The first half of the team left Thursday night (U.S. time), picked up a new friend from Texas in Taipei, and met our other staff member in Bangkok since detoured to visit family in Australia before joining for the trip.
We’ve already had about 24 hours to rest and explore a little. The Ray family and the Anderson family should be here any minute to join us.
Business training?
If you are not clear on why I am even in Thailand at all, I am here with Yobel International. They seek to empower people living in poverty around the world through business training. We’ve found that most people stuck in financial poverty do not WANT to be dependent, they just do not know how to get out of their situation. Yobel offers a curriculum that not only helps with the basics of customer service, pricing, budgeting, and savings to help with their businesses, the curriculum also addresses some of the emotional poverty. It tells people their true worth, that they are creative and are capable people with something to offer their community. Only rarely does the training result in a partnership with Yobel Market and selling things in the store, we primarily encourage local businesses that benefit their communities and use skills they may already have or have access to learn. (Check out the websites to learn more)
This training in particular is new ground for Yobel as we have never brought it to SE Asia before. We had all new visuals made and workbooks printed to contextualize. We aren’t currently very aware of their typical needs or obstacles, and it seems likely that we’ll accidentally step on some toes with something that gets lost in translation. We are not sure how this new teaching method will work is for a culture that is, overall, much quieter than many we have worked in in the past. But, if it goes well, it has great potential to grow and reach even more people.
Why Thailand?
After hosting a recent Train the Trainers event in our offices with other non-profit leaders and connectors, a partnership opportunity with AIPP came forward. Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact works with indigenous peoples around Asia (surprise!), working to advance and protect their rights. They have a variety of programs including environmental, communications, women’s initiatives, and human rights. 2 major things they are dealing with are:
citizenship – Many indigenous thai do not have paperwork, and if they can’t prove citizenship they pretty much have no voice or no access to government assistance or general rights in the country.
land rights – Indigenous people are actively having land taken to become national land (parks, reserves). While I am a believer in national forests, taking land right out from under people who make their livelihood on it doesn’t seem like a good solution.
For these reasons AIPP is looking to help the hill tribes people learn new and sustainable ways to adapt to likely future problems.
After our time in Chiang Mai we are headed to Bangkok to teach non profit leaders in that community how to use our training so they can bring it to there people. More on that as it gets closer.
How’s it going?
So far, Thailand is beautiful and I want to be friends with most of it’s citizens. They are sweet, smiley, and kind. We have walked the street and not had a single objectifying comment from a man yet. I can’t say that for other places I’ve been.
The food so far is the best. Ever. And it’s really only been about a day. I can’t wait for what is ahead in the world of food. So far, no sickness.
Sweet/Spicy pork dish.
This is a waffle around a hot dog. I had to try it. Also, most street food is $3 tops, this was around 50 cents.
Thai Tea, iced. Because it’s 11pm and still over 90 degrees.
Even in dry season (we tend to go during affordable times of year) the landscape is still wonderful. There is also a lot of history, including a wall/gates and a moat! We’ve already been to a couple night markets, eaten street food, and visited a wat (temple) on the mountain. We will be working hard for the next 5 days, but we will get some awesome experiences as well!
If you are a prayer, feel free to pray for:
the team gets over jet lag and gets rested
the heat remains bearable. We were out, only shortly, today while the temps got over 105. Our bedrooms are AC, our training facility is supposed to be, but common areas have noting.
Continued health. No nasty stomach things from street food, or colds from air travel.
Problem solving new isses that arrive as a result of the new location
That the training is well received, the people are encouraged and excited, and we are able to give our best
Speaking of giving my best, time for some sleep. More updates to come as I find time!
On to “part 2” of Africa, my time in Uganda If you’ve read the previous post about my time in DRC, you have a decent idea about the business curriculum, it’s intent, and what it sort of looks like. This post will be comparing my experience of the training in Uganda to DRC. So, if you haven’t read my DRC post, go do it now. It’s OK, this post will be here for you when you get back.
Seriously though, read it first.
OK, now that you’ve read about DRC and the training there, let’s chat about Uganda, shall we? Let me digress from the training for a bit and chat about some of our rest time. If you aren’t interested, skip down. After the arrival of more of our friends, we headed of to Jinja. Jinja is a sweet little city on the Nile and Lake Victoria. They claim it as the source of the Nile, but I’ve found that’s a hotly debated topic among every Ugandan I’ve asked. Jinja is a fairly touristy location, so the drive from Entebbe (the primary airport) and Jinja has some lovely tourist traps. One favorite is what has been dubbed the “In Your Face Chicken Place” by other Yobellians. Check out this (out of focus) video on what the experience is like. And keep in mind, we stopped at the tail end of the stop, so we were less accosted than we could have been.
