We thought that this is a really good story on life traning and so relevant to our topic
Here is how my late precious father, shaped my life. He did this in reference to the scripture saying “you shall know them by the fruits of their work!” That man really respected any little moment that offered him an opportunity to learn something new and to discover. And I sincerely thank him, he was my best teacher! Not pointing the way but accompanying me by doing what he was teaching!
He once told me bless the people who bless you or curse you as you move on in life. Bless too the people who move on from your life and those you move away from, despite the way they live you! Concentrate on the lessons they leave behind for you and not so much the betrayals, pains or momentary happy moments. What is too powerful to me are his words “the greater the gratitude, the greater the rewards. Gratitude is a tenet only found in those who have transcended the ordinary levels of wisdom and maturity.” Hence if you appreciate a little moment of learning, you will become better than your teachers and you will be able to apply the lessons in very extra ordinary ways. That is when you will realize that it is NOT ABOUT YOU OR WHO YOU ARE BUT WHAT YOU CARRY WITH YOU AND WHAT YOU ARE MADE OF (is it hatred and pride or love and humility that makes you)! The people referred to as geniuses are ordinary people, doing the ordinary things extra ordinarily. They have a great focus on what they do and hence derive much learning from it more than all of us doing that same thing. Focus and prioritization are the key.
He loved these words from Martin Luther King Jnr “If you happen to be a street sweeper, you should sweep the streets so clean that if people saw it they would say that here is a great street sweeper. And if one time after you are long gone the host of heaven reviewed your work they would exclaim, WOW! Here lived a great street sweeper.” One time he rebuked me so hard (I was fencing a cowshed) for not doing my work well as I was looking for a short cut. He then made me repeat my work. He always told me that I should always learn from my own weaknesses and always be happy when people know them and point them to me or speak about them, and he was the first person to tell me that I should never wrap my own weaknesses or the weaknesses of people I care about in a Golden Handkerchief!!! I got one day a job of emptying some toilets in my neighborhood and ferrying them by Mkokoteni to the government sewerage around Kitale. When he heard about this job, he told me “you are on the right path son, every work is valuable and an opportunity to learn.” Afterwards I came to Nairobi where I got a job as a cook and he was so happy and told me “son I am sure one time you will grow up and cook for more people but never forget the latreens, streets, the cowshed and the kitchen.” He became much happier when he heard that I was working with Street Children first in Eldoret and later on in Nairobi.
When I joined the university, whenever I would go back home he would teach me carpentry, the work he retired to after he stopped practicing psychiatry as a police officer with a duty of finding “man’s rea” in crimes. And I really enjoyed to be in his simple but beautiful and precious workshop. Despite his age he was doing so many experiments with wood! By the time he died, he was making really good looms! Unfortunately, he was too powerful for me in that I was sometimes running from him and I never ever got to know how to make the loom! If he was there today, I would go to spend sometime with him just to learn the technology of how to make a loom. I remember one time he was showing me one of the looms he had made some modifications on, and according to him there was no need to use the manual filler anymore but just passing the thread and pushing a handle downwards. I nodded my head strongly and smiled broadly but did not understand a thing because I was bored and had my own business. Now that as I come to think of it, I really wish that I had just listened carefully and inquired step by step how the new technology was working.
He continued with his simple but meaningful lessons for all my life. I later on became a builder during my holidays or would go to harvest or weed at other farms and he always smiled at me and told me “son intelligence is contained on the hands-on skills and not how many books you have read.” Then I became a garbage collector in RES and he encouraged me on. And when I lost RES, he told me “son, never curse because what has just happened is the door to your becoming a more precious garbage collector. As you grow up in life, RES will always be a mirror of organizational weaknesses which your new endeavors will always draw from.” In December 2003 he died while I was in Sudan but his words still echo “the wounds of today make us much greater in what we do tomorrow. You can only heal others when you really understand the true meaning of a wound. That is why the healers of the world are referred to as wounded healers. If you are therefore afraid of being wounded, you will never ever become a healer or an agent of transformation.”
My dad taught me humility and taught me the value of hard work and always being open and I thank God that I had a father who was a true teacher. However I remember one last phrase that I heard from him “son the fruits of your hard labor may not be of any value to those you benefiting from them. Even if this happens, move on and concentrate on your work. Do not wait for applause, cheer yourself on and always move to finish everything you have started despite the burden, loneliness and the pain entailed in doing so.” He warned me to guard against becoming over defensive “In any case if you realize that you are always desperate or on the defensive or becoming too sensitive and vulnerable then know that your value is diminishing and you are losing your true worth.” And in showing me that all is vanity he always said “Be bigger than what you have, be bigger than your successes or accomplishments of life, be bigger than what you hear be they praises or curses or complaints! Let them not hold you back! Do not concentrate on them!! Concentrate on your work and your concentration will bear fruits that people will in the long run focus on!!! Ask yourself what God really wants you to have!! God will always fill you up depending on the limits of your imagination. If your imagination is already limited with what you possess, that is the measure that God will also use for you! Never take short cuts by either creating lies or making empty promises or leaving behind unfinished work etc! Never be a busy body!! Be a man of your words!”
Something more, one time when ploughing with the oxen, a big snake was unearthed in one of the furrows and I was very scared. He continued on with ploughing and told me to make sure that I had killed the snake. I killed the snake though with a lot of problems because it was really big and was charging on me after every strike. But he kept on telling me that I must kill the snake as he continued urging on the oxen. I was amazed at his calm. Later I picked some stones I threw them at the snake with a relentless consistency until it died. We then sat and he was satisfied with me and said “what was it you were afraid of” and I told him that the snake was big and was charging at me with every strike. He said “You see son even when on an important mission, you will encounter problems (they could be real or imagined) that seem bigger, and they will charge at you when you try to solve them, you will first have to deal with tem and then continue with your work. If we had not killed that snake it would have waited for us as we made the next furrow. If you do not take care of those minor concerns they will always pull you down. Perfection entails taking care of the minutest details of your work. The details we do not take care of today may be a big cause of deviations, worry, doom and concern tomorrow. What goes around comes around!”
From then on, I never concentrated on applauses or jeers but on the latrines, streets, the kitchen, the buildings, the farms, the animals and the garbage. As a result of this work, many people live a better life. As time passed on I am recognizing that beneath that garbage lies a big treasure, from that kitchen people are fed, in that garden many lives are sustained and in the building people do many things such as learning, resting etc. My dearest, what is it that you are. I am made of the toilet, farm, the building material, the kitchen, the streets and the garbage; what are you made of!!!
