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Amanda Hayley, a summer intern with The Pangea Network, had the
This summer I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Kenya with Pangea’s Executive Director, Nicole Minor. It was a wonderful experience and I am excited to share it with other Pangea Network supporters. For just over a year, I have been an active volunteer in the organization and served as a student intern this summer. Stepping beyond our office in The Woodlands, Texas and into the physical lives of the women and children, who are the sole basis of The Pangea Network, brought significant meaning to my summer’s work. One of the primary purposes of the trip was for Pangea to bring together our three Nairobi cooperatives and two Western Kenya cooperatives for training workshops. This provided a wonderful opportunity for the groups to network, exchange ideas, and discuss their challenges and successes with one another. The focus of the workshops were on teambuilding, emphasizing the importance of communication and group cohesion. The women participated in a variety of activities that proved both successful and fun. Additionally we spent a number of days interviewing individual women from each cooperative, learning about their businesses, domestic lives, and the evolution of Kenya over the past three or four generations. Our travels took us to the over populated, hustle and bustle of Kenya’s capital and largest city, Nairobi and later to quaint rural villages in Western Kenya. In both environments I was exposed to extreme poverty and the hardships of survival. In the slums, I saw filth and squalor to a degree that is impossible to imagine unless you have seen it firsthand. The narrow dirt alleys are densely packed with street vendors and idlers, livestock and children run loose, and trash and sewage consume the landscape. The slums breed alcoholism and drug dependence with crime and domestic abuse being commonplace. But the women I met were courageous and resilient. They work hard to support their families and shield themselves and their children from the disruptive elements of slum life. The women were grateful for the life they have. Smiles and laughter came easily as they told me of their good health, strong faith and loving families.
Many of the women came to Nairobi in search of better job opportunities for themselves or their husbands, and almost all expressed a desire to return to their rural homelands if the economics were different. However, despite the harsh and polluted environment, most of the women believe the slums offered a better life because they are able to make money. The densely populated slums provide a market of thousands of people who need goods and services that is not available in the rural areas. I had the privilege of hearing Pangea’s women boast of their businesses and talk of how earning an income had brought new independence and control over their own lives, a satisfaction that nearly all were unwilling to sacrifice for the more agreeable country landscape. After experiencing the harsh living conditions of Nairobi, we drove eight hours west to the remote villages of Luanda and Ndere. The drive was mountainous and green. At times the road was lined with thick vegetation and then it would open up to wide fields were we saw baboons and zebra in the distance. I enjoyed Western Kenya very much. I liked the slower pace and open air. “Hotels” (small eateries that serve tea and fried bread), vegetable stands and schools line the unpaved roads and small homes made of mud and manure are scattered across the expansive land. Amenities are few and far between. I stayed three days without plumbing or electricity which was a humbling experience, but a good reminder of how easily I take commonplace things for granted.
The Pangea Network began working in the communities of Luanda and Ndere in the spring of 2011. There is a definite cultural and informational lag between the city centers and the isolated rural communities. I found the women in the Western Kenya cooperatives to be starved for knowledge and eager to better their lives. They were extremely appreciative that we had traveled such a long way to visit them, and I was very impressed by their dedication, discipline and commitment to The Pangea Network. There was one woman who was unable to attend, so she sent her teenage son in her place with strict instructions to take good notes. It was endearing to see the young man actively participating, asking questions and interacting with a room full of fifty other women. This was the first time Ndere and Luanda cooperatives were brought together. The neighboring groups worked well together and discussed plans for future partnership. The workshop gave Nicole and I an opportunity to assess the progress of the newly trained cooperatives, which exceeded our expectations. Due to their early success, Pangea has already distributed loans to both cooperatives for individual businesses as well as a group agriculture project. Local Pangea staff members traveled back to Western Kenya in late August for further training on loan distribution and mechanics. By most comparisons, Nairobi and rural Kenya are starkly different; however I found several commonalities connecting the two. In every woman I saw immense inner strength, perseverance, and a remarkable work ethic. Their days start early and end late, they tend to the household chores, take care of children, run their businesses and serve as the moral and financial support of their families. Unfortunately absence and idleness is all too common among men. The greatest similarity though was the abundance of love every mother shared with her children. During the fourteen interviews we conducted, without fail, every woman stated that her children were her happiness, their education was her pride and she deeply wanted them to enjoy a better life than hers. Throughout the trip, I also had the privilege of meeting many of the students sponsored through Pangea’s education program. It was very reassuring to know Pangea is investing in the future generation and help prevent the repetition of the poverty cycle. The immediate effects of the students’ schooling were evident and I know the future impact is greater than I can possibly comprehend. The young girls in our program, many just barely teenagers, have been sexually abused, abandoned, orphaned, and fought against premature marriage. The boys, seven brothers, watched their mother lose a battle to AIDS and have struggled with an absent father. Yet all the students were well adjusted in their schools and excelling academically. They all recognize what a wonderful educational opportunity they have been afforded and are dedicated to their studies, because they are able to imagine a future that is unfortunately unattainable to many. These boys will not grow up to be idle men and the girls will have choices beyond young motherhood. These students are aspiring lawyers, secretaries and business professionals. They are the future of their country.
