Christine's Final Days in Kenya

Written on May 28, from Nairobi, Kenya
By Christine Rose

As I write my last Kenyan blog entry, I write this with overwhelming gratitude for the gift of opportunity that Village Enterprise Fund has so generously given me. The opportunity to be involved in a project with meaning, purpose and significance – the Longitudinal Impact Assessment Study. The opportunity to connect with countless people living lives of simple dignity, and the message of hope that they have given me. The opportunity to travel throughout rural Kenya and see a side to this beautiful country that most casual visitors would never experience. And most importantly, the opportunity for my eyes to be opened to witness first-hand the significant needs and potential resolutions for the rural working poor, with the hope of weaving this learning into my life moving forward.

I am encouraged that after focusing on the Lontigudinal Impact Assessment Study for a number of months, that the results are very positive. The majority of beneficiaries who have received microgrants in the past 2-5 years, are in fact still operational! The impact is reflected in their improved quality of life, increased self-confidence, and continued progress in gaining business skills that can be used moving forward. This is very exciting news!

I come away with a strong appreciation for the infrastructure behind these types of programs – the in-country staff who need to make decisions of significant impact on a daily basis, the business mentors who through their encouragement of the benefiaries are truly the “invisible hands touching the rural poor,” to the beneficiaries themselves – their courage, strength and faith in a better future for themselves and their children.

I am most grateful for all the support given me by the VEF team, with special thanks to the in-country Kenyan staff of VEF. Everyone has been warm, welcoming, concerned about my safety and well-being, and did all in their power to assist in the success of the Longevity Impact Assessment. I could not have even begun to navigate the countryside, culture, language and geography of Kenya without my outstanding team of local evaluators – Duncan, Josephine, Philip and Mike! And I am tickled pink that I am considered a special mzungu member of the Wilson and Nancy Peru family; they truly created “home” for me in Kenya.

And now to close, my top 10 memories of Kenya – these will resonate most with anyone who has enjoyed the experience of living in rural Africa for any length of time!

1. If you ever have the feeling something is crawling on you… it probably is!

2. Being called “mzungu” wherever I went.

3. Matatu culture – the drivers, the conductors, the potholes, the furtive money collection process, the close human contact…

4. Kenyans doing things the hard way – be it giving out vague directions, not providing relevant information, or do the same thing again and again even if the results are poor.

5. Vibrancy – every experience and moment is vivid, nothing is passive.

6. When saying hello (supa) to children in Namanga Region, adults always lay their hand on the child’s head.

7. Riding hundreds of kilometers on the back of a piki piki (motorbike) over rough and muddy rural roads.

8. Being welcomed as a complete stranger at the rural doorsteps of Kenya – be it into beneficiaries' huts, or under a tree. A privilege indeed; to be able to enter into their world and share a few moments together.

9. Conversations with the beneficiaries regarding sales, expenses and profits. Struggling with consistent measurements (tins, sacks, packets, bags, etc), consistent time periods (days, weeks, seasons, market days), and ultimately working through their individual scenario’s. Discussing maize, tomatoes, eggs, fish, chickens, cereals, stems of bananas, pigs, goat meat, plastics, tailoring, bicycle repairing, carpentry…

10. And my top memories of Kenya overall are: The joy, adventure, frustrations, growth, fulfillment, exhaustion, dirt-mud-dirt, bucket baths, more dirt, matatu’s, power outages, pit latrines, lush maize fields, bugs, rain, bad roads, country cooking, piki piki’s, marketplaces, being called mzungu, Kenyan friends, the business owners, and the list goes on and on….

Thank you for this rich experience, and I wish the Village Enterprise Fund team continued passion, endurance, wisdom and significance of purpose!