I am aware of my own personal weaknesses! I know them from my work places, social places, close friends and a myriad of communications! What I try to do is to live an honest life and sharing to empower. This is the small thing I can be able to do! I started this work since I was 16 years old, and my dad used to encourage me on. On my weaknesses, I usually ask people to do the appraisal and when they are done, I encourage that they are shared openly. And my dad told me “let people know openly and allow that they communicate your problems and weaknesses so as they may not to use them as a manipulation tool!!!! Openness is what will strengthen you!” He added, “son live a clean life, be honest! Never allow yourself be lazy or to take short cuts! Empower others, and never use manipulation, usury or avarice!!! Never be a saint fool but strive to reach intelligent sainthood!!!” Severally he sat with me and asked me to make an honest assessment of him. In most cases, I never utilized those moments meaningfully but complained about so many things I needed from him. And he told me, that dependence is a bad disease! When I sincerely evaluated him the last time we met, he shed tears, hugged and told me that he thinks now I have become the mature son made out of the Ochanda blood! That is the time I became interested in the loom but unfortunately, I became too busy in KARDS and Koinonia! The loom he was to make for me, was never made as he went to heaven after collecting the wood. This wood was used for the funeral fire! I will eventually have to make this loom on my own. And I think that this is the most important lesson and inheritance he left for me, “son you have seen it so you can do it.”
It is a fact that weaknesses are universal. The way we look at them could either contribute towards strengthening us or weakening us. If you met my dad today he would tell you “Thank God that you have a weakness.” But the Ochanda in him would also add, “However blessed is he or she who after realizing that he or she has a weakness, tries as much as possible to learn from it or even seeks for help; this type of person is made out of a true spirit of humility and he or she is wise and shall prosper. In humility you will find all the Godly reserves of wisdom. And doomed is he or she who pretends that he or she has no weaknesses as they will never learn from their weaknesses; this person is foolish and too proud and pride comes before a BIG fall! In pride you will find all the satanic reserves of wisdom.” Infact where weaknesses are hidden a fertile ground for vulnerability emerges when they are discovered. Kindly never forget humility, it will be your great arm our. And this was what my Old Man passed to me; his simple practical wisdom of life!! He was a genius! I miss him so much. MAY GOD RECEIVE MY DAD AND ALL OUR DEAR AND LOVED ONES IN PARADISE!!
I do hope most answers to my life’s questions can be found from this powerful and wonderfully lived experience with the Heavenly! There are infinite number of lessons captured in these pages! Unfortunately it will take me a whole life time to unearth them! I pray for wisdom! I also choose wisdom.
Small things are the ones taking people up. They are the same things that bring great people down!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
World AIDS Day 2007
Found this message too good
World AIDS Day
December 1, 2007
“I have set before you life and death…; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” – Deuteronomy 30: 19
By the end of 2005, 25 million people had died due to AIDS, 40 million were living with HIV, and an estimated 15 million were orphaned. This presents an immense challenge to the international community. But we are not without choices. We can “choose life”, mobilizing the necessary resources and political will to address the issues that contribute to the spread of AIDS.
The AIDS pandemic is an affront to the dignity of humanity made in God’s image. Silence is not an option. In our words and actions, may we “choose life” that all God’s people may live.
2007 is the 26th anniversary of the identification of “AIDS”-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Although 25 million people have died since AIDS was first recognized in 1981, it is not necessarily a death sentence for those living in the industrialized world.
Most of them have access to antiretroviral drugs that prolong life, as well as clean water, proper nutrition and a functioning health care system. People in the Global South do not have such access. In 2005, 1.5 % of HIV-positive North Americans died due to AIDS. In Africa 10% did.
AIDS is on the increase in most areas of the world. Women and children are the most vulnerable groups being infected. Poverty and profit prevents us from making much progress to stop this disease. Where there are high HIV rates there are high debts to the World Bank, causing severe obstacles to the provision of 2
life-saving health care and educational services needed to roll back the AIDS epidemic. Surely African countries qualify for debt relief.
Antiretroviral medicines prolong life for persons with AIDS. While they are not a cure, ARVs have ensured longer lives for people who have access to them. ARV treatment is expensive but it doesn’t have to be. Competition from generic manufacturers in India has caused the prices to be lowered. Now non-profit foundations are able to buy ARVs at a lower price. The bottom line is: profits get in the way of saving lives. There are drug patents and exclusive marketing rights that get in the way of drug distribution. Cheaper drugs do little for the poor in developing countries when they have no money. Even a few euros a day is often impossible.
You are probably wondering what this has to do with you. What can you do about the drugs being inaccessible to millions of people dying of AIDS?
You can lobby your government. Write a letter to the Prime Minister or President. Ask your MP,Councillors and those in Government why drugs are not available to all people
Leaders must be accountable for the commitments made for funding and support.
More than five out of six people who need antiretrovirals do not have access to them – that is 5.5 million people.
I repeat, silence is not an option. We need to speak out!
1,700 children are infected with HIV every day. 90% of newly infected children are babies born to HIV-positive women. The virus may be passed to the child during delivery, and may occur through breastfeeding. If drugs were provided to the mothers before delivery, this could be prevented. In North America these drugs are administered. Are African babies not as precious?
The HIV and AIDS crisis has a disproportionate impact on women and girls. They may be aware of the factors that put them at risk of infection, but have very little power to reduce their vulnerability. Their lack of economic power puts them at 3
risk for sexual exploitation and violence, and forces them into prostitution. Once infected, women face discrimination in public as well as within their families.
AIDS has completely changed family life.
By 2010, an estimated 25 million children worldwide will have lost one or both parents due to HIV and AIDS. Children living with sick and dying parents will be forced to drop out of school to work or to care for younger siblings. What is their future? They have no education and no money.
I have a story of Mary Nyhosa, aged 14. She now heads her household because her parents died of AIDS. Every day, Mary sees her younger sister and brother cry from hunger but there’s no money to buy food. When they are sick she cannot go to the hospital because they cannot pay the user fees. So Mary has decided to sell her body on the streets as a prostitute. This is how she makes money to feed her family. How soon will it be before she contracts AIDS?
There are children bringing up children. There are grandparents caring for numerous children, some of whom have AIDS. There are fields not being cultivated because there is no one to do the planting. There is no one with the skills of cultivating, planting and harvesting. They have died before they could teach these skills to their children.
God’s children are dying of AIDS. If you listen, you can hear the voice of a young African girl – a young girl with the AIDS virus. She is calling out, asking us to notice her, to hear her. She speaks for millions of others. Can you see one orphan after another trying to find food, to provide for younger siblings? Children are crying and there is no one to dry their tears.
Who will help them?
Who will provide grief counseling?
Who will organize the funerals?
Who will nurse the sick and dying?
Who will teach the children to brush their hair?
Who will make their clothes?
Who will tuck them in at night?
Who will be trained as teachers, preachers, bakers, farmers, nurses?
We can no longer deny the reality, the truth, the Body of Christ has AIDS, and the global village has AIDS. The churches are living with HIV and AIDS. God’s children are dying of AIDS. As people of faith, we have done much, and yet there is much we have avoided.
I believe that the work we have started with St Sebastians over the past two years globally and the work that I as a priest in Gran Canaria that is openly working to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, and has experienced the heartbreak of a partner who has died from AIDS just 4 years ago, have broken the silence and worked on making this our problem, rather than their problem.”
Silence is not an option. May we “choose life” that all God’s people may live.
In the face of this, it is hard to believe we can make a difference. However, It is possible. Don’t let AIDS fatigue set in.
