Dear Kiva Friends,
My name is Naomi Arron. Last fall I was a Kiva Fellow working with Kiva Field Partner, Action Now: Kenya (ANK). Although my stay was cut-short due to rising political tensions, working with founder and Executive Director Irene Kamau, I had the opportunity to be a part of a truly inspirational, grassroots microfinance initiative.
With the recent political violence in Kenya, the livelihoods of ANK’s clients, especially those living within the slums of Kibera and Kiambu, were destroyed. The violence led to the destruction of many of ANK’s clients’ businesses that were struggling to stabilize even before the violence erupted. Some were looted by the rioting crowds, while others were burnt down to the ground, leaving nothing behind. This destruction meant a great loss of livelihoods amongst people already in very difficult situations.
What struck me in hearing about all of this was that many of these people who were now without homes, without businesses, without livelihoods were people that I had met with only a month before. Meeting ANK’s clients, I was able to put not only a face to where the funds were going, but also a person, a family, a community through which the funds would permeate, infusing financial capital throughout. The Kiva loans these people had received had given them not only a financial opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty, but also had increased their drive, motivation, and self-confidence to persevere in spite of the financial, political, and social barriers they face on a daily basis.
After the violence erupted, I received emails from Irene and the ANK staff telling me that this ‘can-do’ spirit was broken. These emails described new challenges the violence had introduced to the slum dwellers of Nairobi and its surrounding areas. The stories were sad, and they were many. Irene emailed me project ideas to help ANK clients to gain at least some level of economic stability, but the organization could not go ahead with these projects until it could find funds to support them. It was at the same time that I had learned about Givemeaning.com and decided that it could be a great way to raise the needed funds.
For those of you that haven’t heard of it, Givemeaning.com is a website that allows individuals to post and donate funds to various causes worldwide. Similar to Kiva, on Givemeaning.com you can donate as much or as little as you want. My fundraising project is now up and running. I’d be grateful even if you did no more than take the time to read about it at
http://www.givemeaning.com/project/actionnowkenya
The goal of the project is two-fold. First, a portion of the funds raised will be used for emergency re-start-up microloans to those whose livelihoods were destroyed in the post-election violence. Second, the funds will be used for a cross-ethnic peace building campaign where ANK will make and provide t-shirts to clients loudly proclaiming “We are better together” – promoting peace and solidarity among the different tribes living within the slum areas. Irene will be emailing me photos of what the t-shirts will look like. I will post those on the Givemeaning.com project website as soon as I get them. I will also post photos of some of ANK’s clients.
All of the money raised on the Givemeaning.com site will go directly to ANK and ultimately its borrowers, regardless of if the $5000 goal is reached. The only fee will be to wire the funds directly into ANK’s bank account and I will take care of that separately. We have up until July 18th to raise the funds.
A generous supporter has said that they will match whatever amount is raised, up to $5000, by May 11th!!! - Mother’s Day across North America - “to celebrate/honor/ and remember my mom and for everybody else to do the same with their own”. So, if we can raise all the funds by May 11th, not only will the funds be used to help ANK's clients sooner, it will also be able to double the size of the project!!!I know that the Kiva Friends Forum has been involved in a number of fundraising efforts lately. And due to this I hesitated to post anything. But my deep caring for Irene and all the people I met through ANK and the aching and hope I feel for all of them have caused me to overcome my self-consciousness and compelled me to let you know about this project. I know that a number of you grew to feel a kind of personal connection with Irene and ANK because of the Mark Agwonah tragedy, and I decided, that there was nothing to lose in asking.
You can check out the Project Website to learn more about the details of the project and where the funds will be going. If you're interested, it would be great if you could spare a little something for those greatly affected by political violence Kenya...many of whom I have personally met and seen the great need for a little help to help themselves to maintain a sustainable livelihood. Also, I would appreciate it if you could pass along this website to anyone you think may be interested...
Project website:
http://www.givemeaning.com/project/actionnowkenyaFeel free to get in touch with me with any questions comments or concerns you may have regarding this fundraising project for Action Now: Kenya.
Thanks so much for reading this post!
In kindness,
Naomi
