International Development Week - Feb 5 - 11, 2012

I just finished reading John Stackhouse's book "Out of Poverty and into something more comfortable". An interesting read to be sure which highlighted the many issues and challenges with international development and the quest to effect change in developing countries. I could certainly relate to many of the situations he described in the rural villages he visited in Africa, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. It is not simply a matter of sending funds and physical resources to help move people from poverty to prosperity. If one doesn't already possess patience, one will certainly learn it when dealing with the developing world. We can't come with our western preconceptions about how development will take place. We may go and see the problem and know an easy solution but it takes time to learn the local history, tribal ways and other cultural issues that can hinder development like witchcraft, village politics and people's jealousies.


However that being said, there are great joys in seeing positive change take place and one must never let despair or dissolutionment get one down. During our 6 years of working with The Ronnie Fund in Wongonyi Village, Ronnie has often felt discouraged when things do not go as planned or fellow villagers try to derail a project but a positive outlook and continued education can turn a project around.



The focus for 2012 International Development Week is Empowerment for Women and Girls and Sustainable Economic Growth. We know that women are the lifeblood of all economies worldwide - they are the ones who keep the families going. In the developing world it is women who work tirelessly to provide food, clothing and school fees for their children and it is women who are left to look after families when their husbands desert them after learning their partner has HIV/Aids (most often given to them by the husbands). These women, often considered widows, are left to fend for themselves often suffering abuse from their families by shunning and rape for those living in slum conditions. Recently we were given a special gift from Bracebridge United Church which allowed us to provide doors, windows and iron sheets for roofing for a church in Wongonyi that is building homes for widows. Kinandi, a mother who lives and supports two adult daughters and 4 grandchildren living in a one room windowless mud hut, cried with joy when she heard she was to be the recipient of new roofing. She has invited me to sleep at her new home on my next visit to Wongonyi Village. I am constantly amazed by the resiliency of these women. They seem to have an inner strength that I'm not sure I could possess. They continue day by day to provide what they can for their families.

Constance, one of our secondary school graduates is now taking computer courses while waiting for her acceptance into university.


For girls, it can be just as difficult as they are often the last to be supported by the families for secondary school education. If a family can't afford their fees, they will send them out to work or marry them off at a young age keeping them in a perpetual cycle of poverty. We are doing our best to keep girls in school for we know that education is the only way to break out of poverty. Our Sere Girls Club is providing an opportunity for 30 girls in Wongonyi Village, Kenya to meet for educational, spiritual and emotional guidance along with a mentoring program and training in leadership skills. We have seen girls blossom under this program.

Some of the women of Jitolee Crafts group - empowering women who advocate about HIV/Aids


Finally sustainable economic growth is the key to improving women's lives and that of their families. Through our Microfinance program we have been able to provide small loans to women to help them expand their businesses. This has provided them with increased income to supply their families with the basic necessities of life. A key component of our Microfinance program is training in business skills so they can continue to expand and improve their businesses. We also support women's groups like Jitolee Crafts, a group of 15 HIV positive women living in Kiberia Slums of Nairobi. Because of their HIV status they are unable to get jobs and so have banded together to help each other and themselves. After making beaded crafts and clothing, they visit markets to sell their wares. At the same time, they educate the public about HIV/Aids and the empowerment of women to take charge of their own lives.

During International Development Week 2012 we salute and celebrate the wonderful women of the developing world for the optimism and their quest for a better quality of life.

World Aids Day - December 1

Me and Mama Caroline at Ronnie's house in Nairobi

Mama Caroline (far right) and the women of Jitolee Craft Group

I don't know much about the intricacies of HIV/Aids but I do know the devasting effects it can have on people's health, well being and livelihoods. HIV/Aids has had horrible effects on developing countries especially Africa where the lack of available drugs, social and medical services mean that almost an entire generation has passed on. The passing of these people have left a huge gap in the social fabric as children have been left without parents, responsible for their own care and that of their younger siblings. Or orphans have been taken in by grandparents or relatives most of whom do not have the resources and energy to care properly for the children. It is a sad situation.

