A huge thank you goes out to all those who supported our Annual Seachange Christmas Lunch at The Royal Irish Yacht Club on Friday 25^th November 2011.

The lunch was attended by almost 80 supporters and friends of Seachange. 

The atmosphere was absolutely brilliant with fantastic entertainment provided by Barry Murphy and Tony Norton renowned Irish Tenor.

The venue is special and the welcome and service Seachange gets from the club brings us back there year after year. 

Everyone had such a good time and the support for and awareness raised about Seachange and our Microcredit projects was incredible.

The lunch also raised much needed funds which Seachange can now get to the poorest of the poor.

Below is an excerpt from a speech made at the lunch by Kate Dobbyn

“For those who don’t know about Seachange – Some years ago I joined a small band of guys who had come together as friends to help raise funds and awareness for Microcredit projects worldwide.  

The two projects Seachange currently supports are Jamii Bora in Kenya and Fonkoze in Haiti.  Both are ‘best practice’ Institutions at the leading edge of microfinance.

Microcredit is basically the extension of tiny loans to the world’s poorest – usually women – these loans allow them to start up a small business and to lift themselves out of extreme poverty with dignity.

Jamii Bora’s goal is that after 5 years in their microcredit programme all members will:

• ·       Be accumulating assets – even a penny a day
• ·       Know how to read, write and successfully manage their own businesses – education is key to change
• ·       Enrol all their school age children in school
• ·       Food on their table every day
• ·       Have a cement floor a tin roof and a toilet! 
• ·       Have the confidence to face their future whatever it holds

I have been to visit Jamii Bora in Nairobi twice. 

Both visits to Nairobi shook me to my core…… I know things are not great here in Ireland at the moment but you know we really don’t have any idea how bad things are there.

The slum dwellers of Nairobi are people who do not actually exist – they have no address – the slums do not appear on any map – most people are born and die in the slums….

My Friend Anne Daly, who is about to join the merry throng of Seachangers, came to Nairobi with me on my last visit and was blown away by how Jamii Bora works.  She plans another trip in the summer and is bringing her daughter with her this time.  You really have to see what is going on to believe it.  I hope some of my family and friends will be able to make a visit in the future – I think it is something everyone needs to bear witness to and be inspired by.

Ingrid Munro a wonderful Swedish woman with a passionate love of people a massive vision and a heart bursting with compassion founded Jamii Bora, the largest microfinance organisation in Kenya. 

Ingrid is a renowned and respected world leader and advocate of Microfinance in one of the poorest and most dangerous areas in Africa. 

Before founding Jamii Bora ‘Mama Ingrid’ as she is called had worked as an architect and town planner, worked with the UN for a time and also became head of the African Housing Fund.

She came upon an accident one day where a young beggar had been knocked down – Ingrid got him to hospital, arranged his medical treatment and subsequently adopted him.  She went on to and adopt his two brothers and that is how she first met the beggar women who were to become the first savers with Jamii Bora.

Jamii Bora which means Good Families is one big happy family now with a membership in excess of 350,000.

Anne and I attended the World Microcredit Summit in Spain a couple of weeks ago and listened to one speaker talking about how he was worried about the constant migration from rural to urban areas – all ‘wannabee’ Dick Whittington’s who don’t find paths paved with gold but invariably end up in the slums – he was worried about this trend and the negative effect it would have down the line for agriculture –

However Jamii Bora, always at the leading edge of microfinance is bucking the trend of migration to the cities and has built a town in Kaputei which will eventually house up to 10,000 – the vision is that there will be many more such towns around Kenya and other parts of Africa. 

Kaputei……….the dream of Ingrid Munro is self governing……….the towns people all who made it out of the slums and off the streets make all own materials for houses……………school………….they sanitize and treat their own water, they do business together, they teach, they plant their own gardens………………..grow own vegetables………..hey ! they can flush their own toilets……………..still very modest living by anyone’s standards but the stuff of fairy tales and dreams come true……………for them!

Anne and I were also amused/bemused at the Summit by the reporting of one three year study that kept the academics and bureaucrats busy and eventually concluded that the slums should from here on in be called “Informal Urban Developments” Let’s call a spade a shovel guys – whether you live in the slums or so called Informal Urban Developments – it is hell on earth!  

As the men are disenfranchised and there is no work the slums are rife with Crime…….gang warfare………….prostitution…..alcohol & jet fuel abuse and……….glue sniffing. 

But the women – my God what wonderful women – they are proud – they are resilient – they are warriors – they want only the best for their children and their faces are etched into our memories and hearts forever.