I heard multiple comments on how infrastructure is growing so much in Uganda right now. We saw a lot of construction everywhere we went, which means jobs and improved economy (woohoo!) It also meant even worse traffic than usual in some spots. No matter where the traffic was, we were “greeted” with people eager to sell us produce, beverages, even eggs. This young lady saw my camera and asked for a photo. I didn’t argue.
Did you know they grew tea in Uganda? I didn’t. We passed by a few of the fields on the way to Jinja, just plopped amongst expanses of sugar cane.
Once in Jinja the rest of the crew spend the afternoon recovering from jet lag (i.e. slept), so I sat on my porch that overlooked the Nile with a pot of spiced African tea and a good book.
I was occasionally distracted by the neighbor children. They also had baby goats. I didn’t take too many pictures, I looked a little creepy with my “stalker lens” peering into the neighbor’s property from my 2nd story window…
This was the view of the Nile as the sun rose the morning Hannah and I were going to raft it.
(we were sidetracked by this massive snail.)
I won’t waste much of your time on rafting, but it was so much fun I had to share at least a few photos. This is our transport to the launch site. On the main roads you could sit comfortably, but once we got onto side dirt roads they told us we’d be more comfortable standing up or you’d get pretty banged up.
Not the prettiest foreground, but the best photo I took where you can see the expanse of the Nile. You can’t even see the nearer shore in this photo, this ledge is pretty steep.
It was quite pretty…
And then we rafted class 4 and class 5 rapids. I hope these photos give you an idea about the size of the rapids. I only fell out once at the end when the boat flipped. . . The third photo . I’d do this again in a heartbeat.
No, this is not where we flipped.Yes, that’s me sitting on the front of the boat.And this is where we ended up flipping. You just float through the rapids after that.
The next day we went back to Entebbe, picked up a couple more people, and headed out to Kigumba. Now, many locals say it just like it’s spelled (k’GOOM-bah), but if you are Acholi (I believe) they actually say it more like “Chigumba”. For some reason that was always easier to say, so if you hear me talk about the town that’s what will most likely come out of my mouth.
We packed 7 of us, along with the driver and the “conductor” (it is customary for most trips for there to be 2 drivers, and you have to pay both. And sometimes buy them both meals) and all of our luggage for the next week into a van and meandered across the country to Kigumba, and to Canaan Farm. If you Google Maps Canaan Farm, Uganda, it will actually show you the location of the primary school. Neat!
So, we arrive at Canaan Farm, do some chatting, eventually get settled into our huts.
This is the interior of the girls hut. It was a little more “posh” because it had this sort of ceiling to keep the grass roof pieces from falling on us all the time. The entryway was also a bit taller so I could get through it with a backpack on without practically getting on my hands and knees.
We got to try some jack fruit. They look like dinosaur eggs on the trees (big, spikey, and egg-shaped clinging near the trunk) and the insides are flesh colored. You take pieces that are sort of like petals, separated kind of like pomegranate, and get the giant seed out. The texture was slimy, incredibly sticky like sap, and quite fleshy like chicken. We eventually said we were just eating dinosaur.
This one was apparently not ripe enough. None of the Americans thought it tasted bad or green at all. After tasting a ripe one a few says later, we all agreed we preferred the un-ripe one. For the record, dinosaurs taste kind of like Fruit Loops.
Then, we had to hang out with the baby goats. I didn’t end up holding any. Each one I considered grabbing would start peeing the minute I chose it. My internal cost/benefit analysis told me holding a poopy baby goat wasn’t worth the risk of having it pee on me. But they were adorable to watch.
No, Customs Officer, we did not spend any time on a farm while in Africa…
On to describing the awesomeness that is Canaan Farm. The short version of it’s origins: Richard’s mother obtained the land through a set of ordained circumstances and visions. Years later when the Lord’s Resistance Army became a power (google them if you are not aware of the LRA), Canaan Farm became a place of refuge. Widows, orphans, and former child soldiers and child wives found a safe place at Canaan Farm. Yobel’s origin stems from this also, with the people wanting a way to earn money since they’d been run out of their homes and the villages all over northern Uganda had been ravaged by the war. The bamboo jewelry we used to make was made by these very people.
The LRA still exists, it is believed Kony himself is based either in DRC, South Sudan, or even Central African Republic because of their political unrest. However, the LRA has not been very active in the past few years, and many international agencies have been giving assistance.
Since the war has died down, many of the Acholi refugees have gone back to their land. Some have not. Richard and Susan still have a heart for the region and for transformation. They both come from educated well-off backgrounds, and are bringing their knowledge and wisdom the the rural areas.
They have built a primary school (with the help of Yobel and it’s people).
They have built a clinic. Since it’s been built, the number of people visiting continues to decrease. They are teach prevention at their visits.
