We had these challenges too

Recently a friend asked about African culture, and specifically our Kenyan Social Entrepreneurs: “does their laid back attitude actually contribute to their poverty?” Now I know this friend well enough to know he was genuinely asking, not trying to pass judgment. In answer to this question, I present to you: a washing machine.

When I see that pile growing in my laundry basket I feel a dread come over me. I will have to budget time to address the burgeoning pile or risk wearing gym shorts as my underpants (not that I’ve ever done that).

I will have to throw the clothes in the washer, be around an hour later to move them to the dryer, and…the part I always screw up…remember to take them out of the dryer before they are a wrinkled mess (sorry honey). Oh ya…and folding. So, all in all about 30-45 minutes of work spread out over a 3 hour period.

Now let’s contrast this process with the work of a prototypical Kenyan social entrepreneur named Joy:

• Water: the more fortunate might have indoor plumbing which works 3 or 4 days out of the week. The less fortunate go to a community filling center, and can only purchase what they can carry (this is almost certainly a woman doing this work)
• Bucket or tub: pour the water in the tub
• Soap: If you’ve ever washed your clothes camping, you know hand washing isn’t glorious. There’s no hand-friendly organic soaps available, and you certainly can’t afford the luxury of gloves
• Hands: It strips your hands of oils, and getting out those tough spots requires more than a little elbow grease
• Drying & Folding: Drying is done on outdoor lines, which leaves clothes stiff…not to mention the rain conspires to set back the drying process several days

All in all, I have to guesstimate, a 6-8 hour process spread over 3 days. “Ok,” you say, “they have a harder time washing their clothes.” But this isn’t an isolated incident, this is every basic task of living

• Without online or telephone banking, going into town to check your bank balance could take 2-4 hours
• Getting to the market for food could be a 30 minute to 2 hour walk
• Preparing food over a charcoal fire, with most elements starting from “scratch” could take 1-2 hours
• If a child gets sick, and you can’t afford health care, everything else could go on hold for days

Now imagine you are trying to run a social venture with the rest of the time you have left? If you are trying to be productive and task-oriented, how long would you last? Is being strictly task-oriented unquestionably a good thing, even in our culture? The fact is, the utter lack of what we would consider “basic infrastructure” conspires to complicate every basic task.

Every time you throw some clothes in a rinse cycle, remember the cycle of poverty and ask yourself how you can responsibly intervene.

From time to time we like to draw attention to articles that add important perspective to the discussions of justice and poverty alleviation. This is not an endorsement of the viewpoints, but an endorsement of the importance of these discussions

The Wall Street Journal recently asked eight prominent philanthropists and NGO executives how they would spend $10 billion to achieve the biggest and longest-lasting impact on the world’s problems. All eight came up with great ideas, but the clear winner in my opinion came from leading Swedish businessman and philanthropist Percy Barnevik, who said he would use the money to unleash the entrepreneurship of the world’s poorest citizens.

My experience in Africa over the past 27 years has convinced me that this is the only way for people to break out of poverty. People are poor because they have no sustainable income. It’s as simple as that.

via allAfrica.com: Africa: Create Jobs in Continent, and All Else Will Follow.

On Friday, August 14th, 2009 we had the pleasure of partying with the incredible folks involved with pARTiclars, the Lafayette, CO Art Market.

It was an evening of celebration and conversation as we discussed the inspiring work of local artists in Colorado and the innovative poverty alleviation efforts of our community-based partners in Kenya.  It was a great night of fun and purpose!

The event raised over $400 for our efforts to break the cycle of poverty!!

Thank You pARTiculars for your advocacy, action, and activism!!!!

If you are ever in the Lafayette, CO area, please stop by pARTiculars, support local artists, and tell them that The 1010 Project sent you.

A young girl from the Quarry community helps with the evacuation.

On Thursday September 3rd, 2009 residents (over 10,000) of the Quarry community in Nairobi were forced to abandon their homes because of demolition and the threat of fire.

Quarry Community Evictions – Pictures of the evictions and evacuation

The 1010 Project’s community partner, Fair Oaks School & Redeemed Gospel Church, provided this email report:

They [vigilant group of young men who have been hired by private developer] released terror on the people and threatened to set a blaze the slum which has over 10,000 people and 3000 houses made of iron sheets including the church. The eviction and demolition came in at a time least expected because the notice given by the land owner was too short to allow anybody plan for the next move.  This is the most heart breaking and the most unfortunate thing that has ever happened to me and the church here at Quarry.  I am watching the walls and the roofs of the church go down and there is nothing much I can do because the owners of the premises have already sold out the property and they have demolished to build up their estates and other personal properties.  Our negotiations with the land owner were unfruitful even after lengthy consultations.

Hundreds of people living in this slum have been affected by the eviction for two nights now most of them have been spending nights in the cold. The church and the school have been affected. For two days running the school is closed and the church activities have been suspended.

Furthermore, Redeemed has been providing vocational training (compute skills, embroidery, tailoring) to young adults in the communities.  These critical services have been temporarily suspended as a result of the demolition.

The 1010 Project is working with Northside Christian Church to raise financial support for the reconstruction and rebuilding efforts.  If you would like to support this vibrant community and important project, please include in the special instructions section or memo line of your donation – “Redeemed Reconstruction”.