IDAK conference – resilience

 

My final ‘assignment’ on this trip has been a couple of speaking slots on the inaugural IDAK students conference, which took place over 3 days in Ngong, just outside of Nairobi.

IDAK, or I Dream Again Kenyanito Foundation to give its full name, is a fairly young organisation based in Kenya, and with the aim of helping vulnerable and disadvantaged to dream again. Their work involves feeding programmes at schools to enable primary children to complete full days of schooling rather than having to walk miles home in the middle of the day to get some food and then not having time to return, or try and manage a full day on no food. They’ve also collaborated with communities to plant fruit, shade and fuel trees and in so doing help those communities dream again of a lifestyle that has some sustainable food production opportunities in it. They’ve built homes for elderly people who were living in very poor conditions and had stopped dreaming of living their final years in a home with no leaks; and they’ve helped some women dream again through the provision of start up funds for small businesses.

The other area that IDAK is helping dreams start again is through the provision of bursaries for high-school students who otherwise would not have been able to afford the school fees. And it was these 22 students who were at the conference this week.

It was a residential conference, and the students had a great time getting to know each other, and attending a number of talks from different speakers (including yours truly) relating to resilience. Their participation grew with confidence and familiarity with each other, and there was impressive note taking going on, evidence of a real determination to make the most of their opportunity to dream of education and working their way out of the impoverished start that had been their lot in life. Some of the students were from Nairobi, and some from further afield but by the end of the time together some strong new friendships had clearly been formed. On the final full day we walked in the Ngong Hills, and the resilience on that occasion was shown through not giving up despite the steepness of some of the hills! The views from the top were certainly worth the climb!

I was on the bus that took the Nairobi students back to their home of Kibera settlement, Initially the chatter was loud and happy as they shared stories and laughed at memories made. But as we neared the city, and the green was replaced with grey, and the space was replaced with urban density, the conversation quietened. I commented on this to one of the leaders and was reminded that not only was it a reflection of the impending end of the time together, but it was also a reflection of what the students were having to return to. No more bed to themselves, no more mattress on the bed, no more 3 meals a day, no more water on tap, and electricity at the flick of a switch, no more free bathing, and a nearby toilet. Yes the students have that at school, but during the school breaks (which is what they are in now), life is very different, and much more difficult.

The conference was a wonderful opportunity to learn, to develop personally, to grow spiritually, to make new friends. But it was also a little bit of time of pampering. These young people so deserve that opportunity, and it was a privilege to be part of it. 

 

 

Permaculture by the Indian Ocean

 

I’m in a small village (approx. 6,000 population) about 45mins drive north from Mombasa. I say 45 mins, but in reality it’s more like 1hr 15 due to traffic, road works, cows on the road, potholes… (how much that sounds like UK traffic, except maybe the cows on the road!)

The village is right on the coast, and the traditional industry is fishing. But that is dying out due to the big fishing trawlers that have stolen the market, and the fish. So there are a lot of people trying to work out how to make ends meet, and put food on the table at the end of the day.

Enter Norbert’s permaculture project Asilomar, and the reason that I am here. Norbert Chumu is Kenyan who has spent quite a lot of his working life overseas in UK, USA and Europe, but has recently returned home in response to the challenging conditions that so many of his home community were facing with regard to food security. Before he came back here Norbert took a number of training courses in permaculture, and his focus now is on developing a demonstration garden and sharing the knowledge on this method of food production with the local community.

This is my third visit, and the progress that has been made on each visit is so great to see. Not only is there a fully working, and productive, demonstration garden, but Norbert and Lennox, his permaculture buddy, have  also been able to take the knowledge into the local secondary school, thanks to a grant from the UK.

In April, 60 students from across the 4 years of secondary school were trained in permaculture practices, and a plot of land at the school was identified for cultivation using their new found knowledge. Since then, the students, under the guidance of Lennox and Norbert, have had a continuous harvest of vegetables thanks to cycles of sowing, and a climate that allows for ongoing crops of vegetables and fruits. Spinach, Sukuma wiki, cowpeas, tomatoes, okra, aubergine, green beans, onions, carrots…… The harvests go on. There are also bananas, papaya, soursop, lemons and oranges growing.

The school kitchen buys some of the produce, teachers buy some, community buys some, and the students take some home. As a result, meals are more nutritious, the word is spreading about organic farming (and how much better it tastes), and the students have made a small profit enough to buy a hosepipe, more seeds, and some tree seedlings.