On my first trip over to Jamii Bora I met a man called Wilson who is now one of JB’s success stories – Wilson was a criminal who needed to steal to stay alive he explained to me that he used to say to himself that it was easier to imagine taking a bullet from the police rather than dying slowly of hunger and disease.  

He now has 5 thriving businesses but still most of his energy goes into discouraging other young men away from crime and encouraging them to join Jamii Bora – he was just one of so many inspirational members, now Jamii Bora mentors who are helping others to get out of extreme poverty.

Anyone who has visited the poorest areas of the world will attest to how it is a life changing experience and one not easily forgotten. 

Last year I spoke about “Chicken Head lady” and at the risk of repeating myself the story is a perfect example of how the microcredit model works.  She lived in a tin shed in Mathare and was the grandmother of six children.  They were now her responsibility as all her own family, sons and daughters had died from AIDS.  Daily she would walk four miles to a skip behind a butcher and carry home as many chicken heads as she could.  She would then stuff them with potato and make an enormous soup – this was her business.   On the day that I met her she had lost everything, there had been a fire in the slum and she took the children and ran away from the flames threatening her shed.  When she returned the shed was still standing but was completely empty.  All her belongings had been stolen by her neighbours

But she was a member of Jamii Bora she had been saving the takings of her chicken soup business towards that ‘great day’ when she and her grandchildren could leave Mathare and go to the country side to the town of Kaputei.

Because of her savings with Jamii Bora she was entitled to claim against Jamii Bora’s Disaster Insurance Fund.

A year later I found her again – she had made it out of the slums – there she was proud as punch standing at the front door of her house in Kaputei,  Number 6 , she had an address, this place was on a map, she belonged.  She recognized me and I her instantly. We hugged and she proudly showed me around her new palace.   All her grandchildren were in school that day!

Incidentally the monies made here today will go towards the feeding programme at the school in Kaputei each child who turns up for school is fed a modest meal of rice and beans but such a great help for their parents who are still struggling but in a much better place all round. 

Education is key to ensuring that the next generation do not have to suffer the indignity of extreme poverty like their parents before them.

I know things are really tough here in Ireland at the moment and things seem to be getting worse but you know………..the worst day you can possibly imagine here in Ireland would be a really good day in the slums of Nairobi or Haiti.

As well as loans through their many branches throughout Kenya the Jamii Bora member who is climbing the ladder out of poverty is entitled to Disaster Insurance and Health Insurance. 

Jamii Bora builds its own houses and runs its own school in Kaputei.  The Beggar Programme Tumaini also has its own residential home for orphaned beggars.  Jamii Bora runs a Business Academy and the residential Levuka Programme which helps rehabilitate those suffering from alcohol and drug dependency.

Jamii Bora is also reclaiming and replanting land and developing water wells in drought ridden Northern Kenya.  

Apart from all these things what Jamii Bora provides for its members is hope.   All the staff in Jamii Bora are recruited from the membership as they are the best mobilisers of those who have not yet started to climb the ladder out of extreme poverty. 

These staff members, now mentors, are uniquely qualified as they themselves have climbed out of poverty and learned to develop their own ‘Can Do’ attitude. 

In 1997 reported 7.6 million microloans were extended to the poorest of the poor

And now there’s even more good news – a record 137 Million of the World’s poorest received a microloan in 2010 -  so as the American’s say -  do the math…………there is a lot more good out there than bad……………..and there is a lot of hope.

Mohammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Foundation and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate closing the Microcredit Summit in Spain said “Our role is to ensure that the next generation does not suffer the same indignities as their parents due to extreme poverty”.

I wish to thank all those who support Seachange and help us to help and empower the poorest of the poor.  Thank you for Investing in Hope.  Jamii Bora represents the way forward out of extreme poverty.  You know it is only an accident of birth and geography that we are here and they are there…………these ‘Informal Urban Development Dwellers’ live and breathe and need and deserve their dignity as much as you and I

Jamii Bora can give them back their back their dignity and self respect but most of all their hope…………………. now there is a promise of possibilities with each new loan extended………….. …………………..now they can dare to dream…………..Thank you and have a very Happy Christmas from all at Seachange.

It’s been a long time coming but on Monday 31st of October 2011 former Saw Doctors drummer Johnny Donnelly will finally hang up his running shoes after completing his 64th marathon in 4 years. His remarkable feat has raised over €50,000 for Seachange foundation but the musician says that the Dublin marathon was the last of his running career.

