A Letter From An Intern In The Field

Insights from intern, Christine Stenton, after her time with Village of Love:

Christine(far right) plans with Village of Love volunteers how she will spend her time during her week long stay.

“For the past 5 months I have been living and working in Uganda as a Grassroots Capacity Building and Impact intern for the Canadian African Partnership Network and its partner CAP/AIDS Uganda. Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, and spend a week working with Kijiji Cha Upendo – a community-based organization and partner to the CAP Network that is located in the informal settlement of Kibera.

“I’ve seen first-hand how Kijiji Cha Upendo’s commitment to households of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) has a positive impact not only on the caregivers and children they support, but also the Kibera community at large. The fact that their office space is located within the same community they are serving is the first sign that Kijiji Cha Upendo’s work is right at the grassroots. The support and resources Kijiji Cha Upendo provides its beneficiaries takes the burden of school fees off of caregivers which helps them sustain the livelihoods of their families and to make investments in the growth of their businesses. This way, children are in school where they are supposed to be, and their caregivers are able to be self-sufficient and engaged in a larger community of support.

Christine visits Eunice’s tailoring business, along with volunteers, Grace and Leonora.“I was able to speak with several of Kijiji Cha Upendo’s beneficiaries and, as a result, I saw the reach of the impact that the tools and resources the organization equips them with can have on these OVC households in Kibera. Whether the caregiver’s income generating activities involve tailoring, selling charcoal, vegetables or other goods, the provision of basic entrepreneurial skills training and micro-loans avails resources to them so that they may build up their businesses and generate more of an income to provide for their families. These interest-free micro-loans have enabled many Kijiji Cha Upendo beneficiaries to access capital that would otherwise not be available to them.

Christine attending a Women’s Empowerment meeting.“Part of the caregivers’ commitment to being beneficiaries is to form a cooperative with other caregivers and attend bi-weekly meetings using Kijiji Cha Upendo’s office space. I had the opportunity to attend a few of these meetings during my visit and I got to learn more about the support the caregivers derive from being part of these groups. At every meeting, these women save together and take turns supplying sugar and soap to the group, ensuring that no household will go without. As a result, Kijiji Cha Upendo is not only promoting sustainable livelihoods, they are also strengthening community support and development.

“I could speak at length about the individual impact stories that I witnessed during my meetings and interviews with caregivers and children during my visit, but I think the biggest take away for me was the strength of the connection between Kijiji Cha Upendo’s team on the ground and the people they support. The frequency of the team’s follow-up visits to beneficiary households, schools and businesses is demonstrative of the community-based grassroots approach that Kijiji Cha Upendo is committed to, and of course it helps explain why their interventions continue to have a positive impact on the lives of OVC households in Kibera.

“As a friend of the Kijiji Cha Upendo team, I am grateful for those of you who continue to show your support for this small yet mighty organization as their efforts are doing such great things for so many”

Sincerely,

Christine.