Notice the solar panels on the roof. As with any rural area in most of Africa, electricity either unreliable or hard to come by. Solar Panels are a massive solution to that problem.
They have built a sewing school, with a paid teacher, and provided foot-treadle machines for the people to come work on. They are becoming very skilled and sell things at the market as well as to overseas markets.
They obviously have the goats as you saw earlier. They also have farm land growing various crops. The one Richard was most proud of was the new tomato field. Since it is dry season, tomatoes are a cash crop. They have set up a drip irrigation system that has enabled a massive crop of tomatoes (and employing more people during the dry season.) They also have a turkey as defense against cobras. True story.
They also believe in creating a beautiful place. Everything is thoughtful in it’s placement, and they have flowering trees and shrubs along the entrance.
A sort of cone flower surrounds the tomato fields.Hannah in a Jane Austen-esque moment at sunrise.I spent some time reading in this beautiful tree.My view from the tree.Rainy sunset behind the well manicured landscaping.Just a pretty sunset, because I wanted to share.
I hope that gives you an idea of Canaan Farm and it’s significance. Richard organized this training and made the decision to have it OFF of Canaan Farm this year so that a new group of people could benefit from it (as I said, he wants to see this region changed). So every morning we rode off to Kigumba in the back of this truck. Since it’s dry season it’s extra dusty, but we still get lots of waves from boda bodas and children on their way to school.
We set up for training the day before. This group had a lot of decent english speakers (though they sometimes have trouble with our accent), but we had workbooks translated in English, Acholi, and Swahili. Translation, as usual, was sometimes an issue, but we had a pretty phenomenal translator.
Another idea of Richard’s was to have some potential future facilitators attend the training. This was from our first meeting, talking through why we do it the way we do and what to keep in mind. Many of this group have some sort of education or business training already, and many are also pastors or other leaders in their community.
Anna showing Bosco the facilitator guide.
Our days would typically start with a group of beautiful people awaiting our arrival and lots of happy greetings.
Notice the women’s shirt on the right… it says “football team Denver”.
Day one starts with registration. We registered around 55 people on this first day, with a few others coming in the next day.
I hope this gives you an idea of the space we taught in. A good number of people from further away spent the evenings in this building as well. There is still a little work to be done, but why not use it in the meantime?
Again, I hope you have read the previous post because I won’t be going into a ton of detail about the training, but just touching on some of my favorite things and some differences.
Meet Aggrey, the primary translator. Also a pastor, he is a gifted teacher and translator. There were seldom significant confusions when he was translating, and could tell when the group needed some clarification.
Pretending we are teaching for the photo.
I loved having this sweet girl Mary at my table. She was incredibly soft spoken with mediocre English, but was very excited about the training. She had baby Victoria with her the whole time, breast fed her at the table (pretty common thing to see actually), played with her on the floor, all while still paying attention and participating.
She is actually the sister-in-law of Abel, a man we are making a special video on. He came to a training with Yobel a couple years back, and since then has improved his first business enough that he started 2 more business and is building a new house.
On a visit to Abel’s home, watched the sun set under a massive mango tree with a mountain in the background. It was pretty stunning
Abel wanted to thank Yobel, so he gave us a live chicken. A pretty normal thing, I’m told. We ate it the next evening, and it was quite tasty.
That’s Richard, to the right. I never got a great photo of him, him and Susan both are “behind the scenes” type of people.
I want to make sure that you realize many, if not all of these people put jobs and/or family duties aside for the 5 days of training. They either closed their shops or paid someone else to staff it. Other family members had to take care of children and meals, and others had to harvest crops that were ready and prepare them for the market! We don’t usually charge for the training, because if the people are willing to sacrifice 5 days to come, they are invested.
This group was notably more lively than the DRC bunch. Very different contexts, of course. But, I’m told that this wasn’t even that lively compared to some other African trainings! Still, so much life and laughter:
Part of the “Obstacles” lesson, a person thinks they have obstacles to avoid, but can’t see them. A lot of great lessons come from this, and I had many people tell me it was the most valuable lesson. They realize the things they think are obstacles CAN be overcome. It’s also just plain fun.
They also got REALLY into the relay race where we make lists of things to save for. Apparently no group has ever made sure the lines were the exact same number of people and forced people not to participate so it was even. There were also guys running in place to be ready to go when it was there turn to run!
This is Pastor Francis. Running, in the African sun, in dry (hot) season, with a full suit on. That’s dedication.
Here’s a video (where you can here me giggling the whole time…ick) that I still find hilarious to watch because they are SO enthused!
There was a ton of creativity and eagerness in this group. It did not take long to get them to start answering questions. They LOVED sharing their answers from the front. And it was obvious they loved their community, they wanted to help each other, and they were ready to work hard to make their businesses thrive.
