(KENYA) I am writing this newsletter after visiting eight communities in Uganda and Tanzania to witness the impact of World Renew’s work in the region. In Tanzania, World Renew’s livelihood projects are called VICOBA (Village Community Bank). In Uganda, these programs are called Self-help Groups (SHG)

In Tanzania, World Renew’s livelihood projects are called VICOBA (Village Community Bank). In Uganda, these programs are called Self-help Groups (SHG). Either way, this work is all about family and livelihood. How does a family meet the daily basic needs and go beyond them? Food security is critical, and by food security I mean accessibility, availability, dietary needs, and sustaining access to adequate food throughout the year for the whole family—not for a few members of the family. Why does World Renew focus on projects like VICOBA and SHG?

In Eastern Africa, communities get food according to the rain patterns. In some cases, the rains do not come for two years while other places receive rain throughout the year. This means some communities cannot depend on producing food by themselves through subsistence farming. It leads to a question about how communities that can’t produce enough food can survive. My recent visit to communities in Tanzania motivated me and gave me hope in what we as World Renew are doing in Eastern Africa.

There is hope for Africa—and communities can do it! What it takes is patience, availability, and teaching relevant skills in working with communities. At times it can be discouraging because change takes time: people are not machines and there are many variables. When can we expect a certain outcome from a community? It’s hard to measure and depends on the community as well as the training.

What gives me hope is when I see women working together with their husbands at improving their lives at the family level. One woman said, “My husband no longer drinks, so when I give him the money I have made from selling seeds, he looks for places to save money on our household expenses so that he can give some back to me to invest in my business.”

“Look and see,” she continues, “we have now a nice house to live in, our children are happy and attend school every day because we are able to pay for the school needs. I trust my husband now! And we love each other more than before.” 

Together this couple realizes that they can manage their resources so that they can move beyond just meeting their family’s basic needs and begin to invest in growing their business and income. And this family is one of more than 5,000 families that World Renew is working with in one Ugandan community over the last two years. The change is visible in the community— Muslims, Christians, and those that worship other gods are gathered together in a church building, singing and thanking God together. What follows is the story of a young man named Juma.

““You have opened our eyes, and now we are working together as a community. In our meetings every Wednesday, we are all image bearers of God working together happily and supporting each other. I heard about this savings group, and I came into the meeting to listen. I walked home thinking about how I could join the group. When I asked, the group members who knew that I had a reputation as a thief in the village if I could joint them said that if I stopped stealing, I could join the group. They did not chase me away! So every Wednesday I attended the group meetings to learn what they were doing and listen to their success stories and how they were saving and borrowing money from their savings. I learned that I had to save my own money before requesting for loan.

"If I was caught stealing I would be kicked out of the group. This accountability kept me going."

“I left that day and went home and sold the chicken I owned. I managed to attend the meeting the next time and was able to meet the minimum savings requirement to join the group. But I also received a strict warning: If I was caught stealing I would be kicked out of the group. This accountability kept me going. I wanted to prove to them that I could do something different with my life. I was not going to steal anymore. I prayed with them, and the pastor visited me and encouraged me. The World Renew staff and the pastor visited my home and this was a motivation. People in the village did not believe that I could be visited by such important people.

“It has taken me six months of patient saving, and now I have borrowed money to start a business. My business is doing very well. I am raising chickens. They produce eggs, and I
sell them myself. I started with 10 chickens and now I have 200! I sell 180 eggs each day. I am expanding my business and learning about poultry farming. “My dream is to be a big poultry farmer. I am aiming at raising a flock of 1,000 chickens this year. I also spend time with my parents, and now I am respected in the community. I am not a thief but the poultry farmer who sells eggs.”

This is a moving testimony—from a thief to a farmer! This young man has great ideas about how to help other young men in the village become productive and leave drinking and stealing behind. It takes time for people to change. This is true transformation. Can you tell a thief to stop stealing and they stop immediately? No! It is a process. It takes love and patience to witness transformation in communities.

Thanks are due to the partner staff and World renew staff. This young man’s life is impacting the lives of many people in the community he comes from.

Prayers:

• Pray for the work of the groups and the families involved in the saving groups. What they are doing is encouraging and a good ministry that is reaching the unreached people in the village with the word of God.
• Pray for wisdom for the staff working with these groups. The demand is high because of the growing number of such groups.
• Pray for us as we move and work from Nairobi starting in July 2013.
• Pray for people who support these programs and the World Renew staff and their families in the region. We give God glory and honor that through small and big gifts, God is touching the hearts of many families that had no hope and bringing hope back to them

Davis Omanyo

East Africa Team Leader
World Renew Uganda