Sowing some new seeds and tending to 'seedlings'

Today was a day of three meetings - and if using a gardening metaphor, one would be the sowing of the seed, one would be watering the fresh new growth, and one would be tending to the seedlings as they grow taller.

The 'sowing of the seed' meeting actually came about as a result of my attending Nairobi Baptist church on Sunday, and happening to be walking across the car park at the exact moment that someone who I last saw in 2016, and who I've not done very well at keeping in touch with, was parking his car in that very same car park. Peter spotted me, called over to me, and after we'd stopped marvelling at the fact of being in the same place at the same time, we had a quick catch up and arranged to meet again. Hence today's meeting. Both of us felt very much that the Sunday 'bumping into each other' was no coincidence, but rather a God-incidence, a meeting with a divine purpose. And so it was good today to be able to sit and share and see what came from the conversation.

I'm not going to go into it all now, but suffice to say there were definitely some interesting outcomes from the conversation, and I'm excited to see where those outcomes lead. One of them involved me sharing an overview of the 360Life materials with Peter, and it was lovely to see the enthusiastic response that he had, and his thoughts on how the materials could be useful in a number of the ministries that he is involved in. It was a very encouraging meeting, as well as just a lovely catch-up. The seed seems to have been sown into fertile ground, and now I wait to see what growth comes from it.

The 'watering fresh growth' meeting was a meeting with the African Bible college which meets on the edge of Kibera. The college provides theological teaching and church leadership studies for church pastors who already have a role within a church, but who have not received any formal training in the past. Many of the churches would be described as 'house churches' - fairly small, non-denominational and organic in their growth. The college staff had already been told about the 360Life materials, and were interested to know more. So the seed had already been sown, and the interest was already there. My role today was to give a more in-depth overview of the materials and to tie it in to the context of their college. I presented to 3 of the staff and 12 of the students, and the questions afterwards were indicative of the range of issues that the students aka church leaders are having to deal with on a day to day basis. In many ways its what you'd expect - lots of pastoral issues, lots of stuff dealing with relationships. But the context for them is that they live and serve in an informal settlement where members of 40+ tribes live alongside each other, where poverty is rife, and where premature death is common. Add in a country where mental health disorders have become an area of huge concern, and yet there are next to no mental health facilities or services, and the challenges that these leaders are dealing with take on an extra dimension. 

The meeting ended with an overwhelming vote of confidence in the potential for the materials, and a request to explore how to get them taught in the college. Thankfully at that point I was able to hand the conversation over to Natalie, a local Kenyan who is trained up to deliver 360Life materials. She can take the training forwards, rather than waiting for me to return - definitely the best way to move forwards.

The third meeting of the day, the 'tending to seedlings' meeting, was with some staff at Spurgeons Academy. I had delivered the 360Life training to these staff last time I was here, and today I had a lovely time chatting with some of them about how the materials are impacting and influencing their lives as teachers. We discussed how they have improved their teaching styles, how they now have a more enlightened way of dealing with children who are struggling, or have behavioural issues, and how the awareness that they now have of the impact of trauma on children is helping them to support the pupils in the school in a more open-minded and trauma-informed way. It was a really great discussion, with chance to also reinforce and deepen some of the concepts that they had taken on before.

Ever since I came to Spurgeons for the first time back in 2011 (or maybe 2010), I've had a passion for this school. It is a life affirming and life transforming place for all the children who attend, 80% of whom have lost one or both parents. To be able to support those children through equipping and empowering the staff is a joy and a privilege, and today was just one more opportunity to do that. 

All three meetings were wonderful today - all three have potential in different ways to reach into communities and to change lives, through equipping those who are serving here day in day out. All three meetings were beautiful opportunities to just be alongside incredible people, who give of themselves in selfless inspirational ways. All three meetings were gifts from God, for which I am ever grateful.

Trauma, mental health and well-being with prison volunteers

It’s been a real privilege to spend the last two days delivering some training on trauma, mental health and well-being to twenty three members of a prison ministry here in Kenya. 

The training was prompted by a real desire in the team to understand better some of range of issues relating to trauma past and present, and how that knowledge can then help them become more trauma informed when they are carrying out their ministry in the prisons 

To sit alongside them today as they reflected on the materials that I had shared, and considered the different ways that it could feed into their work, and positively impact their practices was very memorable.   