Annet, sharing her dreams for her family, her community, her job, and her self.Malkizadek. Always trying to find something to argue. Lisa was SO good at dealing with him and didn’t put up with his nonsense!Geoffrey, on the right, helping out some people at his table. He was an Acholi refugee that has chosen to stick around and help at the farm. He has some incredible stories about the war, but you would never guess it.Something as simple as using a calculator sometimes needed step by step explanation and practice.
You are never too old. We encourage people who aren’t literate to draw or mark in some way their answers when they can. There are also many drawing exercises to get people using different parts of their brain.Moses (right) was sometimes a handful, but when placed near people who were falling behind he was ready to share his knowledge to help them.
After the relay race where we wrote examples of things the save for, we wrote some of the examples down. Us Americans were taken back by 1 answer in particular: War. Given the history that many of these people have come through, it would definitely be something on their radar that they feel the need to plan for.
The last day is time for Graduation. We were able to get a little more excitement out of this crew.
Introducing, Kigumba Business Training class of 2015:
I HAD to share this photo because it makes me laugh every time. They know how to photobomb in Africa:
That night we had the honor of going to see some of the students at their current businesses. Local markets are always one of my favorite things to see, and to know some of the people there was so much fun!
This is Jane. She runs a clothing shop. She hand makes clothing, as well as selling used clothing. She makes school uniforms, including pleated pants. THAT’S impressive!
In the market we met Sarah and Phoebe.
This is Josephine. She was also at my table. She’s a community leader, and has her own hair salon. (Side note: they call a salon a saloon. Very different.) She employs girls with disabilities so that they can have worth and employment.
This is Tabitha. She wasn’t actually at this training, but she came to a previous one, and using that knowledge she started a business with just $2.
OK, now it’s time for the cute children again.
These are just a group that came to say hello when we stopped to photograph Tabitha in the village.
Baby Victoria and a friend from another table playing during the training.
And last but not least, this is Abigail. She is the daughter of Richard and Susan. She followed us around much of the time we were at the Farm. And she’s just beautiful.
She was a little shy when she first said hi, but was dressed to impress in her Belle dress. Yes, Disney has even corrupted Africa.
We played football/soccer with some nearby kids. She was less enthused and just watched.
But was very photogenic by the mango tree.
I’m so grateful I got to see the “birthplace of Yobel” and finally meet so many of the people I’ve been hearing about for years. And even more meaningful, I got to celebrate my 1 year anniversary on staff there! I’m thankful I
The theme for me of this part of the trip was hope. As the trip wrapped up for me I was talking with a few people about what we would take home, or how we would be changed. Many people go to Africa and have a major life changing experience. I can’t say that was my experience. It may be because I’ve already had one of those when I hung out with abused and abandoned girls that were the same age as me in Chile. Or that I’ve been working/volunteering with Yobel for so long that many of the stories aren’t surprising they just have faces now.
But one person, who has done a good bit of traveling himself, pointed out that he didn’t see despair while on this trip. He saw hope. The people were eager and ready to learn and to work hard. The babies and children were not starving, but were playing happily. The area is growing. People are innovative, ready for change, and done being dependent on handouts. I don’t leave this place with sadness or anxiety about their future, I leave with excitement to hear to awesome stories that will come out of it!
My oh my, so much to say, and it’s just been a measly 10 days!
So far, Africa has felt far easier than I anticipated. I don’t plan on that being the case the rest of my time here, but I’m feeling a little spoiled as I sit on my queen size (seriously) foam mattress in the cute little “hotel” not far from Lake Victoria, with a hot water shower and flushing toilet just steps away. Don’t worry, it won’t be long before I finally use a “squatty potty” and have to take my bug spray and mosquito net a little more seriously. But, those days will come, for now you need to hear a little bit about the Congo trip.
Let me be honest, I knew very little about the DRC when I went. In fact, before I got my vaccines for this trip, I didn’t even know there was a Congo, AND a Democratic Republic of Congo. We went to the latter. I still call regularly call it Congo because Democratic Republic of Congo is really long, and most people have no idea what “The DRC” means. I also didn’t know they spoke French (did you know you only say ‘Bonjour’ the first time you see someone? And then the next time you see them it’s ‘Bonsoir’? I didn’t.) So, along with most of this trip, I brought very few expectations, and I am in a constant state of observing, listening, and learning.
This section of the trip started with a tiny little flight from Entebbe to Arua, Uganda. This flight wins for the smallest planes I’ve ever flown in: Propeller plane with less than 20 seats and a cockpit that isn’t separate. But you have to admit, there is something that feels extra cool about walking on the tarmac to your tiny airplane. Even when the tarmac is gravel like it was in Arua.
