It is 7:00 in Seattle. Jeana, Kelsey, Brianna and I are getting ready for our morning flight to Kenya. It is a new route for us so we are excited about seeing new airports.
This trip is very different for us. We are, as always scheduled to the last minute, but we are also looking at ways to improve how we provide services and evaluating the work that has already been done to know how to improve our methods. Continual process improvement!
Thank you for taking time to read our updates!!!
--Debra
Monday, December 30, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
HELLO.
Welcome to the blog of Tembo Trading Education Project.
Though Tembo Trading has been operating for over two years (and its co-founders have been doing humanitarian work much longer), this is its first introduction to the blogging world! And we couldn’t be more excited.
Tembo Trading Education Project is a small nonprofit, focusing on education and economic development in Kenya. Its co-founders, Debra and Jeana, are two incredible ladies who love fiercely and think large. After working in Kenya for over 10 years, they’ve encountered tremendous challenges in intercultural relations and rural development. But they’ve learned a lot along the way, and they’re eager to share stories of their humanitarian work.
Here, on the blog, we want to keep you in the loop about what we’re doing in Kenya and give you updates on the wonderful people we partner with. We also want to talk about other things too. Like the stifled questions that no one talks about. Questions like, “Are the West’s multi-billion dollar campaigns promising to end world poverty/hunger/AIDS doing anything?” Or, “How can I figure out if my charity organization is actually following through on their promises?”
They’re not popular or comfortable questions.
But our generation can handle it. I say this because I believe that the minds of this generation, more than any before, are searchers. We’re problem solvers. We try for the impossible, even when others tell us it can’t be done. We’re also deeply connected to each other, and that’s what makes us so effective in bringing change.
And our world desperately needs change. No matter how slight.
I’m hopeful.
So this is the start of a very real (and hopefully enlightening!) discussion about poverty and humanitarian assistance. We also want it to be a valuable resource to you. At the end of the day, we sincerely hope you (and families around the world) will be better for the conversations we start here.
So please, talk back. Feel free to ask questions. Challenge us—and each other. Also, be sure to give us feedback on past posts and suggestions for future posts. Whether you’ve come to our blog by accident or on purpose, we’re really glad you’re here.
Though Tembo Trading has been operating for over two years (and its co-founders have been doing humanitarian work much longer), this is its first introduction to the blogging world! And we couldn’t be more excited.
Tembo Trading Education Project is a small nonprofit, focusing on education and economic development in Kenya. Its co-founders, Debra and Jeana, are two incredible ladies who love fiercely and think large. After working in Kenya for over 10 years, they’ve encountered tremendous challenges in intercultural relations and rural development. But they’ve learned a lot along the way, and they’re eager to share stories of their humanitarian work.
Here, on the blog, we want to keep you in the loop about what we’re doing in Kenya and give you updates on the wonderful people we partner with. We also want to talk about other things too. Like the stifled questions that no one talks about. Questions like, “Are the West’s multi-billion dollar campaigns promising to end world poverty/hunger/AIDS doing anything?” Or, “How can I figure out if my charity organization is actually following through on their promises?”
They’re not popular or comfortable questions.
But our generation can handle it. I say this because I believe that the minds of this generation, more than any before, are searchers. We’re problem solvers. We try for the impossible, even when others tell us it can’t be done. We’re also deeply connected to each other, and that’s what makes us so effective in bringing change.
And our world desperately needs change. No matter how slight.
I’m hopeful.
So this is the start of a very real (and hopefully enlightening!) discussion about poverty and humanitarian assistance. We also want it to be a valuable resource to you. At the end of the day, we sincerely hope you (and families around the world) will be better for the conversations we start here.
So please, talk back. Feel free to ask questions. Challenge us—and each other. Also, be sure to give us feedback on past posts and suggestions for future posts. Whether you’ve come to our blog by accident or on purpose, we’re really glad you’re here.
-- Jenae
A Tembo Trading volunteer with an appetite to learn and travel for eternity.
Welcome, from Debra
Welcome to our blog!
We hope the thoughts and discussions you find here will be interesting to you, but more importantly we hope it will inspire you to follow your own dreams.
Maybe you've been told you need to follow your dreams many times and the whole experience has been exasperating.
I hope that doesn't stop you from reading.
And there are many reasonable arguments for not pursuing your dreams. Arguments like:
The problem is the word reasonable though. Dreams are not reasonable. They seem impossible until someone makes them a reality. Please keep these thought in mind as we travel down the road of sharing with you how we made our dream come true.
In fact, Jeana and I are still dreaming!
For many years I have watched the faces of starving people and wondered why do we continue working in developing nations with no improvement? I am not talking about natural disasters needing immediate aid. I am talking about generational poverty. I am talking about the creation of an international welfare system -- created by the very people wanting to alleviate the poverty in which these people exist.
I thought maybe I was missing something. When a process is not working or has not shown appreciable results in 50 years, maybe... just maybe... it's time to look at approaching the problem in a different manner. But in the humanitarian world, doing things differently isn't the way things are usually done.
Something else to consider: If you solve the issue of poverty, who will lose their job? How many consultants will not receive a contract for yet another study about the poor? How many more people will die before we realize our job is to serve others and not ourselves?
We will post articles from others working in developing nations along with commentaries from the people we work with in Kenya. We're going to talk about alternative ways of addressing poverty which we believe is a condition, not a cause.
We would like to hear from you, and we'd like you to join in our conversation. Together we can make a difference and we hope, through these posts, you'll find the courage to embark on your own journey to make your dream a reality.
There is nothing better than a happy soul!
-Debra
We hope the thoughts and discussions you find here will be interesting to you, but more importantly we hope it will inspire you to follow your own dreams.
Maybe you've been told you need to follow your dreams many times and the whole experience has been exasperating.
I hope that doesn't stop you from reading.
And there are many reasonable arguments for not pursuing your dreams. Arguments like:
I don't know where to start... or ... I don't have the knowledge... or ...I don't have the money... or ... I don't have the "whatever" it is I do not have!
The problem is the word reasonable though. Dreams are not reasonable. They seem impossible until someone makes them a reality. Please keep these thought in mind as we travel down the road of sharing with you how we made our dream come true.
In fact, Jeana and I are still dreaming!
For many years I have watched the faces of starving people and wondered why do we continue working in developing nations with no improvement? I am not talking about natural disasters needing immediate aid. I am talking about generational poverty. I am talking about the creation of an international welfare system -- created by the very people wanting to alleviate the poverty in which these people exist.
I thought maybe I was missing something. When a process is not working or has not shown appreciable results in 50 years, maybe... just maybe... it's time to look at approaching the problem in a different manner. But in the humanitarian world, doing things differently isn't the way things are usually done.
Something else to consider: If you solve the issue of poverty, who will lose their job? How many consultants will not receive a contract for yet another study about the poor? How many more people will die before we realize our job is to serve others and not ourselves?
We will post articles from others working in developing nations along with commentaries from the people we work with in Kenya. We're going to talk about alternative ways of addressing poverty which we believe is a condition, not a cause.
We would like to hear from you, and we'd like you to join in our conversation. Together we can make a difference and we hope, through these posts, you'll find the courage to embark on your own journey to make your dream a reality.
There is nothing better than a happy soul!
-Debra
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