Imagine for a moment, life without running water, electricity, passable roads, restaurants, hotels, colleges, an internet café, emergency services, hospitals, fire departments or mortuaries. Imagine needing to preserve your own dead family members while you make arrangements for their burial or going into labor and having to find someone in the community with transport capability to get you to the nearest hospital.
It is not food or clothing or a roof over your head that you lack but everything else. These are not the poorest of the poor they are small business owners dreaming about living in a better community. They are pastors working hard to make a difference in the lives of the people they serve and they do so with all of the above mentioned limitations. These are the leaders of South Kinangop, a beautiful rural area not long past the magnificent Rift Valley (known as the cradle of civilization) which stretches as far as the eye can see, these are the leaders of a community based at the foot of the Abedere range of mountains where elephants still roam free. These are our friends – we are leaders together in a global world, irrespective of our remoteness, working to achieve the same goals, hoping for the same things. These are the extraordinary leaders we had the privilege of working with on our latest trip to Kenya. Leaders determined to change their communities – leaders determined to learn. And learn we did – as much from them as they did from us! Leaders who no longer think of themselves as needy but now think of ways they can benefit and help the needy in their community – leaders who have learned the essence of adding value and of resourcing others by sharing their knowledge. Joseph M Ndegwa, Senior training and development consultant is an example of a leader eager to share the knowledge he has received. He writes: “I’m working with a faith based NGO called Future Focus Development and also with Kenya students fellowship Kinangop. I used some of these materials on Saturday for Public leaders where 200 leaders and government servants met in Magumu in Kinangop. We hope to share more. God bless you and your team.”
We know that our work with leaders is having a dramatic effect on how we all perceive the world. Challenging faulty belief systems is never simple in a cross cultural setting. Building long term relationships is the key when dealing with the delicate issues of cultural beliefs that produce negative outcomes. Mutual learning can occur when respect is at the center of the exchange and an attitude of inquiry is maintained. Over a three year period we have seen much change –we pray that our ongoing long term relationship with these valuable leaders will continue to produce the kind of positive, measurable outcomes that cause their communities and ours to flourish.
We thank our team members Olu Oluwatofehinti (Mualimu) who taught so passionately on the issues of leadership, vision and financial stewardship and Fred Breedlove (Amejitiarisha) who taught basic first aid, CPR and disaster preparedness and Gabriella Van Breda our Executive Director who taught on the issues of character, integrity, losing credibility and on the essence of Community as Mission.
Our future focus will be on addressing issues of domestic violence, introducing rural communities to the ministry of the chaplaincy and continued training on improving agricultural practices as well as the benefits of adequate record keeping to maintain a healthy business. Think about joining World Impact Network on future trips to Kenya – we look forward to having you along.