Our “precious cargo” (the training materials) resting comfortably in the back of the plane.Lake Victoria from the air. Entebbe is right on the lake.We were towards the back of the plane, this is the inside from my seat.The plane we took from Entebbe to Arua
After arriving at the airport, the only information we had was “the sisters will pick you up and help you cross the border to Congo” (Arua, Uganda to Aru, Congo). Were we looking for Congolese nuns? The sisters of our American contact? Eventually, we had our answer: 2 Filipino nuns working in 2 separate Canossian missions in Aru, drove up in this truck. Meet Norie and Joy, full of life and love and hilarious energy, these pint sized sisters put our stuff in the back of the truck and dropped us off at a Hotel in Arua for a nap while they picked up some things in town.
Naturally, because what is an overseas trip without a vehicle breaking down, their truck needed some repair. A friend of Sister Norie gave Sarah, myself, and Norie a ride to the border before it closes at 6, where we were picked up by yet another Sister and Katie, our contact. We’re so thankful for the reputation the sisters have, and their familiarity with getting us whities across the border. They have decent relationships with both Congolese and Ugandan officials. The Ugandans are a little more reliable, but DRC government has a significant reputation for corruption. We paid the regular amount and were not held delayed significantly more than was expected. We payed extra to get all our materials and stuff on the plane, so thank God that we didn’t also have to pay extra “taxes” to get into the country!
Our training supplies being strapped to the back of a “moto” to be brought to the Library where the training would be happening. I joined on the back of another to make sure they got there. Check that off the list of things I need to do in Africa.
The rest of the afternoon we got settled, got to know Katie and her project Totonga Bomoi. She has gathered some women in the community that have graduated from a tailoring school to start a cooperative. Her hope with our training was to encourage them in the benefits of using the cooperative for local projects, in addition to the US market she is creating, to encourage them in how to be quality businesswomen (with budgets, record keeping, savings, planning, customer service, and the like), and to encourage them as leaders in their community.
The 9 women we trained, and Sister Joy.
These beautiful girls brought a new challenge for us. Of course, every group is a new challenge, but these ladies were all educated through high school, and all already were a part of the business. We did some adjusting to the language of the curriculum to fit their format of a cooperative, which of course leads to on the fly adjustments and unplanned lessons, which can be hit or miss. And when you have a finite amount of available time (not to mention people arriving on “Africa time” meaning at least a half hour late) things can start to feel challenging.
The sisters stopped by on occasion to encourage and assist when they could.
As is always expected with our trainings, the first few days everyone is fairly shy and quiet. Not only are we new people speaking a foreign language teaching pretty new and often hard to understand topics, but the format for the learning is completely new and probably uncomfortable for most of them. They have been learning their whole lives with repetition and “this is what to do and how to do it” in a lecture format. We set up our trainings with some lecture, but significant small group discussion, asking their opinion, and also skits, role play, even coloring and games. The looks you get when you first hand out crayons for them to draw out goals in their workbooks is laughable. You want me to draw like a little kid? Why aren’t you telling me exactly what I’m supposed to draw? By day 4, you have to take the crayons away because they are doodling in their workbooks instead of listening.
We value coloring and games and skits in the curriculum because not only does it help keep their brains awake on long hot days, but it encourages creativity and thinking for yourself. They aren’t just repeating what’s on the board or checking things off a list, they are thinking for themselves and thinking about their own opinion. Not only that, but games and skits really draw people out of their shells, making them more accepting of new ideas, and really bond with eachother. In any group this is great because they build relationships to help with accountability brainstorming after we’re gone, but especially with this cooperative they have grown together even more.
Opisia and Ezania, 2 of the quietest and shyest girls in the class, during one game.Practicing customer service and selling techniques.I’m pretty sure they were mocking me, since I speak so little french I would give a thumbs up to get a feel for if they were understanding it. Day one, they barely gave me eye contact, day 4 I get teased amidst learning record keeping.Teaching Africans to play the Knot Game is really difficult, but it sure makes for some beautiful and heart warming photos.
Not only is this heartwarming, but I want to make sure you know that you can assume any African print clothing you see was hand made by them. How fantastic is this dress?
It sure isn’t all fun and games though. There are many parts that feel like slogging. With the help of translators doing some additional clarifying teaching, and multiple real life examples, we make headway. These ladies are all literate and have used calculators, which was a great start, but we still needed to go through the very basics of WHY and HOW to build budgets and savings for you business and personal lives.
Julienne (refusing to draw and instead writing) her dreams for her family, her community, and her business.Ezania working on budgetsTranslator Papa Jerome runs the library and showed his record keeping to the women. What a blessing for them to see a very real example of record keeping put into practice! He even showed them some more advanced tools he uses, and his stack of receipts.