‘I set myself the challenge when my youngest son Harry was born. He was sick and there were a few times that my wife Aisling, and I thought he wasn’t going to make it. That changed my whole outlook on things, because when you have a sick child, you put a real value on life’ he explained.

‘So I decided to make myself do something that I really didn’t want to do. I left the Saw Doctors because I didn’t like being away from my young family and that was the hardest part of all. I have four children and I’ve missed birthdays and big family occasions over the past four years and that has been tough.’

His most testing task to date was the infamous Marathon des Sables which saw him complete which saw him complete a 253km six day race under the blistering Sahara sun.

‘I had blisters, infections, and even fainted in the heat but being away from family so many times was the hardest’.

‘I never thought of myself as a great drummer or a great marathon runner, but I love to take up a challenge and trying to improve myself. I’m very proud of the difference we’ve made to peoples lives’ he said.

On behalf of all at Seachange just to say a big thank you to Johnny for creating awareness and funding of microcredit projects for our partners Fonkoze in Haiti and Jamii Bora in Kenya.

I recently returned from a 24 week internship with Fonkoze, a microfinance institution in Haiti. It is widely argued that microfinance is unable to serve the poorest members of a community and that microfinance can only be successful if it targets the “economically active poor”. While in Haiti I was working on a program that was tackling this idea, Chemen Lavi Miyò (CLM). The title means “Pathway to a Better Life” in English. This program actively targets the extremely poor women living in rural communities using Participatory Wealth Ranking. This system works with members of the community to highlight the different extremes of poverty and to target the poorest women within the community. CLM was created as recognition that standard microfinance was bypassing the extremely poor. CLM is an eighteen month program that focuses on providing assets, training, health services and confidence building rather than micro credit. At the end of the eighteen months it is hoped that the women will be ready to graduate into Fonkoze’s Ti Kredi (small credit) program where members will have access to small loans for the first time. CLM is a very hands on approach to development. The women who are selected, and agree, to be a part of the program receive two assets, from a choice of pigs, goats, chickens or a small commerce. As well as training for these new assets, members will receive weekly visits from a Case Manager who will provide advice and encouragement for these women during the eighteen month transition from extreme poverty into sustainable livelihoods.

During my six months in Haiti I had the opportunity to see how this program works first hand. I worked closely with Case Managers, who would trek through the mountainous central plateau of Haiti every week in order to visit the CLM members. The transition that is accomplished by these women is no small feat. Even during my limited time in Haiti I was taken aback by the achievements of these inspirational women. I had the great pleasure of meeting women who, in a short space of time, had gone from being marginalised within their own communities to becoming active members of those communities. These women, who only recently had been considered the poorest members of their communities, were now running their own successful micro enterprises. After my time with Fonkoze I have no doubt about the success this organisation has in fighting poverty in one of the poorest countries in the World.

I recently travelled to Nairobi with Dave Gribben and Barry Moylan two fellow directors of The Seachange Foundation an Irish Based Microcredit charity to witness first hand what our partners in Seachange – The Jamii Bora Foundation – are doing on the ground – I am home now safe and sound but wanted to share some of what I saw with you.

Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I have a very vivid imagination – this has been sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse – But not even in my wildest imaginings could I have prepared myself for what I saw in Nairobi . No human being should ever have to live in such conditions – Our visit to the Mathare slums was a virtual assault on the senses – I thought I was prepared for everything and was determined not to show any fear or upset – and I didnt until I was back in the car and on the way back to the hotel – then I had an utter and complete meltdown – as only I can do!!!!!!!!!!

Going in through a gap in the wooden fence that keeps ‘us away from them’ and ‘them away from us’ to the slum which houses 900 thousand people (its sister slum Kibera measures 2.5 km and houses 2 million!) my immediate sense was – Oh My Sweet Jesus this is Hades – I am walking through the mouth of Hades and into Hell on earth – the hoards of desperate people seemingly stunned into, at best apathy and at worst complete paralysis by their circumstances – they stared blankly at us and our two ‘armed guards’ – some seemed to plead silently to be ‘seen’ others regarded us with a mixture of disdain and anger and one or two looked at us with what appeared to be pure and unadulterated hatred in their eyes but maybe it was just pain – relentless pain, fatigue and suffering that they must endure day after wretched day. That was what my eyes saw!

My nose was at the same time assaulted by the revolting stench from the open sewers, unwashed bodies, rotting vegetables all mixed with the smell of charcoal and wood for cooking – but there was another all pervading sinister sweet smell that suggested something decaying, dark and putrefying and it seemed to permeate the entire area.

