Creating Positive Change (Part 3) Unintended Impact

An example of Unintended Impact (part 3) David Kashakele



Part 3 - Unintended Impact
David was sponsored for secondary school by ZMF-C some years ago. I've spoken about him before....I can't help it. He is a humble man who has made good choices since he was a teenager. He is frequently on my mind, and in my prayers. He didn't qualify academically for college, but ....he has always had a passion to be a preacher and with much determination and persistence he graduated from SA Bible school recently. And now...he's the Bible teacher at Butale, a community close to Kalomo, where ZMF-C has contributed some funds. 

His Bible school training is unique! It's holistic approach prepares Bible teachers for community development. While David and I didn't have enough time to share together regarding his development material, it was evident that he was already "practicing" some of what he learned. He was making relationship with individual families within the community and "counselling" on a variety of topics such as budgeting and working together in community. 

There is much potential in David. And it wasn't imagined that David would come "full-circle" returning to ZMF-C in the capacity of Butale school Bible teacher.  This was an unintended impact. 

Sometimes unintended impact can be not so positive. ....As Tearfund notes: "For example, we may have held a community meeting where people have become angry. This may have stirred up conflict within the community. We should monitor and evaluate our project carefully for unintended impacts so that we can learn important lessons for the future. We can also celebrate and learn from unexpected positive impacts. (as with the David example!). 

So...in all things we can learn and grow....whether positive or negative. We are grateful for organizations such as Tearfund who are eager to serve in the capacity of further equipping Christian relief and development organizations. 

Look them up: Tearfund 

Creating Positive Change (part 2)

Mandela is quoted much.....what do you think of his wisdom? 

Education is important - for the child, the adult and the community. 

Tearfund goes on to say:

Plan well: Once we know what needs to be changed, it can be tempting to rush ahead and start work. HOWEVER, we need to take TIME to think carefully about HOW exactly to bring about that change. Change can be messy and complicated, and good planning means we are less likely to experience fewer problems....especially in the long run. 

We need to consider who will be affected, who could influence it. And we need to consider any risks that the project may involve and how to minimize those. 

Monitoring and Evaluating our work: It is VITAL to m & e.  Monitoring and evaluation planning needs to start during the design stage of the project. 

Monitoring is the ongoing process of gathering information throughout a project. It allows us to identify any problems early on, providing us with an opportunity to make any changes required. It also shows us how much progress we are making towards our goals. It answers the question, "How well are we doing?"

Evaluation is carried out at the end of project or program, but sometimes also mid-way. This is how we analyze the changes our work has created and how likely they are to last. Evaluation answers the question, "What difference have we made?"

We will never get it perfectly right! But by reflecting on our actions, we can celebrate and build on what has worked well and learn from what has gone less well. This allows us, and others to learn from our experience. 

Which brings me to.... encouraging you to watch this Ted Talk: When an NGO fails. 

Tearfund on Creating Positive Change (part 1)

Meeting with the parents at Kalomo Secondary School

Each term, Mrs. Mbumwae meets with all the parents to educate the parents on their role in helping their "children". Children are congratulated or "encouraged" as their last terms' academic report results are announced. One proud village mama was given a loud clap "offering" following the announcement of 
her son's extremely high results!   

Parents are encouraged to know how their son/daughter/niece, nephew/dependent is doing in school. They are encouraged to come a few times to the school to meet the teacher, bring a treat for them, say some words of appreciation.   

All of these steps are adding up to more informed and involved parents and better academic results for the kids! 

Augustine and granny

Augustine and Granny! 

Augustine is almost finished Secondary School! His granny is his support. She ensures she's at the "parents meeting" as organized by the sponsorship manager, Mrs. Mbumwae. She is dedicated - and with her love and commitment to her grandson, she should be well cared for in the next few years! Praise God, for her and for her vision to see her grandson through these years. Praise God for a sponsor to help this family. 

Josephine becoming healthier and learning to sew

A few years ago we looked after Josephine and Geoffrey's "baby" Abraham as Josephine was VERY ill and Geoffrey was attempting to care for her and the other children - as well as do "piece work". Abraham was EVERYONE's favorite baby - he had the best smile - that is after her "got over" being away from his family. (It was VERY hard for Abraham to be away from his family) but once the new meds starting working for Josephine, Abraham was back home - even though Josephine still had quite a long way to go. 

Today....Josephine has a sewing machine, has learned to do some basic "tailoring" and she is SO healthy. And Abraham....he's a big boy, now is pre-school. He's so smart!! 

Dependency

Poverty is.....well, I'll let you define that! Most of us will autopilot to material poverty. If that's the definition, then the solution must be to send more stuff! If the definition is broader than that, then....that is a bit more complex.  

I invite you to explore this DVD - available on Amazon and even seen on Netflix. 

It is difficult to know how to work among the poor, and even more difficult to apply what might be best once you have a slight idea of what you are doing.  

Walking with the Poor by Bryant Myers nails it well as well as the information by Steven Corbett and Brian Fikkert.   And there are many other resources once you start looking carefully and closely. 