The social, economic and political problems of Kenya are deep and complex. I can see how many aid workers might feel overwhelmed and frustrated, but development is taking place and I am happy to report that The Pangea Network is actively involved in positively shaping the lives of hundreds of women and children throughout Kenya. Seeing the works of Dorothy and Joshua, Pangea’s two Kenyan staff members, in action was extremely impressive. They are brilliant and selfless individuals. After spending a significant amount of time with Dorothy, the Kenya Country Director, I have full confidence that she has the capabilities and the heart to expand the breadth of the Pangea Network without sacrificing the grassroots mentality that I so admire in the organization. Dorothy and Joshua are intimately involved in the lives of every single woman in the Pangea cooperatives and currently serve as guardian figures to most of the students. With the passage of a new constitution in 2010 that supports women’s rights, the expansion of The Pangea Network throughout Kenya is more essential than ever. Pangea’s empowerment programs have already made a visible and lasting impact in just five short years. As a product of being connected to the social network provided by Pangea’s women’s cooperative, Ester, the owner of a vegetable stand, has shed all social inhibitions that used to burden her. She is now the most animated person I have ever met, and she had the biggest smile when she told me that through the savings and loan programs offered by “Pan-gee-a” she has now put a down payment on a plot of land near her rural homeland and has only one quarter more to pay until the plot is hers. Agnus, a small shop owner, has a dream of one day owning a large grocery store, and I have full trust that she will. She began selling Mendazis (fried bread) out of her house a few years back, she later expanded into other food items and her shop has doubled in size since Nicole last visited her in January of 2011. She was most gracious for all of the knowledge and training Pangea has provided her. Angeline, she had been living with the same man for twenty-seven years, and together they had five children, but they remained officially unmarried. Nearly a year and a half ago at International Women’s Day, Dorothy was lecturing the women on the importance of entering into a civil marriage in order to obtain legal rights to property and family finances, because many of the women are married under a traditional marriage not recognized by the state of Kenya. Angeline came and spoke with Dorothy after the day’s festivities to share her situation. Dorothy told Angeline to make marriage her “project,” have patience and work at it slowly and steadily. A year later, Angeline’s husband paid dowry so their marriage could be recognized by the village. The civil marriage ceremony is to be held the last weekend in August. I met Angeline and her husband and both were beaming like a young couple to be.
These are just three of the limitless stories I was able to take part in during my visit to Kenya. The future for Kenya is bright, and I can promise that the work Pangea is doing is significant and sincere. During my two week stay, I witnessed many difficult situations and was exposed to harsh realities that I am typically shielded from, but overall it has a very positive experience. I believe we can expand ourselves by stretching our comfort zones and enlarging our perspectives. As an American student, I often live in such comfort that it is so easy to forget the gravity of struggles so much of the world is faced with daily. My time in Kenya was a good reminder to constantly check myself and balance my life by investing in others. However, the greatest thing I took away from my two weeks in Kenya was confirmation that Pangea programs and projects are making an effective difference in the developing world. The Pangea Network is the definition of a grassroots organization, with staff members closely involved with every aspect of implementation and monitoring. I was able to see firsthand that The Pangea Network maintains a strong reputation in Kenya, and that our donations and support are reaching the hundreds of women and children and making a real difference in their lives.
Nicole Minor |
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