While my eyes and nose were taking all that in my ears seemed to go temporarily on strike as if to compensate for the sensorial overload I was experiencing with my eyes and nose – there was an eerie quiet to begin with and then the noise broke through and I was out of my trance and shocked back into the reality of where I was – kids crying and laughing – a drunken youth cursing at us, – chickens squawking – women hawking – dogs barking – all human and inhumane life was here.

At first I walked with my eyes cast down as I tried to avoid eye contact – I felt so guilty – so terribly guilty – then I reminded myself that it wasn’t about me or how this was making me feel – this was about them! This was a crazy dali-esque moving canvas and I was an inconsequential static droplet of paint hanging off the end of the picture.

I walked along trying to pick a path through rotting vegetables/plastic bags/used condoms and worse – the ground squelched up through my sandals – and then it dawned on me – I was paddling in human excrement and lots of it – the slime oozed through my toes and I gagged – the sour taste remaining in my mouth for the rest of the day and made momentarily worse when I met the woman who was boiling potato stuffed chicken heads and selling them to those who would buy – this was her living – and she proudly showed off her fare and explained how this was how she kept a ‘roof’ over her head – albeit a sheet of tin – someday maybe she could save enough and would get out of Mathare and with the help of Jamii Bora and afford a move to the town of Kaputei – her eyes held pride and the ‘promise of possibilities’ – I was mesmerized. She was one beautiful grandmother of 6 – her own family taken away all too soon by aids. Through an interpreter she explained that whilst trying to save the children from a fire which threatened her hovel the previous night she had gathered up most of her prize possessions – a filthy mattress/ a goat and other bits and pieces she valued – she put them outside the door of her tin roofed abode – only to return when the fire had been diverted and put out to find that her belongings had been stolen by her neighbours – but still her eyes held pride and the ‘promise of possibilities’. I touched and was touched by many during my Matharae walk and was drawn to kiss and hug this woman.

There is lots and lots more to tell and sometimes I find it hard to verbalize – I think that when I find my voice I will start and probably never stop.

For all that to see what The Jamii Bora Foundation is doing in the new town of Kaputei that the ‘members’ have built between them and to witness how far these ‘members’ have managed to climb the Jamii Bora ‘ladder of prosperity’ out of the slums and into the relative luxury of their own brick built house is nothing short of inspirational. Their homes are their castles – each 2 or 3 bedroom house has a front and back garden for planting vegetables and running water and all have their very own toilet! this is the stuff of fairy tales – more than they could have dreamt of whilst living in the slums – but no more than they or any human being deserves – and all it takes is money – you might say there isn’t a lot of that about right now and you would be right but you would be surprised to see how even a tiny bit of money can go such a long long way. Seachange (www.seachangefoundation.ie) are proud to be partnered with such a fantastic organization as Jamii Boro (www.jamiiborafoundation.com) and we were privileged to meet ‘Mama Ingrid’ (Ingrid Munro) the founder and CEO who continues to be such an inspiration to all those who meet her. She explains that the foundation helps all to ‘climb the ladder of prosperity’ some climb slowly and some climb fast but with Jamii Bora all climb!

These people need everything except pity, they do not need a ‘hand out’ they just need a ‘leg up’, chalk and copy books for the school in Kaputei – worn boots and soccer jerseys for the budding ‘Premier League’ soccer team in Kibera Town another slum we visited, they need help, guidance, someone to believe in them and Jamii Bora as an organization does this – what we need most for them is money. Look up the website to see what wonderful work is being done.

We met some of the most wonderful human beings on the planet, we met God in saints and sinners, warriors of fathers and mothers, wise and wonderful grandparents, wife beaters, murderers, thiefs and prostitutes who have all changed their lives around since becoming ‘members’ of Jamii Bora – each and every one of these people look forward not back – there is no shame about what they were but there is immense pride in what they have become and how far they have travelled.

My recollections are going to trickle out probably slowly over the next little while and I will walk slowly through them, my recollections are harrowing and humbling, awful, awesome and absolutely beautiful at the same time – there is hope to counter the desperation – there is beauty to counter the ugliness – there is belief and pride and a sense of moving forward.

I tried on my visit to be a ‘compassionate witness’ and not to appear shocked or to let it overwhelm me but I don’t think I will ever be the same again – I am so glad to have done it – I feel this is only the start of my journey with Seachange and Jamii Bora but for now I am also very glad to be home and even more glad that I have a home.