Most people, even in developing countries are not fully aware of how the disease actually is passed on and so terrible stigmas have developed about people who do acquire HIV/Aids leading families and business owners to shun members who get the disease. Most women are left alone to raise their families when their husbands, who are most often the cause of their acquiring HIV/Aids, abandon them. Education is the key to overcoming the stigmas and available drugs are the method of keeping the disease under control. But not all HIV/Aids stories are sad ones.

In the Kibera Slums of Nairobi, Kenya a group of courageous women have banded together as the Jitolee Craft Group to create incomes for their families and to educate the public about HIV/Aids. Mama Caroline and her group of 14 HIV positive women were not able to get regular jobs because of the stigma of Aids and so they have come together to create beautiful works of art in beaded necklaces, beaded sisal bags and now clothing made from the traditional African Kanga. The women meet at Mama Caroline's tin shack in Kibera slums as it is the largest and work away to produce crafts which they sell at local markets sharing the profits which then help each woman buy food, clothing and pay school fees for their children. While at the markets, the women educate the public about HIV/Aids and Empowerment for Women. We have been purchasing crafts from the Jitolee Craft Group which we sell with the proceeds returning to Kenya for our Educational Scholarship Program.

I am truly inspired by the resiliency of these women who struggle daily not only with the effects of the disease but with the stigma and other social injustices like being raped when they attend the community bathrooms in the slums (even when they explain they have HIV/Aids, the male rapists do not care so you can see how the disease can spread). I am also in awe of their desire to make a difference by educating the public when many other women keep silent so as not to suffer the stigma and shunning.

Today on World Aids Day, please remember that HIV/Aids is a disease like any other and cannot be passed by giving one who is suffering a much needed hug. Learn from these determined and resilent women that anything is possible and if you have the chance to buy a product made from the Jitolee Craft Group please support them generously. You are helping these women support themselves and their families for they are working hard and do not expect a hand out but rather a hand up to a better quality of life. A beaded gourd that Mama Caroline gave me is a daily reminder of the challenges these women face and how they are rising above their disadvantages.

December 1, 2010 - World HIV/Aids Day

Today is World HIV/Aids Day, a day in which to raise awareness of the plight of those around the globe who are afflicted with HIV/Aids. This is a deadly killer which has left a great portion of Africa with the loss of a generation, those of middle age. Children have been left orphaned when young parents die from this deadly killer. Grandparents, especially grandmothers are then left with the challenge of raising young children as they enter their golden year. The added financial strain this puts on these older women is often overwhelming and even grandparents must pass the children on to other relatives, who in turn send the children out to fend on their own. Imagine your children being left to find their own food, clothes and support themselves and some of these children are also afflicated with HIV/Aids. In our village of Wongonyi in southeastern Kenya we have 100 orphans living without parental guidance.

When we were in Nairobi this past March, we had the pleasure of meeting Mama Caroline, the Chair person of the Jitolee Crafts group. This is a wonderful group of women who despite the stigma of HIV/Aids have banded together to create a business in order to generate income so that they can look after their families. The stigma of HIV/Aids prevents these women from getting normal jobs as they are considered unhireable. It is a shame and a human indignity that people treat others in this manner. These women are like any other mothers world-wide who just want to provide the best for their families. In most cases, the husbands who have actually given these women HIV/Aids because of the husband's roving behaviour, then leave the families when they learn of the HIV status of the wives. The women who in many cases have stayed home to look after the family are now left with no income, children to feed and clothe and school fees to pay.

Upon meeting in a support group for people with HIV/Aids, in 2003 the 6 founding women of Jitolee Crafts acquire the skills and supplies to make traditional African crafts. The same year Jitolee Crafts created an HIV/Aids Awareness pin that was worn by the Kenyan President. Today the group has expanded to 15 members and continues to innovate new deisigns. The group of women live in Kibera Slums in Nairobi and work out of Mama Caroline's small tin shack.

Jitolee Crafts main goal is to provide HIV positive women with the means to reduce the stigma of HIV/Aids within their community, build a support network that encourages healthy decisions and generate income for themselves and their children. Jitolee Crafts aims to do this through making and selling traditional African crafts raning from necklaces, bracelets, beaded items like keychains, sisal beaded bags and various wire crafts. Some of the products focus on Kenyan identity and HIV/Aids awareness. To learn more about this wonderful and engaging group of women check out the Jitolee Craft website at www.jitoleecrafts.webs.com