We tire of reading articles about the devastation. What do we do?
In the face of this disaster we feel small, powerless and hopeless. How does one person make a difference?
Remember, God’s love can transform human life into fullness. God is calling us to see more fully than ever before that we are one world family, one creation, brothers and sisters. Our lives are interwoven. We must see a vision of hope, and a God who longs for us to open our eyes and work together.
We must work to change laws so medicine can be made affordable and available worldwide. We must speak for justice as we educate others about AIDS. We must be a window through which God’s love can be seen.
It is time to accept that even one AIDS related death is one too many.
Inclusive churches have responded by acting out of compassion and for justice. This includes education, fundraising, and advocacy. We must act, we must pray, and we must give.
I believe that as a growing international Christian Communuity we should be creating a specialist fund aimed specifically at supporting programmes that will make a difference. The objective is for a generation without AIDS.
There are programs and partners in Mozambique , South Africa , Kenya and Tanzania ,
They include HIV and AIDS centers, educating young people on trains, training centers for home-based care workers, teaching about nutrition, and the organization of a Credit Union.
As I read another chapter in “Race Against Time”, written by my hero, Stephen Lewis, he showed me a glimpse of what might be.
“I believe to the depths of my being that Africa will one day rejoice in a time when families are whole and funerals are rare. It’s just so bitter that such multitudes of lives are being lost along the way. It’s hard not to be in a near stupor of anger. And yet I’m sustained, as so many Africans are, by the memories of what the continent used to be, and the conviction that the present will one day reunite with the best of the past.”
On this World AIDS Day, in this season of Advent, God grant us and our world the courage to open our eyes, reach out our hands, and speak of God’s mighty works.
Amen
World AIDS Day
December 1, 2007
“I have set before you life and death…; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” – Deuteronomy 30: 19
By the end of 2005, 25 million people had died due to AIDS, 40 million were living with HIV, and an estimated 15 million were orphaned. This presents an immense challenge to the international community. But we are not without choices. We can “choose life”, mobilizing the necessary resources and political will to address the issues that contribute to the spread of AIDS.
The AIDS pandemic is an affront to the dignity of humanity made in God’s image. Silence is not an option. In our words and actions, may we “choose life” that all God’s people may live.
2007 is the 26th anniversary of the identification of “AIDS”-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Although 25 million people have died since AIDS was first recognized in 1981, it is not necessarily a death sentence for those living in the industrialized world.
Most of them have access to antiretroviral drugs that prolong life, as well as clean water, proper nutrition and a functioning health care system. People in the Global South do not have such access. In 2005, 1.5 % of HIV-positive North Americans died due to AIDS. In Africa 10% did.
AIDS is on the increase in most areas of the world. Women and children are the most vulnerable groups being infected. Poverty and profit prevents us from making much progress to stop this disease. Where there are high HIV rates there are high debts to the World Bank, causing severe obstacles to the provision of 2
life-saving health care and educational services needed to roll back the AIDS epidemic. Surely African countries qualify for debt relief.
Antiretroviral medicines prolong life for persons with AIDS. While they are not a cure, ARVs have ensured longer lives for people who have access to them. ARV treatment is expensive but it doesn’t have to be. Competition from generic manufacturers in India has caused the prices to be lowered. Now non-profit foundations are able to buy ARVs at a lower price. The bottom line is: profits get in the way of saving lives. There are drug patents and exclusive marketing rights that get in the way of drug distribution. Cheaper drugs do little for the poor in developing countries when they have no money. Even a few euros a day is often impossible.
You are probably wondering what this has to do with you. What can you do about the drugs being inaccessible to millions of people dying of AIDS?
You can lobby your government. Write a letter to the Prime Minister or President. Ask your MP,Councillors and those in Government why drugs are not available to all people
Leaders must be accountable for the commitments made for funding and support.
More than five out of six people who need antiretrovirals do not have access to them – that is 5.5 million people.
I repeat, silence is not an option. We need to speak out!
1,700 children are infected with HIV every day. 90% of newly infected children are babies born to HIV-positive women. The virus may be passed to the child during delivery, and may occur through breastfeeding. If drugs were provided to the mothers before delivery, this could be prevented. In North America these drugs are administered. Are African babies not as precious?
The HIV and AIDS crisis has a disproportionate impact on women and girls. They may be aware of the factors that put them at risk of infection, but have very little power to reduce their vulnerability. Their lack of economic power puts them at 3
risk for sexual exploitation and violence, and forces them into prostitution. Once infected, women face discrimination in public as well as within their families.
AIDS has completely changed family life.
By 2010, an estimated 25 million children worldwide will have lost one or both parents due to HIV and AIDS. Children living with sick and dying parents will be forced to drop out of school to work or to care for younger siblings. What is their future? They have no education and no money.
I have a story of Mary Nyhosa, aged 14. She now heads her household because her parents died of AIDS. Every day, Mary sees her younger sister and brother cry from hunger but there’s no money to buy food. When they are sick she cannot go to the hospital because they cannot pay the user fees. So Mary has decided to sell her body on the streets as a prostitute. This is how she makes money to feed her family. How soon will it be before she contracts AIDS?
There are children bringing up children. There are grandparents caring for numerous children, some of whom have AIDS. There are fields not being cultivated because there is no one to do the planting. There is no one with the skills of cultivating, planting and harvesting. They have died before they could teach these skills to their children.
God’s children are dying of AIDS. If you listen, you can hear the voice of a young African girl – a young girl with the AIDS virus. She is calling out, asking us to notice her, to hear her. She speaks for millions of others. Can you see one orphan after another trying to find food, to provide for younger siblings? Children are crying and there is no one to dry their tears.
Who will help them?
Who will provide grief counseling?
Who will organize the funerals?
Who will nurse the sick and dying?
Who will teach the children to brush their hair?
Who will make their clothes?
Who will tuck them in at night?
Who will be trained as teachers, preachers, bakers, farmers, nurses?
We can no longer deny the reality, the truth, the Body of Christ has AIDS, and the global village has AIDS. The churches are living with HIV and AIDS. God’s children are dying of AIDS. As people of faith, we have done much, and yet there is much we have avoided.
I believe that the work we have started with St Sebastians over the past two years globally and the work that I as a priest in Gran Canaria that is openly working to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, and has experienced the heartbreak of a partner who has died from AIDS just 4 years ago, have broken the silence and worked on making this our problem, rather than their problem.”
Silence is not an option. May we “choose life” that all God’s people may live.
In the face of this, it is hard to believe we can make a difference. However, It is possible. Don’t let AIDS fatigue set in.
We tire of reading articles about the devastation. What do we do?
In the face of this disaster we feel small, powerless and hopeless. How does one person make a difference?
Remember, God’s love can transform human life into fullness. God is calling us to see more fully than ever before that we are one world family, one creation, brothers and sisters. Our lives are interwoven. We must see a vision of hope, and a God who longs for us to open our eyes and work together.
We must work to change laws so medicine can be made affordable and available worldwide. We must speak for justice as we educate others about AIDS. We must be a window through which God’s love can be seen.
