It was an unprecedented presentation for me last night. 100 largely pictorial slides, 1 hour long followed by Qs & As for half an hour. A personal reflection of ten years of being actively involved in community development initiatives. We achieved much from very little:
a) Microfinance – over 500 beneficiaries
b) Skills Acquisition – over 100 youths
c) Language Classes on social media and development of a Language Learning (Kirikeni Okwein) App
e) Scholarships at primary, secondary and tertiary levels
f) Water Project
g) Agriculture Project
h) Renovation of health facility
j) Food Parcels in Covid-19 time
k) Community Internet Radio Station
There is this interesting verse in the Good Book, “Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me.” (Philippians 3:13) We achieved varying degrees of success and learnt some lessons from the last decade but it’s time to look forward to the next decade. Here are some lessons:
1. Do you want to give a fish or teach people to fish? It is okay to give a hungry person some food. However, helping people to acquire skills or helping them to earn a living to look after themselves and their families is so much better.
Remember the story of the star fish. At a Medical Mission, a woman who attended with mild abdominal pain ended up with emergency surgery for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. There were hundreds of people still unwell that day in the community but for her, the Mission was a life-saver.
3. There’s only so much voluntary organisations can achieve. Local, State and Federal Governments have the primary responsibility to address the social determinants of health. There is unimaginable mismanagement of resources by governments at all levels. Civil society and other relevant groups need to form viable networks to form a strong voice for advocacy and lobbying politicians and business leaders to ‘do the right thing’ – good governance and Corporate Social Responsibility respectively.
4. Think Technology because the Language App and the Internet Radio are definite game changers; reaching people all over the world with simple interventions.
5. Working Together is not an option but almost mandatory because ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’. Form viable networks and always find possibilities to get the benefits of working at scale even in humanitarian activities – this remains the reason why TransformTrust has been formed, for philanthropists to close ranks and share experiences in their efforts to take people from the realms of poverty towards transformed lives.
Abiye Hector-Goma is a GP based in Leeds, UK and serves as International Administrator of Wakirike Development Coalition.
