Here are Kelly's on-the-fly reports:
4 December (from Tanzania):
9 December (from Kenya):Today The Village Experience participated in the first ever Traveler's Philanthropy Conference in Arusha, Tanzania. Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, Wangari Maathai, gave the opening speech urging people and companies to be responsible as they travel the world.
Topics such as Voluntourism, Wildlife Conservation, Fair Trade and Micro-financing, Sustainable Development, and the tourism industry's role in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention were addressed by experts in the field. The Village Experience will be presenting their business model tomorrow in a presentation entitled "moving forward by giving back..."
The Village Experience is excited to leave Saturday to begin a week long trip through Kenya. Projects in Eldoret, Nakuru, Nairobi, and Mbita will be further developed and funds and donations from the Indianapolis community will be distributed in time for the holiday season. Stay tuned to hear more about The Village Experience journey through Africa!
Entry 1:
Yesterday began a journey to what felt like the ends of the earth. A plane ride, bus trip, ferry ride, and matatu finally had me arrive at my destination: Mbita. Mbita is a small fishing village on the shores of Lake Victoria. It doesn't look far from Nairobi on a map, but it took a good 6 hours of intense travel to find this hidden gem. I came to Mbita to learn about an orphans and widows program and find out ways that we could help empower the community. After conversations with some of the widows, we discovered several that already had skills in basket weaving and soap making. The Village Experience is going to help this project set up a handicraft center and teach the women to become self sufficient. We will continue to tell their story and try to generate funding so that the orphans may have a stable school to attend and a feeding program in place.
Entry 2:
Today I arrived in Eldoret after a long journey from Mbita. I spent most of the day learning about small business projects and trying to get an idea of what a successful model looks like. Many things I would never think of seem to be working and empowering the people of Eldoret: chicken farms, commodities stores, passion fruit production, and chappati vendors. The Village Experience is excited to begin working in Eldoret to further develop and support these efforts.
In the evening, I met with people from Eldoret involved in community projects-all of them with a link to Indiana. I met with the team from Imani Workshops to talk about their fair trade products and ways to further market and improve the program so that more women may eventually be employed. The team from the new Harambee Center on Philanthropy at Moi University were in attendance as well. Dr. Some explained this new initiative and the vision it has for the future. We also discussed street kids issues, the new mother and child hospital, the hospice center, and Neema orphanage to name a few. The upcoming trip to Eldoret in May 2009 will be an excellent venue for the new Cities Pamoja Partnership to flourish and for all those involved in Eldoret to learn about each others projects and deepen community relationships.
11 December (from Kenya):
13 December (from Kenya):
As I leave Eldoret and head towards Nakuru, I'm left thinking about all the wonderful connections made in just 2 short days. As a representative of Cities Pamoja, I explored relationships with Moi University, the new Harambee Center on Philanthropy, street kids organizations Koinonia and Xstreet, Neema Childrens Home, Imani Workshops, Family Preservation Initiative, and many more. We have decided to dedicate an entire day in our May itinerary to exploring Cities Pamoja and conducting the first joint meeting of committees from both Eldoret and Indianapolis. This will be an exciting addition to our trip!
The Village Experience worked alongside women from Imani Workshops on this trip to develop a new line of jewelry for our company. The collaboration was a lot of fun and was a great learning experience for both parties. We will meet with the Indianapolis focus group and talk about launching this line soon.
Koinonia is a Kenyan ngo that The Village Experience and others in the community are trying to revitalize. The number of street children in Eldoret has drastically increased in the past year due to political conflict and we want to empower this organization to respond to their needs. If you are interested in learning more, please contact me at kelly@experiencethevillage.com. With a little jump start from the community we can help create the infrastructure this ngo needs.
Check this blog for more about Kelly's trip when she gets back.
Once again I have been welcomed to Nakuru with open arms by all of our partners and supporters. I am visiting established projects here that The Village Experience supports, and I am helping to develop new initiatives - especially those that empower women.
After listening to presentations at the Travelers Philanthropy Conference and then listening to those living in the actual villages, I have come to the conclusion that "trade not aid" is indeed very true. If we could get everyone interested in giving back to contribute to small business projects, handicraft initiatives, and income generating ideas, we could make a huge impact on a community and empower them to sustain themselves. This is an idea I will be promoting through The Village Experience and throughout my travels.
If anyone is interested in getting involved, TVE will be starting 2 handicraft centers in Mbita and Nakuru and running a street kids project in Eldoret focused on enterprise and skills training. We could use some help in collecting the initial capital - join us in "moving forward by giving back."
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