It is time to accept that even one AIDS related death is one too many.
Inclusive churches have responded by acting out of compassion and for justice. This includes education, fundraising, and advocacy. We must act, we must pray, and we must give.
I believe that as a growing international Christian Communuity we should be creating a specialist fund aimed specifically at supporting programmes that will make a difference. The objective is for a generation without AIDS.
There are programs and partners in Mozambique , South Africa , Kenya and Tanzania ,
They include HIV and AIDS centers, educating young people on trains, training centers for home-based care workers, teaching about nutrition, and the organization of a Credit Union.
As I read another chapter in “Race Against Time”, written by my hero, Stephen Lewis, he showed me a glimpse of what might be.
“I believe to the depths of my being that Africa will one day rejoice in a time when families are whole and funerals are rare. It’s just so bitter that such multitudes of lives are being lost along the way. It’s hard not to be in a near stupor of anger. And yet I’m sustained, as so many Africans are, by the memories of what the continent used to be, and the conviction that the present will one day reunite with the best of the past.”
On this World AIDS Day, in this season of Advent, God grant us and our world the courage to open our eyes, reach out our hands, and speak of God’s mighty works.
Amen
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Social Capital: Links defining it
Here is an important list that could help us understand social capital taken from http://www.masternewmedia.org/2004/05/06/what_is_social_capital.htm. Social capital is an impotant concept in building a social entreprise.
Definitions of Social Capital (also referred to as Social Cohesion/Social Support) on the Web:
This is a term developed by social scientists to describe social networks and contacts. Social capital theory argues that strong social capital is ...http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=0&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=OYsCDl_3hdDslgWuyS9_wg&q=http://www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do%3FpageId%3D80939&usg=AFQjCNFeBRA5ry-eqtRBQYYeHb6HLtPx4Q
The networks of relationships among persons, firms, and institutions in a society, together with associated norms of behavior, trust, cooperation, etc., that enable a society to function effectively.www-personal.umich.edu/~alandear/glossary/s.html
People, their capacity levels, institutions, cultural cohesion, education, information, skills, and knowledge.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=2&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=ts87Vafte4-K6yT1IaAMhQ&q=http://www.smarte.org/smarte/resource/sn-glossary.xml&usg=AFQjCNGQPozilJfE0JfvxUzcTl7GXuYPNg
The individual and communal time and energy that is available for such things as community improvement, social networking, civic engagement, personal recreation, and other activities that create social bonds between individuals and groups. ...0-www.cdc.gov.mill1.sjlibrary.org/healthyplaces/terminology.htm
A "composite measure" which reflects both the breadth and depth of civic community (staying informed about community life and participating in its associations) as well as the public's participation in political life. ...mapp.naccho.org/mapp_glossary.asp
is the attitude, spirit and willingness of people to engage in collective, civic activities. Over time, social capital builds what may be termed as social infrastructure, a key item discussed in the Strategic Social Plan.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=5&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=kM8bNhPpUyHnvLv2wWds6Q&q=http://www.envision.ca/templates/profile.asp%3FID%3D56&usg=AFQjCNFHQMp3WInyaPUTjwTTg0cnhDOkdQ
Networks, understanding and values that shape the way we relate to each other and participate in social activities.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=6&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=In6eAPCJt-Jd8GBYKQnyMA&q=http://www.cpa.ie/povertyinireland/glossary.htm&usg=AFQjCNH9-erqhP8T5KeNJP4JsToxXGHLZw
The value and cooperation created through social human relationships or networks.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=7&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=eAVRluhtF1YVKgS_DKfKVQ&q=http://www.pfc.ca/cms_en/page1112.cfm&usg=AFQjCNFe1NgncHju4wBjOEoO3aW-keDenA
The degree to which a community or society collaborates and cooperates (through such mechanisms as networks, shared trust, norms and values) to achieve mutual benefits. There are many definitions and discussions about social capital, for more information see Robert D. ...http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=8&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=gNxRyCbbq_OhLTjAhKNZfw&q=http://www.icfdn.org/publications/blurredborders/40definitions.htm&usg=AFQjCNGpf4EUEQVbKZfULO_kWD_vjwUmUg
Physical or real capital that is owned by the public sector rather than by private firms.globaledge.msu.edu/resourceDesk/glossary.asp
the networks and connections between people that contribute to social cohesionhttp://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=10&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=jCTvmKJL9PCXmLLveueyLA&q=http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/integrative/coastal/glossary.html&usg=AFQjCNE9vCoSJjtlFCWDulUXpvugrDAiWQ
is defined as “the social resources…developed through networks and connectedness, membership of more formal groups, and relationships of trust, reciprocity and exchange’ (Phillips 2001). ...http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=11&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=1ANA194aGlU_ZAAi-u9bvw&q=http://www.wmin.ac.uk/builtenv/maxlock/KTweb/Report/Annex5.doc&usg=AFQjCNE4v9TYBBAOzut26ZYRFgi9cAnBRA
The total stock of a society's productive assets, including those that allow the manufacture of the marketable outputs that create private-sector profits, and those that create non-marketed outputs, such as defence and education (Bannock et al., 1992, 396).poli.haifa.ac.il/~levi/res/dicpe.html
The value of social networks that people can draw on to solve common problems. The benefits of social capital flow from the trust, reciprocity, information, and cooperation associated with social networks.450.aers.psu.edu/glossary_search.cfm
Human life and values can be defined as social capital. Defining the biological demands of human life also falls under the discipline of human ecology.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=14&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=MyxsuTE4QUWLCyz0g2PshA&q=http://www.foodshedproject.ca/glossary.html&usg=AFQjCNEiq0kFDYbXhVtGYa2CooXRQWKFkQ
Social capital is a core concept in business, economics, organizational behaviour, political science, and sociology, defined as the advantage created by a person's location in a structure of relationships. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social capital
Defined by the OECD as “…networks, together with shared norms, values and understandings which facilitate cooperation within or among groups”.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=16&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=mi4P3ugi-OPJWSR2dtwRUQ&q=http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/SARC/E-Democracy/Final_Report/Glossary.htm&usg=AFQjCNH5L6eudn3DcoGs8-ctoGg5LQQnsg
Definitions of Social Capital (also referred to as Social Cohesion/Social Support) on the Web:
This is a term developed by social scientists to describe social networks and contacts. Social capital theory argues that strong social capital is ...http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=0&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=OYsCDl_3hdDslgWuyS9_wg&q=http://www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do%3FpageId%3D80939&usg=AFQjCNFeBRA5ry-eqtRBQYYeHb6HLtPx4Q
The networks of relationships among persons, firms, and institutions in a society, together with associated norms of behavior, trust, cooperation, etc., that enable a society to function effectively.www-personal.umich.edu/~alandear/glossary/s.html
People, their capacity levels, institutions, cultural cohesion, education, information, skills, and knowledge.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=2&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=ts87Vafte4-K6yT1IaAMhQ&q=http://www.smarte.org/smarte/resource/sn-glossary.xml&usg=AFQjCNGQPozilJfE0JfvxUzcTl7GXuYPNg
The individual and communal time and energy that is available for such things as community improvement, social networking, civic engagement, personal recreation, and other activities that create social bonds between individuals and groups. ...0-www.cdc.gov.mill1.sjlibrary.org/healthyplaces/terminology.htm