It was a real ‘together we can make a difference’ conversation, with a passion to help improve the lot of the inmates at the heart of all the discussions. 

For me it was also another of those moments when I find myself thinking ‘I don’t understand why I have managed to end up with these incredible opportunities in my life, but thank you God that I have’. 

My prayer is for those twenty three as they go out to the prisons, a bit more equipped than before, and for the inmates that they are going to support - may lives be transformed in beautiful and significant ways. 

God’s got it covered

I’m now in Kenya for final 10 days of my time away. And I must admit I’m tired. Everyone in Uganda was absolutely wonderful and showed so much love, generosity, hospitality and support. I couldn’t have asked for more. But I guess 5+ weeks of living out of a suitcase, in 30C, away from home takes its toll, and I’m tired. 

I was due to do this Kenya component back in June but it got cancelled at the last minute and tagged onto this uganda trip instead. In that June visit, the accommodation that Kenyanito had booked was a new-to-me place, chosen because it had good reliable internet and I was due to be hosting an online conference whilst in Kenya. 

But, as I say, the June trip got postponed and the June  accommodation therefore also got postponed.

Previously I’d always stayed at accommodation on the edge of Kibera - convenient to Spurgeons, lovely people, but noisy and located right on a bustling street. Not the ideal place to stay when you’re really tired. 

But when I got to my accommodation this time round, the postponed June accommodation, it was a real reminder that God has us covered. He knew what sort of accommodation I’d be needing, and He had it all sorted. I’m in a lovely little oasis of calm, a gentle refuge, a retreat centre run by an order of Catholic nuns. There are gardens to relax in, a chapel to find peace in, plenty of space to shut out the hubbub of the streets, and the nuns are just the best! 

Ordinarily I’d have booked myself in to the kibera accommodation, and I’d have done so this time if I didn’t have the postponed stay already sorted. But God knew, even back in June, that this is what I’d need now, and He got it sorted. 

In the big scheme of things it’s a fairly trivial little story, but it’s a reminder and an encouragement that we aren’t alone on our journeys, that God knows what we need, He knows what we can manage, and He’s interested in the little things as well as the big. May you be encouraged as you journey on. 

Container gardening in Acholi Quarters

 With food prices rising across the world, everyone is looking for ways to reduce their food costs. And that is the case in Acholi Quarters as much as anywhere else.

You might think that growing your own crops in an urban shanty-town / informal settlement is unlikely, where the land isn't yours, and the space between houses is very random, and unsegregated. But mini greenhouses and container gardens are springing up all over the place, and as a result the families are getting access to more vegetables at prices that they can afford.

Crops can be seen growing in sacks, in tyres, in old water containers, I even saw some onions growing in an old water bottle. And all of this might be on a largish scale in a space between some houses, or on a scrap of space outside a front door, or hanging from the walls, or even on flat roofs.

And if you are wondering what crops are grown - well it includes (but is not limited to) greens, beans, onions, carrots, tomatoes, yams, plantain, spinach, herbs, cucumbers.

The creativity of the residents in finding space to grow their food is so very impressive, and certainly is showing that you don't need a garden, or even much space to be productive.

And a particular shout out to Florence who showed me round some of the spaces where gardening is being done. As well as her rooftop garden, Florence also breeds rabbits, and through all of this has meat and veg, and little bits of income, to support herself and the 4 orphan children that she is foster mother to.

 

Looking at life through a new lens with friends at Acholi Quarters

I've just had the joy and privilege of spending an afternoon with some of the members of the Lubanga Ber group in Acholi Quarters, which essentially means catching up with good friends. But today it was not just a time for chatting, but also a time for me running a workshop that they had requested I do for them, after they'd heard me talking about doing a similar workshop with another CRED partner previously.

The workshop was titled 'The Tree of Change' and basically involves facilitating them drawing two trees. One tree is the 'Tree of Now', and the other tree is the 'Tree of Change'. The Now Tree saw the members discussing amongst themselves what is their greatest problem, what are the causes of their greatest problem, and what are the outcomes of their greatest problem. There was some good discussion in small groups and together, and eventually the consensus was that their greatest problem was lack of knowledge. The causes and effects of this problem, again as identified by the group members, can be seen in the photo below.

Having completed the Tree of Now, we then moved on to the Tree of Change. This was essentially facilitating the group to consider how to make the change from a problem of lack of knowledge, towards a solution of acquiring knowledge. They also then considered what could be achieved as a result of acquiring that knowledge, and what sort of knowledge would be good to acquire.