One of our translators, Papa Jerome, is 65 and has been in this community since “the Belgians” (the wars for independence in the 60s) and had wonderful insight into the systemic problems. Since independence, the government looked out for itself and not its country. It pockets a vast majority of aid, and leaves the people in the lurch. People cannot trust the government to take care of them or assist them, so why make plans for the future? While not as volatile as it has been in the past, the lack of stability and lack of jobs means no understanding of looking to the future.
“It is so important to not just understand the obstacles, but how to overcome them.” – Bolingo, translator
One of the sections I personally taught was Business Savings. I have heard the stories of how these lessons get hard, it feels like no one gets it, but pays off in the end. Since all the women were involved in the same cooperative, we decided to start a sample business savings plan for Totonga Bomoi. I assumed the hard part was getting to the numbers of the amounts and how much to save monthly. That wasn’t easy either, but the real sticker was the idea of WHY. When asking the question “what if your sewing machine breaks and has to be replaced?” the answer was “It hasn’t.” “What if” isn’t really a concept they are used to.
“[The Congolese culture is to] work to get enough for today, because they don’t think about the future.” – Katie Hile, Totonga Bomoi
After that lesson, with attempt after attempt of explaining the idea of savings, I was pretty discouraged. How could I have taught it better and helped them get a better grasp? How do I, as someone who has never had to worry about putting food in my belly, explain to people who have seen or are currently in some very lean times, that setting money aside for later is a good thing? At the end of the section we got to a point where they had some understanding of how savings can be beneficial, and some basics of how to start a plan, but I wasn’t sure if they’d really taken it in or if they were convinced about it’s value.
But, when we did surveys at the end of the course, I heard over and over how they learned how important savings was and how it can help them be prepared for unexpected things in the future. Some girls had already talked with their families about the idea! Katie plans to have the cooperative sit down and make a solid savings plan for themselves.
This is Mama Aroyo. She is a leader in the cooperative, and a joy to be around.They wanted this picture, a sign of how they feel about the course, I think.
It is also important to mention that while we offer a non-religious course, we most often use our this faith-based course. There is no requirement to be a Christian to use or partake in the course. There is no mandatory acceptance of Jesus or alter calls at the end of the course. Our purpose is to empower men and women to end or reduce financial poverty in their own lives in a way that is sustainable and community wide. While our motivation is our faith, we firmly believe that God loves everyone, and everyone deserves a chance at a better life regardless of your faith (and that you don’t have to believe in God to want that for others).
The faith based curriculum includes at least 1 verse in almost every lesson. These typically cover topics of your identity as God’s creation, your ability to do great things, basic ethics, and even savings and planning (Proverbs is full of great financial advice!) Whenever a verse was read was when I saw the most people shuffling in their workbooks. They wanted to make sure the references were listed. In some areas religion can be a hinderance, but in many of the places we’ve been in Africa we’ve seen it to be a benefit to the course. They are encouraged and the training has more validity because its teaching is backed by scripture!
After 4.5 days of training and hard work, they earn themselves a graduation ceremony. This is a fun and celebratory way to make them feel accomplished (because they are), and they get a signed certificate proving they went through the entire course.
Esther getting her certificate. Holding your arm when you shake hands is a sign of respect, both in Congo and Uganda.Even Papa Jerome gets a certificate for being at all of the classes, and he’s thrilled!The whole crewJulienne, the class sass, showing off her certificate.
These women truly are beautiful inside and out, and how the potential to be game changers in their community and country. Their vibrancy and eagerness is infectious and I so look forward to hearing updates about their progress!
I wanted to share a few other notes and thoughts about the DRC.
One main realization I wanted to share: Religious institutions have gained a bad wrap when it comes to charity. This isn’t always incorrectly placed blame, but I can say with decent confidence Aru would be a far more terrifying place without the presence of the Catholic (and Anglican) churches. They have brought thriving schools (the first in the region years ago), clinics, hospitals, and empowering aid when their government has failed them. Since their start in Aru, the Canossian sisters haven’t given money away to the local poor. If someone has a need, they find a way for them to work for the ministry and earn wages. A pregnant woman sold bread to pay for her c-section, a boy washes dishes over break to pay for his school fees. We walked past many people every day to get to the library to do training, and only had 1 kid ask for “biscuits” (cookies), but no one asked for a handout! This is such a great way to aid with dignity! You could argue that the area has become dependent on the churches for things like schools and clinics, but when your government is not available to provide the basics, I am proud of and so impressed with the churches for stepping up.
Also, they are constantly looking for ways to benefit the community that is also income generating to help fund the mission. Brilliant little ladies.
Where one set of Sisters stay. Sorry, I can’t keep all the Catholic terminology straight. But, they have a garden, and some rabbits in the back.
