Hope Kenya!
by John Wilson
I came to the United States in the early 1980s with a single mission...to further my education, so I could facilitate community development in my homeland of Kenya. At nineteen years old and with an academic scholarship to study in Southern California, I was ready to begin the journey. My village of Machakos even pooled their resources to pay for my airfare and provide $200 for expenses. On arriving in the U.S., however, I learned that my scholarship had been a mistake on the university's part. Understandably, my focus changed. But my commitment to my mission did not. And now, 20 years later, with the help of Significant Matters I’m having the chance to make good on my original mission.
During my time in the U.S., I had earned advanced degrees and attained leadership positions in corporate America. However, my mission for Machakos remained elusive. I had the passion. I had the vision. But I needed help to bring it to life.
That help came when I met Tom Bassford with Significant Matters (SM). He began by helping me develop a strategic plan for what I wanted to do. My commitment was rejuvenated and I began to understand that I COULD turn my passion into reality. I could actually be a part of community transformation in my hometown of Machakos. However, even with my advanced degrees, I had a lot to learn.
First, I needed to clarify my mission. Taking time to think about the problems in Machakos helped me to do that. With high rates of HIV and AIDS, I envisioned safe places where families could be educated about healthy lifestyles. These centers for learning would offer education that would benefit the entire community. I wrote a mission statement and defined my vision.
We exist to help community leaders develop self-sustaining resource centers within their communities to be used to train and educate people in economic, spiritual and physical development.
I had clarity!
Next we worked on the idea of collaboration; a core and strategic value of SM. Tom was able to show me the value and necessity of partnerships if you’re going to create any kind of sustainable change. We looked at various models around the world, from America’s inner cities to South Africa and India. Seeing how those partnerships WORK gave further direction for my journey.
It was a journey that I knew would include big challenges. One of those would be acting as a “cheerleader” from here in the US for holistic community development in Machakos, where government officials do not often listen to those advocating change. We continued to lay the groundwork and think through contingencies to help increase the long-term success of the program. The process has taken a lot of time and I’ve learned a bit of patience along the way. After all, my mission had been 20 years in the making. Another year or two to build confidence and partnerships began to make a lot of sense.
In December of 2007, I began to build those partnerships. On a trip to Kenya, I met with government officials, social workers, educators, and the director of the Kenya National Public Library. The exposure SM gave me to some “best practices” and the clarity I had gained about creating sustainable partnerships prepared me for a series of difficult discussions with my Kenyan partners on this trip. Through those discussions and a lot of prayer, the barriers slowly began to dissolve, allowing a spirit of cooperation to develop.
I was able to form a leadership team in Kenya that is actually doing the work on the ground and SM helped me form a strategic advisory team here in Kansas City. They help me think through strategies, develop policies and evaluate the ongoing effort. I’ve been fortunate to be able to raise the necessary funds for this project and SM has helped give oversight and accountability to how those funds are spent.
As a result of the motivation and guidance I have received from Tom and SM, Hope Kenya, a self-help non-governmental organization, has been developed to put the community learning center I envisioned in place. We have located a building just outside of Machakos and the renovation work has begun.
As I learned early on, community development is all about partnership. I continue to be influenced by SM as I partner with my advisory team to manage problem-solving, financial accountability and strategic development. True, it was MY passion. It was MY vision. But SM has helped me put it all together and for that I continue to be grateful.
To learn more about the work John is doing and how you can help visit his website at KenyaPartners! USA