a little over 150 chickens and paid back the loan within 6 months ( a year early).  He also had goats, free-range chickens, and grew a few other items on his 1 acre.

To all our farmer friends and family, farmers here are no different than you!  They knew what it was costing them for their inputs, what their productivity was, and what they needed to take their operations to the next level.  Scott Bellows, our friend here in Nairobi, was so impressed with the chicken operation that he is now considering changing his plans from having green houses on his property to raising chickens.  Scott has run microfinancing institutions in the past and was very helpful in “filling in the gaps” for us.  Martha, as she always does, was able to relate real well to the ladies.  She does a fantastic job with that, not to mention keeping us guys in line.

Today we are headed to meet with Daisy who we met last year.  She does microfinancing in the Kibera Slum.  Ought to be another fantastic day.

Chicken Investor, Nellie, Millie, Robert, and Scott

Monday’s Activities

Tried posting what we were doing on Facebook (and still will), but didn’t realize a post was limited to 425 characters.  One more thing I didn’t know about that thing!  We have a full week ahead of us (defined by Mac and Martha McNair, Kevin May, and our good friend here in in Nairobi, Scott Bellows).  Our goal of the trip is to learn as much as we can about microfinancing and how it helps lift people out of their improvished situation.  We had lunch yesterday with a gentleman from Switzerland who oversees social microfunding here in Africa.  His point was that people like to look at those who are living in improvished areas as not being astute about life or having ambition.  We have seen ourselves that there are people in these areas that have a vision and just need someone to believe in their vision to come along side them and to help get them started or to take their business to a new level.    There is a flourishing business climate, but not the way we in the west are accustomed to viewing it.  Frankly, there is levels of ingenuity that I would have never thought of.  It’s encouraging to see how much we are alike, just liviving in different economies.

Today we are headed to the country to see the Rural Pro-Poor-For-Profit Microfinance Institution on how microfinancing works in the rural areas.  Mac and I have been invited to speak to Scott’s MBA Finance class that he teaches at the United States International University.  Ought to be another great day.

God Bless