A "composite measure" which reflects both the breadth and depth of civic community (staying informed about community life and participating in its associations) as well as the public's participation in political life. ...mapp.naccho.org/mapp_glossary.asp
is the attitude, spirit and willingness of people to engage in collective, civic activities. Over time, social capital builds what may be termed as social infrastructure, a key item discussed in the Strategic Social Plan.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=5&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=kM8bNhPpUyHnvLv2wWds6Q&q=http://www.envision.ca/templates/profile.asp%3FID%3D56&usg=AFQjCNFHQMp3WInyaPUTjwTTg0cnhDOkdQ
Networks, understanding and values that shape the way we relate to each other and participate in social activities.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=6&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=In6eAPCJt-Jd8GBYKQnyMA&q=http://www.cpa.ie/povertyinireland/glossary.htm&usg=AFQjCNH9-erqhP8T5KeNJP4JsToxXGHLZw
The value and cooperation created through social human relationships or networks.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=7&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=eAVRluhtF1YVKgS_DKfKVQ&q=http://www.pfc.ca/cms_en/page1112.cfm&usg=AFQjCNFe1NgncHju4wBjOEoO3aW-keDenA
The degree to which a community or society collaborates and cooperates (through such mechanisms as networks, shared trust, norms and values) to achieve mutual benefits. There are many definitions and discussions about social capital, for more information see Robert D. ...http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=8&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=gNxRyCbbq_OhLTjAhKNZfw&q=http://www.icfdn.org/publications/blurredborders/40definitions.htm&usg=AFQjCNGpf4EUEQVbKZfULO_kWD_vjwUmUg
Physical or real capital that is owned by the public sector rather than by private firms.globaledge.msu.edu/resourceDesk/glossary.asp
the networks and connections between people that contribute to social cohesionhttp://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=10&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=jCTvmKJL9PCXmLLveueyLA&q=http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/integrative/coastal/glossary.html&usg=AFQjCNE9vCoSJjtlFCWDulUXpvugrDAiWQ
is defined as “the social resources…developed through networks and connectedness, membership of more formal groups, and relationships of trust, reciprocity and exchange’ (Phillips 2001). ...http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=11&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=1ANA194aGlU_ZAAi-u9bvw&q=http://www.wmin.ac.uk/builtenv/maxlock/KTweb/Report/Annex5.doc&usg=AFQjCNE4v9TYBBAOzut26ZYRFgi9cAnBRA
The total stock of a society's productive assets, including those that allow the manufacture of the marketable outputs that create private-sector profits, and those that create non-marketed outputs, such as defence and education (Bannock et al., 1992, 396).poli.haifa.ac.il/~levi/res/dicpe.html
The value of social networks that people can draw on to solve common problems. The benefits of social capital flow from the trust, reciprocity, information, and cooperation associated with social networks.450.aers.psu.edu/glossary_search.cfm
Human life and values can be defined as social capital. Defining the biological demands of human life also falls under the discipline of human ecology.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=14&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=MyxsuTE4QUWLCyz0g2PshA&q=http://www.foodshedproject.ca/glossary.html&usg=AFQjCNEiq0kFDYbXhVtGYa2CooXRQWKFkQ
Social capital is a core concept in business, economics, organizational behaviour, political science, and sociology, defined as the advantage created by a person's location in a structure of relationships. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social capital
Defined by the OECD as “…networks, together with shared norms, values and understandings which facilitate cooperation within or among groups”.http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&start=16&oi=define&ei=_y8NR62cF4mY-gL516ha&sig2=mi4P3ugi-OPJWSR2dtwRUQ&q=http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/SARC/E-Democracy/Final_Report/Glossary.htm&usg=AFQjCNH5L6eudn3DcoGs8-ctoGg5LQQnsg
Monday, October 1, 2007
Micro Finance for Reconstruction of Post Conflict Countries
There are several examples in which micro finance has been used to bring reconstruction to post conflict countries. One example is the Sudan Micro finance founded in 2004 by the Chemonics International through a USAID funding. This micro finance project assisted South Sudan in various ways as follow:
- Establish a monetized economy
- Strengthen the capacity of local entrepreneurs
- Encourage the repatriation of entrepreneurial skils
- Provide returnees with capital to start businesses
- Peace building and reconciliation through trade
So far, this program had great impact in South Sudan in 2004 to present. It also is paving way for the creation of several commercial banks and ultimately the central bank of Sudan. South Sudan has always been a unique case as it uses several currencies: Ugandan, Kenyan and Sudanese.
Certainly, we shall write more in this area in the future. In Rwanda too IRC and Catholic Relief Service is also doing much in this area.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Social Economy and Local Development: European Case Studies
Istituto Per Sviluppo Professionale dei Lavorati (ISFOL) or The Equal National Support Structure in Italy has painted a good picture of the contribution of the social economy in Europe in their 2006 paper entitled How Can Social Economy Contribute to the Local Development? The Paper documents various proceedings of Equal Development Partnership (EDP) countries workshops that brought practitioners from Italy, Poland, Finland, Sweden, UK GB, Germany and Belgium.
Social entrepreneurship is acknowledged in Europe as a priority in the national employment strategies and the promotion of sustainable growth. It is also acknowledged for innovation on issues of the social economy and linkages with local processes and policies. There are common problems calling for the development of the social economy in all the EDP countries include, improving the availability of services to the sections of the communities not accessing them easily, raising the potential of employment and job creation, encouraging policies on integration strategies, the development of areas affected by social, territorial or economic setbacks and which could benefit from new professional profiles and services.
The third sector (social entrepreneurship endeavours are also referred to as the third sector. Other players in the economy include the Government and the corporate sectors) organizations in Europe have a deep knowledge of the local needs in their areas of their operations and have thus contributed to innovations and modernization of the social welfare systems. This sector has become extremely pertinent in the integration of the disadvantaged people within the mainstream, and encouraging new models of social responsibility. Apart from service provision, local development, they also advocate for the disadvantaged populations and encourage new models of social responsibility.
The third sector also experiences great obstacles as follow:
Finance: The third sector organizations find it difficulty to access financial resources due to their nature of operation and the demand for collateral and concrete guarantees from the financial resource providers. This constrains their growth.
Markets: The main consumer of the SE’s among the EDP countries is the public sector. The demand of the public sector is politically rooted and its evolution is difficult to predict.
Human Resource: Conventional managers do not possess all the abilities required by a social enterprise. An inappropriate Human Resource may dampen the quality of the services provided.
Legislative environment: Lack of recognition of the contributions of the third sector in building of the overall economy. Proper legislative environment would provide a good environment that allows for innovations and hence the thriving of the sector.
So far from the third sector in Europe we could derive many lessons; some of them being:
Finance, demand, skills and the legal environment are partially the external obstacles to social enterprises. These sectors are seen as both political and organizational obstacles. The social enterprises could only solve problems associated with these obstacles by carrying out their services and solving the obstacles as they arise.