 

Babilon Kajolo (in background) and David Kashakele  

Babilon is the roving Bible teacher, sponsored by ZMF-C. He also supervises the Seed and Fertilizer program. Babilon and his wife have a small farm not far from Kalomo. They have 4 children (I think!). One of them is Nester, who is just finishing college at George Benson Christian College. 

While Babilon never had college opportunity such as Nester, Babilon and his wife were able to learn together at a Bible College in South Africa. Babilon can be described as patient, hardworking and steady. Calming, in fact. 

David was a sponsored student as a high school boy. He went on to become a mechanic, a good mechanic but his passion has ALWAYS been to go to Bible College and be a Bible teacher! Praise God as that is exactly what happened. Amazing how God works, isn't it? And...he is now being paid by ZMF-C as a Bible teacher at a community school! 

Babilon and David are making the spiritual difference that Zambia needs (actually, our country could also benefit by guys like these who dedicate their lives to helping others understand who they are in God). 

At Bible school David also learned community development training. We are excited to see what a difference that could make for the communities where God will place him. As well, David's wife, Lena was able to learn how to teach pre-school! 

It's a VERY wet rainy season this year! We were stuck too many times! And then the tractor got stuck. Reminds me of one of my favourite "country" songs by CorbLund.

We came down this road on our bicycles more than a few times - they don't get stuck! Our rubbers got lots of use! 

And how is the maize? Some areas looked great, others...not so great because the fertilizer just keeps on getting washed through. 

 

Most Significant Change stories

While in Zambia, a few weeks ago, the board members, agents and a few of the staff participated in the "Most Significant Change" activity, a technique learned through my Colorado State University "Village Earth" classes. The purpose is to celebrate success. It simply involves group sharing of changes that have taken place within the community as a result of a project. 

In this case, each participant was asked to write a brief story illustrating a significant change and then share together, one by one, our experiences. It was a time of reflecting on what has gone right and where we can strive to strengthen what works.  

So...over the next few blogs I will share some of these stories. 

Timmy Mbambiko (background guy!) entered the sponsorship program while in primary school. The sponsorship program manager had seen Timmy eating discarded food from the nearby secondary school. He was living with his grandmother and they were hungry! As well, Timmy wanted education so badly that he was sneaking into a classroom hoping not to be noticed, since he couldn't afford to pay his school fees. Someone did notice! 

Mrs. Mbumwae paid his fees and Timmy faithfully attended school and now Timmy has finished his college education and is a teacher at the same school he was scrounging food from! Praise God! 

And the other guy in the photo, ...Brivery, also a motivated sponsored student, completed his Masters degree studies just the other day in Cameroon in Development Studies. These are very significant changes in their lives and in the lives of their families. 

Families are important!
Photo on the left:
Lillian, grandmother of Madrine is eager to have the g/children educated! She's been keeping Madrine for many years and Richard and I had the pleasure of "teaching" Madrine a few years ago when she was in grade 6. Twice a week we'd head out to Siabalumbi to practice "literacy" by reading, spelling, and most of all making relationship with the kids.

Madrine is 17 years old. Madrine does not have contact with her mother. Lillian cares for 4 grandchildren and just shortly after we left Zambia her husband died after being sick for a few years. Madrine was the only girl pupil at Siabalumbi School who qualified academically for boarding school. When Madrine grows up she’d like to be a teacher. Well done Madrine and Lillian! Lillian is a hard working woman who is keenly interested in community! Blessings on her as she now moves through another difficult chapter of her life.

Photo on the right:
Coiment and Clement - Clement and Coiment lives with their mom, step-dad, 4 younger brothers and 3 sisters as well as 3 cousins (or step-siblings) at Kaleya village, near Seven Fountains Farm. Neither parent has steady employment, but do “piece work” at other people’s farms.

Clement relied on an uncle to pay school fees for most of the way through school, but the uncle is now unable to continue. His biological father has never assisted Clement with school fees. Clement does some piece work at nearby farms to raise a bit of money for himself during holiday times. Clement says he’d like to be a pilot when he grows up.

 Coiment looked after cattle at their farm on the holidays as well watered gardens to help pay for school supplies. Coiment would like to become a medical doctor when he grows up. He expresses much appreciation for sponsorship. 

Back to Zambia 2017

The next day....after the lengthy flights, it was registration day for the new 2017 sponsored students! Selected students (pupils) and parents/guardian and church leader meet with the program manager, Ruhtt Mbumbwae to ensure "all protocol" is completed. i.e. The official application form which the child and family describes why sponsorship is needed and reference letters from community leaders.  As well, each pupil must write as much detail as they can about their family so that the donors can have a better understanding of village life and the all too common need for sponsorship. 

Photo above: Mandelena, mom of Catherine Phiri in grade 10 at Kalomo Secondary School. 

Mandelena has been a widow for many years and my friend for the past several years. Mandelena worked for Kasensa with the orphanage, and she is still working at Kasensa, but in a cleaning position. Catherine is the last of several children that Mandelina will need to get through school. Sons, Aaron and Emmanuel are also in sponsorship and 2 other daughters were not able to complete school.  

This time of year is always especially challenging for Mandelena because as mom, she still provides shoes, school supplies, and all the other necessities! But....she is VERY grateful that at least the school fees are mostly paid for! She appreciates and encourages her kids to work hard!