April 2005
MINISTRY UPDATE – MAY 2005
- I Martin Simiyu, PA Founder and Ministry director returned to Kenya on April 3rd from the US to start the work of developing PA in Africa. I have settled in, worked through re-entry culture shock and settled down to work. I have a small apartment right by the beautiful Ngong Hills, about 1 hr drive from Nairobi.
- Most of April until now was committed to reconnecting with PA core contact persons in Kenya, re-evaluating our goals for 2005 and developing the budget.
- We are currently working with this team to keep the momentum to grow PA.
The Kenya Team
- I have had two major meetings with my Kenya core contacts. We have decided as a team to meet twice every month.
- The focus of these meetings is for me to help the growing team to understand PA vision, to pray and plan together for the future of the ministry.
- Our goal is to expand this group every time we meet. From this team we hope to recruit our Kenya leadership team by the end of this year.
- We are also planning to host a PA marketing meeting with about 100 young professionals. This will be mainly informational and recruiting event.
- My goal is to put in place a Kenya board of directors at the end of the year, representative of all the local stakeholders.
PA – Kenya
- I have started the process of registering PA Kenya. I am being helped by a young lawyer who works with a very reputable firm and is a core PA partner.
- The process in Kenya will be slightly slow because of a lot of government red-tapes. However we anticipate God’s favour all through.
- This will not slow our progress in our work. We will partner with churches and village communities that will give us legitimacy as we work.
The projects
- Namawanga community projects
- Namawanga community is serving as our pioneer and pilot community. They have proposed two projects that PA is joining them to establish & develop.
- My initial interaction with the community since returning was with 4 families and 4 youth leaders.
- Their initial projectis based on the dairy project proposal we had earlier received. Since meeting them about one month ago, they have come together, recruited 20 more families, elected their own leadership team, each family has contributed Kenya Shillings 200 (approx. 2.5 dollars) – this is a lot for those who live on less than 1 dollar a day. This is their sign of commitment to the project.
- The plan is that we help families to own a dairy cow which will provide milk for family use and small income through the sell of the surplus. This project can grow into a good economic venture for the greater community. As PA we want to help a number of initial families get a cow which costs about
25, 000 Kenya shillings. (With some additional project costs it will add up to about 345 dollars per farmer). We are praying to implement this in three phases as follows:
- Phase I – PA to provide the first 10 cows in June to jumpstart the process.
- Phase II – Provide the next 15 cows through the remaining months of the year as funds are made available.
- Phase III – Provide the next 25 cows early next year through a mission trip.
- This plan is based on my understanding that we have limited resources. Otherwise we could do more and at once.
- For every family that receives a cow, they will have the responsibility to mentor another needier family and give their first heifer to that family. This way the project will be self- sustaining so that at the end of 2006 we will stop giving cows to this community.
- Thereafter, PA may partner with them to advance this project further.
- The second project in Namawanga village has been proposed by a group of 20 young people in their 20s and it targets the youth. They have proposed a poultry project to raise and sell broilers and layers. Their plan is to start off this year with about 200 chicks. As the project grows and market is expanded they will recruit other young people to join and expand the project. It will cost about $ 1000 to establish this project. Additional funding will needed to advance the project in the next year
- Both of the projects are initiatives of the villagers. PA has only played the role of catalyst and will continue to help them access resources, education and encourage them to keep growing. Our process engages the community beyond giving them cows – we use transformational approaches.
- Our initial teams are people that are committed to a local church.
- We are also building in systems that ensure that all this happens in the context of our values of promoting responsibility, service and a clear plan for transforming the whole village.
- The success of these projects will encourage the villagers to consider other investments and will motivate them to keep working together for a better future. Such success will also motivate us to pursue other villages and teach us vital lessons as we enter into other villages in the future.
- Rurii Village project
- PA US board also received a proposal to help Rurii community which is coming together to build a high school.
- They have established the foundation for building four classrooms through contributions from local community members. Still need our support to finish the building of classrooms.
- Partnering with Rurii community is strategic for PA- Kenya’s recruiting efforts. It also meets a definite community need.
- I have visited the community to inspect the work. The community is one such place PA would love to have its fingerprints.
Involving local professionals
PA- Kenya is committed to involving local African professionals in serving their communities. We are planning a local mission trip in August to Namawanga village as a way of introducing some of the professionals to what we are about. Later we will do another to Rurii community. It is our goal that by next year African professionals will be contributing to these projects by their time, talents and treasures. However, in this year I will heavily rely on the support of PA USA as I endeavour to establish this ministry.
Other projects
- There are two other projects that are in the pipeline. These are:
- Village pastors get-together
- Christians campaigning for a godly constitution.
I have also started developing plans on the first possible international mission trip hopefully for December this year or early next year.
I implore your support as a team in helping me start strong in this year.
Humbly submitted by,
Martin Simiyu
Ministry Director, PA.
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