There is a great challenge on “becoming entrepreneurial but remaining social,” a caveat needs to be observed: social enterprises must never lose their distinguishing feature and that is their social nature. Social enterprises may utilise social accounting and auditing methods to measure and report their quality and impact.
The main aim of the social economy is to change people’s minds and to transfer values. Knowing why people are in a particular state is important than know how. Technical skills are important but they have to be complimented with trust, mutual respect, confidence and passion.
Failure is the starting point for the third sector. Failing to solve the needs of the local people, or discrimination of a particular group is the cause for the emergence of the social enterprise. Demand is expressed by the unsatisfied community. Designing new ways of supplying services is the innovative part.
The public authorities should ensure that their procurement practice includes social objectives (i.e. employment of disadvantaged people) which should be included as selection criteria and not as award criteria.
In concluding, the experiences shared in these workshops were shared in the light of social cooperatives in Italy, social foundations in Poland, Social enterprises in Sweden, development partnerships in Germany and social organizations in UK GB. These give practical examples of social enterprises that have done tremendous work to respond to the community needs such as social inclusion of the disadvantaged people, job creation and the development of areas affected by a set of setbacks.
Social entrepreneurship is acknowledged in Europe as a priority in the national employment strategies and the promotion of sustainable growth. It is also acknowledged for innovation on issues of the social economy and linkages with local processes and policies. There are common problems calling for the development of the social economy in all the EDP countries include, improving the availability of services to the sections of the communities not accessing them easily, raising the potential of employment and job creation, encouraging policies on integration strategies, the development of areas affected by social, territorial or economic setbacks and which could benefit from new professional profiles and services.
The third sector (social entrepreneurship endeavours are also referred to as the third sector. Other players in the economy include the Government and the corporate sectors) organizations in Europe have a deep knowledge of the local needs in their areas of their operations and have thus contributed to innovations and modernization of the social welfare systems. This sector has become extremely pertinent in the integration of the disadvantaged people within the mainstream, and encouraging new models of social responsibility. Apart from service provision, local development, they also advocate for the disadvantaged populations and encourage new models of social responsibility.
The third sector also experiences great obstacles as follow:
Finance: The third sector organizations find it difficulty to access financial resources due to their nature of operation and the demand for collateral and concrete guarantees from the financial resource providers. This constrains their growth.
Markets: The main consumer of the SE’s among the EDP countries is the public sector. The demand of the public sector is politically rooted and its evolution is difficult to predict.
Human Resource: Conventional managers do not possess all the abilities required by a social enterprise. An inappropriate Human Resource may dampen the quality of the services provided.
Legislative environment: Lack of recognition of the contributions of the third sector in building of the overall economy. Proper legislative environment would provide a good environment that allows for innovations and hence the thriving of the sector.
So far from the third sector in Europe we could derive many lessons; some of them being:
Finance, demand, skills and the legal environment are partially the external obstacles to social enterprises. These sectors are seen as both political and organizational obstacles. The social enterprises could only solve problems associated with these obstacles by carrying out their services and solving the obstacles as they arise.
There is a great challenge on “becoming entrepreneurial but remaining social,” a caveat needs to be observed: social enterprises must never lose their distinguishing feature and that is their social nature. Social enterprises may utilise social accounting and auditing methods to measure and report their quality and impact.
The main aim of the social economy is to change people’s minds and to transfer values. Knowing why people are in a particular state is important than know how. Technical skills are important but they have to be complimented with trust, mutual respect, confidence and passion.
Failure is the starting point for the third sector. Failing to solve the needs of the local people, or discrimination of a particular group is the cause for the emergence of the social enterprise. Demand is expressed by the unsatisfied community. Designing new ways of supplying services is the innovative part.
The public authorities should ensure that their procurement practice includes social objectives (i.e. employment of disadvantaged people) which should be included as selection criteria and not as award criteria.
In concluding, the experiences shared in these workshops were shared in the light of social cooperatives in Italy, social foundations in Poland, Social enterprises in Sweden, development partnerships in Germany and social organizations in UK GB. These give practical examples of social enterprises that have done tremendous work to respond to the community needs such as social inclusion of the disadvantaged people, job creation and the development of areas affected by a set of setbacks.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Social Entrepreneurship as a Survival Strategy for NPO's
Several Non Profit Organizations (NPO's) are rising up in Kenya day in day out. They are in the form of organizations that would like to offer a solution to a particular problem facing the society. A common problem is that most organizations find themselves in difficulties after sometimes because of various factors and finacial resources being part of them.
When organizations start they do so with the hope that they will find secret resources stashed in some place. However after starting the reality becomes totally different; they find that they have to look for innovative ways to provide resources that will ensure that they are able to sustain their missions. In most cases when after a year you happen to ask these organisations how they are surviving, the common answer your are bound to receive especially in the Kenyan context is "by the Grace of God." Now, for our case it is important to know how these organizations survive... It will help us to understand in very practical ways what social entrepreneurship is in our own societies today. In 2006 during the World Social Forum a booklet of Street Children Activities and Projects was launched and in it there was a profile of 124 Street Children initiatives in Nairobi. One important observation was that most organization about 50% and over were operating with a budget of Kshs. 500,000 to 1,000,000. When asked about their sources of funds, it was found that over 60% of the 124 homes were self financing. How were they able to do this? This is not only peculiar to street children projects but many projects in Kenya today.
Secondly there were many projects that could not survive. Borrowing a leaf from the projects that were able to survive we ask ourselves were there other factors other than the ability to generate finances that made some of these projects not to be able to survive? And our answer was yes. Some projects failed as a result of disagreements, others as a result of weak leadership,
others as a result of unclear vision and others as a result of lack of transparency and lack of honesty. The list is endless. Do all these have any relevance for the success of a social entreprise! Of course they do! A social entreprise requires as much discipline as the corporates do!
We welcome ideas on failures and successes of projects and any other ideas which do support or challenges our proposal above which suggests that "Social Entrepreneurship could be a Survival Strategy for NPO's in Kenya or elsewhere!
When organizations start they do so with the hope that they will find secret resources stashed in some place. However after starting the reality becomes totally different; they find that they have to look for innovative ways to provide resources that will ensure that they are able to sustain their missions. In most cases when after a year you happen to ask these organisations how they are surviving, the common answer your are bound to receive especially in the Kenyan context is "by the Grace of God." Now, for our case it is important to know how these organizations survive... It will help us to understand in very practical ways what social entrepreneurship is in our own societies today. In 2006 during the World Social Forum a booklet of Street Children Activities and Projects was launched and in it there was a profile of 124 Street Children initiatives in Nairobi. One important observation was that most organization about 50% and over were operating with a budget of Kshs. 500,000 to 1,000,000. When asked about their sources of funds, it was found that over 60% of the 124 homes were self financing. How were they able to do this? This is not only peculiar to street children projects but many projects in Kenya today.