A very good programme already, and today I was introduced to an additional aspect of it that shows an even better outcome. Enter ‘the 7’ – seven lads who are so committed to permaculture that they have started putting their knowledge into practice at their homes. Today I visited some of their homes and saw their plots of land that they are using and the crops that they are growing. The land in the area is quite rocky, so each of them has had to work hard to clear the land to get it prepared, but they’ve done so well. The rocks are much reduced in number, the soil has had compost dug in, they are mulching, and the crops are growing. One of the lads doesn’t have any land that he can cultivate, so he has gone for the urban farming approach and grows his crops in sacks. Another is trialling both – cultivating a plot of land, and also growing in sacks. One of his reflections was that the sack method uses less water, and in an area where access to water is a challenge, this is definitely a consideration to bear in mind.

I asked the lads what were the main challenges that they face and the overwhelming was access to water. Rains are low in this area, and rainwater harvesting isn’t practical for many as they live in thatched roof homes, or rented homes, and don’t have the capital to set up guttering etc even if they were able. Boreholes are around, but for some it’s quite a walk, so the mulching etc to reduce water evaporation is crucial. The other main challenges are the chickens who roam wild and love the little new shoots of vegetables, and similarly the moles who seem to pop up from down below in the middle of the night for their feasting! Unused fishing nets are proving to be a good deterrent to the chickens, but the moles are more of a challenge. However, it doesn’t seem to be stopping the lads, their commitment is really impressive.

The 7 are all really keen to share their knowledge more widely, both through practical demonstrations and also through getting more training in the science behind the method so that they can teach it to others. Having seem them in action today, and heard the passion with which they talk about permaculture and its wide range of benefits, I have no doubt that they will succeed in achieving their goal, and what a blessing that will be to this community and beyond.

 

The 9th beatitude – a useful lesson to learn

 

I’ve just completed delivery of a 2-day workshop on 360Life materials with a small group of prison chaplains who comprise 60% of the Good News Global Kenya team. The other 40% of the team were too far flung in Kenya to be able to make it to Nairobi unfortunately.

The training went very well overall, and we achieved the intended outcomes. Today they each had to give a presentation on part of the materials, to demonstrate their depth of understanding, and those went very well. It was really encouraging to see how they were inputting to each other’s presentations, and asking questions just to push each other a little more on showing the practical relevance of the information.

There were some good conversations throughout the training regarding the application of the materials into the Kenyan prison context. Having spent the earlier part of this week discussing with the Rwandan folks about the materials in the context of working with genocide perpetrators, here in Kenya the conversation revolved around the three categories of crimes that are most evident in the Kenyan prisons, namely civil, criminal, and political.

It was so good to hear how the chaplains could see the many ways in which the materials have the potential to change things for the better, both for the prisoners and for the prison officers. Through taking a trauma-informed approach, and gaining a better understanding of the functioning of the brain, and the impact of trauma on the brain, the chaplains cited many examples of how they could see improvements being achieved. Relationships between inmates, relationships between inmates and officers, mental health support, trauma counselling……. I felt so humbled to hear the enthusiasm and energy from the chaplains as they discussed the practical applications of it all.

But alongside all of this there was an important lesson for me to be reminded of. And that relates to the title of this blog.

The training was supposed to start at 9am on both days – yesterday one person arrived at 9am, the next at 10am, the next at 1045am, and the last at 1230. As one from a time-focused culture, it is an understatement to say that I found the late arrivals a tad frustrating! When they each did arrive, their reason for being delayed was very justified, but I didn’t know those reasons until they arrived, and so in the meantime I was not the most laidback individual. I tried to put the waiting time to good use, but it’s hard to settle to anything when you just don’t know when the next person will arrive. It was definitely a bit of a test of my desire to be in control.

Messaging a friend later on about a few things, it came up about the time-keeping issue. He identified with the challenge that it can be, and shared with me the ‘9^th Beatitude’ that a Malawian friend had given to him during a similar time of frustration: ‘Blessed are the flexible for they shall not break’.

What wise words – and so very true. Flexibility over timing and plans makes such a difference, as I keep finding out. If only I’d been more flexible yesterday – my blood pressure would definitely have stayed a bit lower, and maybe I could have used that first bit of time productively rather than getting bothered about what wasn’t being achieved.

Hey ho! The training went well, the goals were accomplished, and there was plenty of laughter and conversation along the way, as well as good learning. For the participants, the learning was about 360Life, for me the learning was the 9^th Beatitude – may that be a lesson that I remember, and put into practice, for a long time to come.