We ended the workshop by recognising that as a group, one of their next steps would be to review the different ways that they had noted as being routes to acquiring knowledge, and to start putting them into action. I fully acknowledged that it won't be easy, and that it isn't a quick fix to their challenges; that it won't suddenly solve all of their financial insecurity issues, or be a straightforward journey. But the group were very positive in their feedback regarding how it had helped them look at life in a different way, and in a more positive, hopeful and open-minded way. 

My prayer is that the knowledge that the members acquired in this workshop will be a useful and significant stepping stone towards acquiring further knowledge that in turn can help them move towards a better and more stable and secure life.

Tree planting

Have had a lovely day today helping with some Tree Planting which is taking place on the land of 4 families whose children attend the Kids Joy nursery here at college. The trees were paid for by voluntary donation from each nursery child’s family, and the land for planting on was offered by the 4 families.

The trees have been planted by teams of college students and staff, plus the nursery child linked to the land where the planting was being done.

All 4 of the families who offered land are farmers, growing a mixture of food crops and cash crops. The cash crops tend to be coffee and maize, plus one family also grew vanilla for sale.

As well as cash crops, the food crops that I spotted for home consumption were maize, pumpkin, cassava, pineapple, beans, passion fruit, banana (plantain and matoke varieties), vanilla, papaya and ssechunga (big orange, as opposed to muchunga which is little orange). I expect there were more foods that I didn’t spot.

The trees being planted were spread across the land, to provide boundary markers and shade protection, and the varieties were all indigenous trees. Some were also fruit trees.

The tree planting was done as a demonstration of local response to the fight against deforestation and climate change. It will be repeated every year unless the parents want to do it more frequently. 

 

A big shout out to college students Edwin, Gillian, Lawrence, Matthias, Swabulah, Florence and Rena, plus nursery pupils Hellen, Maria, Jo-anne and Samwiri who all helped get the trees in the ground.

The tale of two pairs of trousers and their tailors

Anita and Swabulah are both second ie final year students at the Nkuru vocational college studying for their DIT qualification in fashion and design.

When I was at the college two weeks ago I mentioned that I’d love a pair of trousers and a pair of shorts in African fabrics. Mr Joshua, head of fashion and design, instantly picked up on the comment and suggested that two of the students could make them for me. Anita and Swabulah were chosen for the task.

My measurements were taken, thoughts on colours and fabric design shared, and then I left Mr Joshua to oversee the next steps.

Today I returned to the college, and found the two items finished and waiting for me. There was a bit of a catwalk moment as I tried them on, much to the laughter of the tailoring students, and I’m delighted to say that both the shorts and trousers fit perfectly.

Anita is 21 and originally from a rural district 2-3 hours drive away. When not at college she splits her time between mum at the rural family home, and dad who lives and works in Kampala. She is the middle of five girls and has dreamed of having a job in the clothing industry since childhood. Apparently she liked modelling clothes when she was little but decided to train as a clothes designer as that was a safer option than pursuing a modelling career.
Anita tells me that the things she loves about the college are that there are enough machines so that everyone can have lots of practical time, and that the college feels like a family where she feels at home.

Swabulah is 19 and from a Ugandan district about 2 hours drive away. She lives with her Parents and 5 siblings and has always been passionate about dress-making. Initially her desire was just to make clothes for herself and her family but now her plan is to get an internship to develop knowledge of working in the real world and then start her own tailoring business.
Swabulah says that she loves the college as it is a good environment for learning with good and committed teachers.

As I sit here in my new pair of shorts (trousers this evening when it cools off a bit), I can confidently say that both of the girls are excellent tailors already. And as their experience and knowledge grows, they are just going to get better and better. Maybe we need to consider commissioning a Ugandan Sewing Bee competition!

 

 

 

Rain - not everyone’s friend.

Yesterday, here in Kampala, we had the most ferocious rainstorm that I’ve ever experienced. Torrential doesn’t come close. It went as black as night, the rain was like one big continuous bucket of water being emptied, there was hail, thunder and lightening right overhead, trees were uprooted, the roads became rivers. The power and ferocity of nature were shown in a very graphic way. 

I was in a coffee shop at the time, and the inconvenience it caused me was nothing more than the power going off, and having to delay walking home. 