Secondly there were many projects that could not survive. Borrowing a leaf from the projects that were able to survive we ask ourselves were there other factors other than the ability to generate finances that made some of these projects not to be able to survive? And our answer was yes. Some projects failed as a result of disagreements, others as a result of weak leadership,
others as a result of unclear vision and others as a result of lack of transparency and lack of honesty. The list is endless. Do all these have any relevance for the success of a social entreprise! Of course they do! A social entreprise requires as much discipline as the corporates do!
We welcome ideas on failures and successes of projects and any other ideas which do support or challenges our proposal above which suggests that "Social Entrepreneurship could be a Survival Strategy for NPO's in Kenya or elsewhere!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The Enterprise of Employment and Wealth Creation
Statistics have placed the poverty incidence at 56% in Kenya. This figure has remained constant over a period of 5 years. These statistics could simply be translated to mean that people have little or no income at their disposal and hence may not be in a position to purchase what they need or even be able to access needful services.
Kenya is a diverse country and each region has different economic activity taking place. The entire North of Kenya is generally considered to be semi arid region and the people of these places generally engage in pastoralism as their main economic activity. The challenges in the Northern Region include water, animal rustling, severe dry spells amongst others. These challenges in many cases have contributed to severe negative repercussions on the economic livelihood.
The Western Kenya is made up of the Nyanza and Western Province regions. These regions are mainly agricultural areas. The Nyanza Province is endowed with the Lake Victoria and hence has booming fishing activities save for the recent hyacinth problem. Some areas of Nyanza experience floods time and again. Whenever these happen people’s activities are affected negatively. In Nyanza there are also tea plantations.
The Coast is famous for its touristic attractions. The natural beaches, coral reefs and the vast Indian Ocean are quite a resource. This extends from Mombasa to Lamu and Malindi. As one proceeds further North there is Garsen and Tana River areas. These areas are also prone to floods amongst other problems.
The Central Kenya is made up of mainly agricultural activities. It is believed that this region has a big contribution to Kenya’s economy. The Rift Valley Region on the other hand is believed to be the place that Feeds Kenya i.e. the Granary of Kenya.
The Government in a bid to reduce poverty aims at creating 100,000 jobs per year. There are many challenges entailed in job creation and hence ultimately in trying to reduce the poverty incidence in Kenya. Looking at the diversities prevalent in each Kenyan region it becomes evident that each region has strengths which can be reinforced and weaknesses that need addressing in order to ensure that entrepreneurship finds fertile ground to grow in all these regions. The government strategy for job creation therefore should aim at the entire Kenya. Looking at the possibilities of providing people with employment in their own localities.
The corporate sector in Kenya is only able to absorb less than 10% of the employable population in Kenya. This leaves out so much of the employable finding themselves jobless. Despite the gravity of this situation, something positive has emerged and that is people have started developing simple efforts and technologies to occupy themselves constructively and secondly to provide them with a means of livelihood. It is important that these small initiatives are assisted to survive if we are to create a sustainable economy and to create jobs and ultimately wealth.
The biggest challenge faced by Kenya today is to ensure that the entire economy is geared towards wealth creation. How can a subsistence economy create any wealth at all? How can it generate an aggregation of surpluses when all that is generated today is all consumed and in essence cannot be in a position to provide for all the needs in the economy? Wealth creation as has been explored above is an accumulation of an economy’s savings over a period of time. Wealth can be seen in the form of capital investment, improved infrastructure, improved access to social amenities etc. Linking this aspect of wealth creation to community based endervours means that much has to be done. It is a fact that the community based made by the poor are not able to transcend community boundaries and ultimately enter into the economic and the political arena. This is also experienced in Kenya where self help groups started to address a specific community need hardly survive a year. How possible would it be to create strategies that would make these initiatives survive and ultimately contribute to this problem of wealth creation for the nation? The fact is that these initiatives are barely able to meet the subsistence needs of their members and therefore find it difficult to survive in the long run. A pure situation on the ground is that these initiatives accumulate deficits over a very long period of time. This situation depletes their working capital and ultimately the ability to accumulate wealth. Initiatives that are able to survive the capital depletion problem, may find themselves in heavy reliance to injected resources from a particular donor. These types of resources do not permit for wealth creation as they encourage 100% amortization during a particular financial period. The resources may also not be invested in any other place when idle.
It is a fact that the needs in Kenya are quite varied and there is a big need for entrepreneurs who look beyond profit appropriation to themselves but who see their role as providing for solutions for the socio economic plight facing our communities. These are the types of entrepreneurs who will concentrate on providing social benefits on one hand and ensure that the initiatives they have built survive on the other. So far, there are already many institutes surviving in this way in Kenya today. KARDS is one of them, many street children homes in Kenya (Undugu, Koinonia, KipKeino etc) and Projects addressing HIV/AIDS (Hands of love, Zindua Africa etc) also survive through their own internally generated resources amongst many. These initiatives need to be encouraged in various ways. A collaboration between the government, the corporate sector and the civil society will be important to provide a conducive atmosphere for the survival of these initiatives. It is important to note that when the public is empowered through job creation; the purchasing power improves, more wealth is created in the economy, through enhanced ability to save
Kenya is a diverse country and each region has different economic activity taking place. The entire North of Kenya is generally considered to be semi arid region and the people of these places generally engage in pastoralism as their main economic activity. The challenges in the Northern Region include water, animal rustling, severe dry spells amongst others. These challenges in many cases have contributed to severe negative repercussions on the economic livelihood.
The Western Kenya is made up of the Nyanza and Western Province regions. These regions are mainly agricultural areas. The Nyanza Province is endowed with the Lake Victoria and hence has booming fishing activities save for the recent hyacinth problem. Some areas of Nyanza experience floods time and again. Whenever these happen people’s activities are affected negatively. In Nyanza there are also tea plantations.
The Coast is famous for its touristic attractions. The natural beaches, coral reefs and the vast Indian Ocean are quite a resource. This extends from Mombasa to Lamu and Malindi. As one proceeds further North there is Garsen and Tana River areas. These areas are also prone to floods amongst other problems.
The Central Kenya is made up of mainly agricultural activities. It is believed that this region has a big contribution to Kenya’s economy. The Rift Valley Region on the other hand is believed to be the place that Feeds Kenya i.e. the Granary of Kenya.
The Government in a bid to reduce poverty aims at creating 100,000 jobs per year. There are many challenges entailed in job creation and hence ultimately in trying to reduce the poverty incidence in Kenya. Looking at the diversities prevalent in each Kenyan region it becomes evident that each region has strengths which can be reinforced and weaknesses that need addressing in order to ensure that entrepreneurship finds fertile ground to grow in all these regions. The government strategy for job creation therefore should aim at the entire Kenya. Looking at the possibilities of providing people with employment in their own localities.
The corporate sector in Kenya is only able to absorb less than 10% of the employable population in Kenya. This leaves out so much of the employable finding themselves jobless. Despite the gravity of this situation, something positive has emerged and that is people have started developing simple efforts and technologies to occupy themselves constructively and secondly to provide them with a means of livelihood. It is important that these small initiatives are assisted to survive if we are to create a sustainable economy and to create jobs and ultimately wealth.