Kate Dobbyn

Director Seachange

Here is an update from Anne Hastings CEO of Fonkoze, the largest microfinance bank in Haiti on the success of a joint project with Seachange that has helped hundreds of Haitian families rebuild there shattered lives after the recent earthquake.

$54,000 was raised in different fundraising events in Ireland over the last few months to make this happened so big thank you to all who helped those who have no voice, the poorest of the poor.

‘As you may be aware, over 90% of Leogane, which was closest to the epicenter, was destroyed. Totally destroyed. Driving through it today is like driving through a war zone totally bombed out. Every time I pass through, I still find the devastation shocking.’

‘What we are doing for the women in Leogane who are members of Fonkoze is extraordinary, and they are so appreciative. First, we have given everyone a
cash grant of $128 so that they have a little something to ensure their shelter, typically in tents. Second, we cancelled the debt they had on the 12th of January, the day of the earthquake. We are meeting with each of them to understand their health – both psychological and physical – and to help them decide when they feel they will be ready to restart their business and perhaps take another loan.’

Here is how two women responded to the program:

Project Concept Note

ORGANIZATION NAME: Fondasyon Kole Zepol (Fonkoze)

LOCATION: Haiti

PROJECT DURATION: 3 months

The earthquake that occurred on 12 January 2010 in Haiti has led to the deaths of at least 220,000 persons, as yet unquantified personal injuries and colossal damage and destruction to both infrastructure and homes. Between 900,000 and 1,100,000 are homeless. According to the Shelter Cluster Strategic document, 200,000 of the people in need of shelter support are not currently in Portau Prince. 90 – 110,000 of them live with host families. The others are living in spontaneous settlements not too far from their destroyed houses.

Fonkoze is Haiti’s alternative bank for the poor, working to promote democracy in Haiti through economic development. With its 41 branches it reaches 45,000 women borrowers and over 200,000 microsavers throughout the country. Although Fonkoze has been affected by the earthquake – 5 staff members lost their lives and 8 offices were destroyed – the organization’s staff are doing all they can to provide services – including much needed remittance payments through 41 points of service throughout the country.

Staff members are also actively assessing the needs of the organizations’s member clients. We estimate about 5,000 of them lost their houses, and/or their businesses. They need urgent help to find shelter, feed themselves and their children, and restart the small commerce activity that enabled them to make a living. Restoring the activities of this network of women traders is also very important for Haiti’s economy as they are the backbone of the supply chain bringing food from the rural areas to the cities, and going back with essential imported goods to the most remote rural areas.

Before the earthquake hit, Fonkoze and its partner AIC (Alternative Insurance Company) were getting ready to implement an insurance product to protect clients from the impact of natural disasters. This initiative resulted from the experience both partners had responding to the needs of the 18,000 Fonkoze clients who had been affected by the series of hurricanes that hit Haiti in 2008. If this insurance product had been in place on the 12th of January 2010, Fonkoze clients would have been entitled to:

• forgiveness of the existing loan,
• 5,000 gourdes in cash to cover any immediate needs of the family,
• A new loan.

In the short term, this grant will enable 180 clients and their estimated 900 family members to cover their immediate needs for shelter and food, while restarting a small business. In the longer term, this grant will serve two purposes:

• It will contribute to restoring much needed supply chains in the Leogane area;
• It will also contribute to rollout of the AIC/Fonkoze catastrophic insurance product by:
• Providing Fonkoze with valuable information on the acceptability and operational model for the product;
• Sensitizing clients to the importance and usefulness of insurance.

The overall cost of the intervention is 79,405 USD. We request support for an amount of 52,775 USD. The money will be spent as follows:

The pupils of St Columbas girls national school in Douglas in Cork held a recent Skipathon, which raised nearly 6,000 euro for the earthquake survivors in Haiti.

Deputy principal Marie O Riordan said “I am really proud of you girls for making such an effort to raise so much money for these people.”

Paul Mitchell Chief Executive of Seachange Foundation paid a visit to the school to tell the girls of his experience of Haiti before the earthquake.

“Last year when I visited Haiti conditions were so bad as many of the people are living on less than 2 dollars a day and in extreme poverty so I just cant imagine what its like now after the earthquake”

He spent 3 hours with the students answering many questions from all the girls who just had such a feel care and concern for the plight of the people of Haiti.

“The compassion and genuine concern the girls had was just so refreshing and all us adults could learn so much from their selfless actions to help those less well off than themselves”