But for my dear friends in Acholi quarters, thr impact of the storm was so very much more. 

At the best of times many of the buildings in this informal settlement are vulnerable - with rusty tin roofs, ill-fitting doors, and bricks and mortar that have definitely started to crumble. There are no tarmac roads or pathways, instead everything is compacted earth. 

So when the storm hit their community the footpaths quickly turned to a mire of mud mixed with any detritus lying about. And the battering of the rain on the buildings has resulted in cracks appearing in some of the homes whilst a few of the other homes didnt survive at all. 

Today has been clear up and assess the damage day, and the community is pulling together to support those who were most affected. Thankfully no one was injured but it was certainly a reminder of just how vulnerable life can be in the eye of the storm. 

The photos below were taken by Miriam as examples of what damage the storm did. 

 

 

A beautiful time of connecting across the nations

 Today I had a glorious two hours of connecting with 10 of our CRED Partners as they took part in the quarterly CRED Partners Connect meeting. Some of the partners weren’t able to make it for various reasons, but those who were there represented 10 different programmes across 7 different nations. 

NB this doesn't show all the participants, as there was a bit of coming and going!

The main presentation was given by Bishnu Bhatta from Nepal. Bishnu is the director of PSD-Nepal, with whom CRED partners, and it was fascinating to hear more about various aspects of their work, including the plastic recycling and upcycling programme, their volunteer programme, and Mud Day – an annual celebration to mark the start of the rice-planting season, when essentially it seems that everyone revels in really getting their hands dirty as they dance, slide and splash in the mud!

But Bishnu’s main focus was sharing about their Nature-Based curriculum programme that they launched in 2012 and have been rolling out into a number of primary schools. The aim is to help the children reconnect with ‘Mother Nature’ and foster a relationship with the natural environment, and local plants and animals.

“By instilling in young children the importance of environmental stewardship, we will plant the seeds for new generations that will be able create a brighter future for themselves and also make an impact on nature.”

It was fascinating to see examples of how this is put into practice in the Nepalese context, and to hear some of the philosophy behind the programme. Bishnu also shared a little about the community gardens that PSD has helped set up in more urban settings, including the use of roof-top gardens, container gardening etc.

Equally wonderful was the conversation that came afterwards as the other CRED Partners at the meeting all joined in the discussion. Some of those present, e.g. Daniel in Tanzania and Alice in Malawi, already have an element of nature-based input in their programmes, but it was interesting to hear initial thoughts from others about how the programme could be adapted for those who don’t have such easy access to open spaces. For example, Aaron working with children from the streets in Lusaka, Bee working with children whose mothers are escaping situations of sexual exploitation, Mesfin who works in a very deprived community in Addis Ababa.

There was also discussion about whether there is a place of developing a digitalised component to the programme, that could help reach children who tend to be more screen-based and less likely to choose the outdoor option. But if that route is followed, does that just lead to the dilemma of encouraging children who are already very screen-based to become even more biased that way, whereas it could be argued that those are precisely the children who need to be getting outside and away from the screens.

As our time together drew to a close, there was a real sense that today was just the beginning of a conversation that has a long way to go. Sharing of different practices, encouraging each other, joint problem solving, just bouncing ideas around – we were all reminded again of the power of partnership, and the richness of coming together to grow and support each other.

At the end, I was tasked with coming up with a few key questions that can be conversation starters to take this topic forward amongst the group. I’ve yet to do that, but I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what richness can be unearthed as a result.

Nkuru fuel station - serving the community in many ways

Last time I was here at the college was March 2022. At that time, the fuel station had just opened along with the beginnings of a hardware store for the locals. 

Now I’m back, and it’s great to see further progress on this part of the college complex

The forecourt is completely finished, the hardware store is fully open and stocked according to local needs, there are car and motorbike washing facilities, and there is a shop unit being used to showcase garments made by the fashion and design students. 
At this time of economic hardship for everyone, the benefits of this multi-function garage are significant. The boda boda guys don’t have to drive 7 miles just to refuel, and therefore don’t have to shoulder the cost of 14miles of fuel, which means they can keep their prices down. Those who need items from the hardware store can get them locally without having to add on the price of fuel to get to mityana. Similarly Those who need tailoring services also don’t need to add in transport costs to getting their tailoring problems solved. And new small businesses are being generated as people get to see just what wonderful tailors are coming from the college. 

Wonderful progress that is bringing benefit to so many.