The biggest challenge faced by Kenya today is to ensure that the entire economy is geared towards wealth creation. How can a subsistence economy create any wealth at all? How can it generate an aggregation of surpluses when all that is generated today is all consumed and in essence cannot be in a position to provide for all the needs in the economy? Wealth creation as has been explored above is an accumulation of an economy’s savings over a period of time. Wealth can be seen in the form of capital investment, improved infrastructure, improved access to social amenities etc. Linking this aspect of wealth creation to community based endervours means that much has to be done. It is a fact that the community based made by the poor are not able to transcend community boundaries and ultimately enter into the economic and the political arena. This is also experienced in Kenya where self help groups started to address a specific community need hardly survive a year. How possible would it be to create strategies that would make these initiatives survive and ultimately contribute to this problem of wealth creation for the nation? The fact is that these initiatives are barely able to meet the subsistence needs of their members and therefore find it difficult to survive in the long run. A pure situation on the ground is that these initiatives accumulate deficits over a very long period of time. This situation depletes their working capital and ultimately the ability to accumulate wealth. Initiatives that are able to survive the capital depletion problem, may find themselves in heavy reliance to injected resources from a particular donor. These types of resources do not permit for wealth creation as they encourage 100% amortization during a particular financial period. The resources may also not be invested in any other place when idle.
It is a fact that the needs in Kenya are quite varied and there is a big need for entrepreneurs who look beyond profit appropriation to themselves but who see their role as providing for solutions for the socio economic plight facing our communities. These are the types of entrepreneurs who will concentrate on providing social benefits on one hand and ensure that the initiatives they have built survive on the other. So far, there are already many institutes surviving in this way in Kenya today. KARDS is one of them, many street children homes in Kenya (Undugu, Koinonia, KipKeino etc) and Projects addressing HIV/AIDS (Hands of love, Zindua Africa etc) also survive through their own internally generated resources amongst many. These initiatives need to be encouraged in various ways. A collaboration between the government, the corporate sector and the civil society will be important to provide a conducive atmosphere for the survival of these initiatives. It is important to note that when the public is empowered through job creation; the purchasing power improves, more wealth is created in the economy, through enhanced ability to save
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Face of Poverty
Poverty makes you humble and and actually demeans you!!! Makes you feel that you are lesser than other human beings!!
Poverty condems you to incredible suffering more than what the best writers on poverty can ever imagine and express. Poverty has made the poor lose their faces and made everybody else think that they are better than the poor. Of course, others could be better than the poor because they are leaving a better life, have better access to schools, medication, employment, better governance and better working systems.
Poverty is more than the ugly pictures of starvation, disease outbreaks and the hopelessness that is in our communities. It is a death that the poor experience when they are still alive. It is a feeling that you have no control over your own life and your own self.
And that is why we must devise strategies to resurrect the poor and give them some reason to hope, to rise a new each day and to begin feeling that they can make important decisions about themselves!!
As can be seen from the feelings expressed above, an introduction of social entrepreneurship must address the issue of the death of the poor. It must give them a voice and must enable them to at last develop the ability to be self confident. In essence be of service, advocate for and accompanying the poor.
Poverty condems you to incredible suffering more than what the best writers on poverty can ever imagine and express. Poverty has made the poor lose their faces and made everybody else think that they are better than the poor. Of course, others could be better than the poor because they are leaving a better life, have better access to schools, medication, employment, better governance and better working systems.
Poverty is more than the ugly pictures of starvation, disease outbreaks and the hopelessness that is in our communities. It is a death that the poor experience when they are still alive. It is a feeling that you have no control over your own life and your own self.
And that is why we must devise strategies to resurrect the poor and give them some reason to hope, to rise a new each day and to begin feeling that they can make important decisions about themselves!!
As can be seen from the feelings expressed above, an introduction of social entrepreneurship must address the issue of the death of the poor. It must give them a voice and must enable them to at last develop the ability to be self confident. In essence be of service, advocate for and accompanying the poor.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Community Structures behind Social Entrepreneurship In Africa
Social entrepreneurship seems to be a completely new concept in Africa. This is abit strange as our very mode of life revolves around the community. Walking in both the rural and urban Kenya today, communities are deeply organized around a particular social problem. These communities take the form of religious entities, schools, families etc. All are talking of a particular project in the name of a CBO, Self help etc. Somehow a majority of the people are involved in one project or another......... Several questions therefore arise as a result:
1. It so appears that social entrepreneurship is a practice that is in the communities. How can it be enhanced?
2. So far social entrepreneurship is a sector that provides services not satisfied neither by the public nor the corporate sector. Is this sector relevant in Kenya and possibly Africa today?
3. What structures are already present in our communities that can be enhanced to boost social entrepreneurship?
4. Arguements of quasi markets arise when discussing Social entreprise! Could this really apply when communities are addressing gaps neither satisfied by the government nor the corporate sector?
5. How can social entrepreneurship be modelled within the Afican community structures with a view to use it as a contributory strategy to poverty eradication?
1. It so appears that social entrepreneurship is a practice that is in the communities. How can it be enhanced?
2. So far social entrepreneurship is a sector that provides services not satisfied neither by the public nor the corporate sector. Is this sector relevant in Kenya and possibly Africa today?
3. What structures are already present in our communities that can be enhanced to boost social entrepreneurship?
4. Arguements of quasi markets arise when discussing Social entreprise! Could this really apply when communities are addressing gaps neither satisfied by the government nor the corporate sector?
5. How can social entrepreneurship be modelled within the Afican community structures with a view to use it as a contributory strategy to poverty eradication?
Monday, September 24, 2007
Social Entrepreneurship in Africa
Social entrepreneurship is a way in which people carry out businesses in order to maximize their impact to the society. As a result they are able to solve a particular social concern while at the same time meet the objective of organizational survival or sustainability.
In Africa with enormous social concerns, and the fact that when you talk of social exclusion, these as a concept may easily be overlooked. Governments are struggling and citizens too are struggling. Yet, within this very esence of struggle much is being achieved. People have organized themselves around social concerns to solve a particular problem, at the same time they work to create means and ways to ensure that their efforts could survive so as to be of service in another day. Dont we think that with this type of efforts, Africa could in essence be a really good ground for social entrepreneurship!
An Africa that uses its problems and makes them catalysts for entrepreneurship in the long run! Is there anyone interested in this issue out here. Lets hear your critiques and comments
www.kardsafrica.com
In Africa with enormous social concerns, and the fact that when you talk of social exclusion, these as a concept may easily be overlooked. Governments are struggling and citizens too are struggling. Yet, within this very esence of struggle much is being achieved. People have organized themselves around social concerns to solve a particular problem, at the same time they work to create means and ways to ensure that their efforts could survive so as to be of service in another day. Dont we think that with this type of efforts, Africa could in essence be a really good ground for social entrepreneurship!
An Africa that uses its problems and makes them catalysts for entrepreneurship in the long run! Is there anyone interested in this issue out here. Lets hear your critiques and comments
www.kardsafrica.com
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