Speaking of the government: I mentioned above the corruption in crossing the boarder. Another thing to notice, the roads aren’t paved at all. The drive from Arua, Uganda is paved quite nicely all the way until the border. Once you get on the other side with your visa, no more pavement. When Sarah asked Katie about what happens when people try and rise up for change, Katie said “They die.” She told us about a close friend of hers in another city who’s best friend poisoned for wanting to run for office for the opposition. Her friend himself also almost died second hand. Not to mention, multiple sets of power lines fell while we were there. Katie told us they’d probably get fixed around the next election, but until then not to plan on it. When we were returning home (on the paved roads in Uganda) we saw multiple power line poles being fixed/setup by teams of Ugandans.
Animals: I didn’t see much of any real wildlife, but goats and chickens roam all over, and the sisters have claimed multiple pet dogs and cats for their various buildings.
This goat really liked this spot outside our sleeping arrangements. It was a little terrifying when you didn’t notice him there.Someone’s goats grazing outside the libraryThis is Rex, he was a little skittish, but managed to wander into the library more than once.
The beautiful congolese kiddos. I don’t know what more to say, I just have to share photos.
This pantsless little guy ran to great us more than one morning. It is not unusual for the kids to kneel as a sign of respect when they greet you. I barely caught him this last time.I had to share it. It’s so universal. This is Mama Aroyo’s youngest.One morning we stopped by the preschool. Have you ever seen so many beautiful faces in one place?It was his birthday.
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Not so much a little kid, but he is looking suave modeling one of Totonga Bomoi’s ties.
Relaxation: Thankfully we always had at least a little downtime in the evenings. Sometimes meals with someone else, but often just the 3 of us, and often in the dark. (When your town doesn’t have it’s own power, your dependent on solar or generator, both of which cost some money to upkeep).
But on Sunday afternoon, we did manage to play some Mexican Train Dominos! People found it thrilling…
So, there it is. Africa continues to be new experience after new experience, and I am not sure I have the capacity to process it all very well currently. I will be honest and say that so far I haven’t been overwhelmed by the poverty. I don’t like poverty, I don’t want it to stick around, but I did not come away from DRC with a strong desire to donate all my stuff to charity. Maybe poverty was one of the few expectations I did have, maybe the “shelter” of the churches made it feel less harsh, maybe I saw so much hope in the future instead of despair, or maybe I’m just insensitive and have walls up right now. I’m not really sure. I did leave with a better understanding of what the people in the DRC face, but with still with a significant hope for their future. I have confidence that He is making it new.
The past 8 months have flown by! Recently I was asked how long I had been working with Yobel. When I took a minute and thought about it, I was shocked! I guess I can no longer use the “I’m new here” excuse.
I continue to be in awe of what God is doing through Yobel! Unfortunately, we had to postpone our trip to Burma to next spring, so I haven’t yet had the chance to experience a full business training experience myself. However, I continue to hear countless first hand stories, see the statistics, read the countless quotes, and watch the videos of people dancing, laughing, and rejoicing as they head to the next day of classes. Even without the personal experience, I am confident in the need for this unique curriculum, and it’s ability to transform individual lives and communities.
What your contributions have specifically done (a.k.a. what I have been working on):
I was a primary organizer for a 5k benefiting 7 local organizations restoring freedom and dignity in a variety of ways. I organized logo design, built a website, oversaw registration, among a plethora of smaller details. This first time event brought in a collective total of $12,934.67, with over 450 race participants.
Met with an SEO professional and created a basic plan in order to increase traffic to our websites, increasing online revenue.
As we seek to expand the reach of Yobel, we’re putting more efforts into wholesale. A major biannual project is to create the wholesale catalog. I take beautiful photographs and combine with clean design to create a seasonal catalog that gets customers excited about our products. I also created tags for our wholesale items to create a consistent look that tells the story of the artisans.
Aside from the catalog I also continue to do all of the photography for new products that we sell online or promote otherwise. I have also been organizing and updating photos taken while on trips.
I gave http://www.yobelmarket.com a simple but important update, and gave http://www.yobelinternational.org a total remake. As our director put it “You’ve made us look as legitimate as we actually are!” Having websites that look legitimate and have correct and pertinent information are incredibly important as we seek to expand our partnerships and general reach.
Additionally, I have created various promotional materials that are now made in office in a timely and affordable manner instead of having to outsource it all. This includes case studies, postcards, coupons, fliers, etc.
Below is our Case Study (designed by yours truly) for you to read more about what has happened this past year, read over the stats and quotes and remember that this is important. All of what I have done above has directly affected lives and communities in Pakistan, India, Uganda, Rwanda, Mexico, and Costa Rica (and next year, Southeast Asia!)
So again, THANK YOU for being a part of this with me, I can’t wait to see what happens next!
“I have learned personally to love God and others well and it will change everything about my life. I have (also) been inspired to start saving immediately! I will start with my garden at home, grow and grind casava and take to the local market to sell. I will save money so that I can grow my business and reach my personal goals.” -Florence Ilakut, 35 Uganda
“I believe entrepreneurial training within the developing world isn’t just valuable, it is necessary. This is an incredible way to set them up for personal and community wide growth. As well as re-instilling dignity and strong moral ethics in business for their countries to move toward self sustainability.” – Erin Ahern, Development Consultant and 2014 Rwanda Exposure Trip Participant
Well friends, I’ve recently taken a part time position with the non-profit Yobel International. This wasn’t a simple decision, I believe it was over 10 years in the making, and nearly a year in discerning. So, if you would appease me, take a few minutes to read about why I’m taking this leap of faith.
Almost exactly 10 years ago, my mom took me to Chile with a group from our church to help at a home for abused and abandoned girls. I distinctly remember my mom talking about how she wished they could help employ the older girls so they could start making money, gaining experience, and be more likely to graduate from the home with experience to thrive in the real world, instead of just ending up back on the streets and continuing the cycle. It seemed like an off-hand comment at the time, but I’ve never forgotten that concept, and over the past 4 years I’ve been involved with the non-profit Yobel International to help implement this very same idea around the world.
You may primarily know Yobel as a fair trade market. I want to be clear that if it was just a fair trade store I wouldn’t be going on staff with them. There is much to be said about the benefits of fair trade, but the part that is most inspiring to me, and that Yobel really is sharpening their focus on, is their business and entrepreneurial education curriculum, a basic intensive that includes budgets, savings plans, design, marketing, quality control and other concepts that they would otherwise never have the opportunity of acquiring. Yobel has a passion for not creating a business for people, but giving people in poverty stricken areas the tools and confidence to create their own job opportunities with their knowledge of their communities.This helps them feed and educate their families and transform their communities, and does so in a way where the people are given independence, dignity, and hope. As a result, women are ending family lines of prostitution, mothers are giving families hope for children’s futures, and men are ending chronic unemployment, all because they were given a simple education and the inspiration that they are capable. The curriculum is currently changing lives in Pakistan, India, Mexico, Costa Rica,and Uganda, and people in even more countries are hungry to be a part of it. I was able to see it first hand in Costa Rica and Juarez, MX this past year.
I could go on, there are countless awesome stories, but I should probably tell you where I fit in all of this. Yobel is undoubtedly growing, and in order to continue growing they need to add a part time staff member to help with their visual media and marketing in order to maintain and better connect with new partners and their growing supporter base. My skill set is crucial to this next phase of growth for Yobel and will enable Yobel to bring their business training to many more impoverished areas of the world.I’m excited about the opportunity to use my passion for photography and creativity, my education in communications, and my other experiences, to make tangible, sustainable change in the lives of people around the world. I can’t begin to express how honored I am to be a part of something I so strongly believe can change the face of poverty. We can either sit and keep Yobel stagnant where it is, or we can hop on board and invest in growth of Yobel to reach more and more people.
And here we are at the point where I humbly ask for your partnership. I’ll be working at Yobel for 20 hours a week, and in combination with Yobel International I only have to raise 50% of my part-time salary. I just have to get to $520 per month to reach the reasonable pay of $12 an hour, and to me this feels entirely attainable. Just 26 friends supporting me at $20 a month, 11 friends at $50 a month, or just 6 friends at $100 a month would have me more than covered! Then I could spend all of my time investing in the growth of Yobel instead of trying to raise support. Anything I raise beyond my goal will enable me to do even more work for Yobel!
If you’d like to be a part of the story of Yobel and me, but can’t commit to something every month, one-time gifts are of course very welcome. However, reliable monthly gifts best enable me to spend more time focusing on advancing the mission of Yobel instead of searching for additional support on monthly basis. To give, just go to this secure website and fill out your information if you’d like to use your credit card. Or, if you’d prefer to send a check, just mail it to Yobel International, 27 S Sierra Madre Colorado Springs, CO 80903 and put “Mattea Norman Support” in the memo line.
I don’t know the specifics of your current financial situation, but in the words of a friend of ours in Juarez, “no one is so poor that they cannot give.”
Mattea
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? ~Micah 6:8 NRSV
“In different times and in different ways, our heavenly Father offers us a simple proposition: Follow me beyond what you can control, beyond where your own strength and competencies can take you, and beyond what is affirmed or risked by the crowd — and you will experience me and my power and my wisdom and my love.” (Gary Haugen, Just Courage)
Mattea Does Yobel 