“Sisters of Death”

Recently our local media house called NTV carried a fascinating investigation on how some women are selling their ARV’s after getting them for free from our government.  They called the story “SISTERS OF DEATH.”  For the sake of those who missed the story and our friends who do not live in Kenya, let me share with you the whole story.

I can say in Kenya we normally have a short cut for almost everything. If you cannot buy new clothes from the shop, then you can get them from the second hand shop at a cheaper price. Also if you cannot afford electricity, then you can buy kerosine for tin lamps to light your homes. But this time it did not go well with this group of women in one of our slums in Nairobi who normally make local brew for those who cannot afford the real beer or wine. These local brews are prepared by almost anything that can make it bitter. Some of this things are very poisonous to human health. One example is formalin, which is normally used on corps. So these women were on another mission to invent something that could “improve” (for worse) the taste of their “beer.”

Before long, they heard from different HIV patients complaining of dizziness (they called it getting drunk) after taking taking the drugs. They jumped into a conclusion that ARV’S  can actually make people drunk. The next day was to embark on a mission of buying ARV’S from patients and then to crush them to include in their beer as a new-discovered recipe. This business is now booming so much in our slums where people are extremely poor, according to the report.

When the people selling ARV’s were asked about the risk they were posing to their own health, it was the same old answer, “I am hungry, my children are hungry.”  Before we can blame them, understand the two choices they had to make: to eat or to take medication only.

This story is sad, but on the other hand it supports what we do at  CFA.  I am strongly convinced that the ARV’S don’t make people drunk, but those who were drunk must have taken the drugs on an empty stomach.  That is why at CFA we provide food supplement to our clients – in fact food takes a big percentage of our budget.  We realized that drugs taken on an empty stomach were hurting the clients most.

One day during one of the seminars that we normally conduct, a client collapsed.  Anybody who does not know would have thought that she was either drunk or very sick.  The truth was- she was just hungry.  She took ARV’s in the morning, but on an empty stomach.  After giving her food, she was back on her feet in less than 10 minutes, jumping around and praising God.  That is why we also give food during seminars.

One of our client called martin is a perfect example.  He joined our program when he had lost hope in life.  His main problem was poor diet, as you can see in this picture from the beginning of the program:

We introduced him to proper diet and counseling.  In less than 3 months his health improved drastically!  ARV’S without food is not enough.  See him at the graduation ceremony:

I want to encourage all the workers and CFA friends that our formula is working.  Peoples lives are changing, not just for one week or 9 months, but for good.  Thank you all for being part of CFA!

This is another example of the challenges facing our team in Kenya – please continue to pray for the workers in our centers who deal with issues like these every day!  See the full referenced video investigation here. Thank you for your support of Cornel and the rest of our team. 

No Excuses

Following is a post by Justin that originally appeared on the blog of the Willow Creek Association on August 23.  To see the original post, click here. Praise God  for the opportunity to share the story of CFA with a new audience!

In August 2006, at 18 years old, I attended my second Global Leadership Summit. As a college freshman, I was far from your typical attendee. I was returning to Vanderbilt in the fall for my sophomore year, and like most college students, I had a full academic, but more importantly, social calendar. Meanwhile, I was surrounded by a global audience of tens of thousands of pastors and professionals, most of whom already had a position of leadership. The mantra “lead where you are” seemed idealistic considering the scope of my influence, but I knew that one day God might call on me to lead, and I wanted to be ready.

Many will remember that 2006 conference by the interview that Bill Hybels conducted with Bono. That was my first exposure to the reality of HIV/AIDS in our world. I was captivated, intrigued, and saddened by the presentation. What was it going to take to awaken the local church to the urgency of this crisis? How many more people had to die prematurely without knowing the truth of the Gospel? Where would we even begin? More importantly, what could I do in my current position?

The following summer, four of us were on a plane to Kenya to shoot a documentary. Two Kenyans, Cornel Onyango and Duncan Kimani, met us as we disembarked the plane. It was a divine appointment that we got connected to these guys. These men were seminary trained pastors whose hearts were breaking for those living with HIV/AIDS. They believed that no one in Kenya was suffering – physically, emotionally, economically and spiritually – more than these people. It wasn’t until after a month in Kenya and 40 hours of raw footage had been captured that we realized it was really Cornel and Duncan’s story that needed to be told. These bold leaders didn’t need us to provide them with a ten-step strategic plan to address HIV/AIDS; they already had one, a brilliant one. The plan outlined how to activate local churches across the country to be the hands and feet of Christ to those suffering from this disease. What a novel idea! They just needed the partnership and support of the American church to make it a reality.

Upon returning from Kenya, we founded CARE for AIDS and began raising support to make this vision come to life. In the last five years, God used what little skills, knowledge, and resources we had and multiplied it to create huge impact. We have now cared for about 3,000 families living with HIV/AIDS through 14 local churches and witnessed nearly 600 first time professions of faith. Cornel and Duncan now lead our team of 40 Kenyan staff as we try to grow to meet the demand around us. If God can write that story with the leadership of an 18-year-old college sophomore, do not underestimate what he can do with you.

Many of you may just be looking forward to an escape from the pressures and uncertainty of the leadership in your church or workplace. For many of you, it may seem unrealistic to lead effectively where you are. You may have a million excuses. For me it was age, lack of experience, no resources, etc. For you it might be your boss, your team, your budget, your time, or your skills. I urge you to prepare yourself and pray with anticipation that God is going to use this Summit to be a catalyst for change.

Know that God can use you, where you are, to lead effectively.

No excuses.

Great Leaders CONNECT Pt. 2

I would like to continue elaborating on what it means for Great Leaders to CONNECT, if they want to succeed internationally. In my last blog, I wrote about how C stands for Communicate Effectively.

O is for Observe Culture. I think the characteristic of a leader that will make or break you in the long-term, is your ability to be a learner. When most people think of leadership, they think a specific position, like being a boss. In reality, it’s more about influence than position. And influence is based on your ability to connect. Internationally, your ability to connect depends on how well you observe the culture you are in. Observation means both watching and learning, as well as abiding by and complying within that culture.

When most people think of the difficulties of being overseas, they probably think of the challenges that come with adapting to the climate and different food. While those are certainly things to adapt to, I think the hardest things to adapt to are the norms, practices, and values of a culture. These cultural differences range from wedding ceremonies and how you eat food to what kind of clothes you wear and how you relate to other people. Being an American in Kenya can be difficult at times. For example, as an American I value timeliness, efficiency, and productivity. Without even knowing it, I sometimes value these over relationships and community. For example, in the office if a visitor comes by to visit the Kenyan staff, it does not matter what they are working on, everyone will put their work on hold to make that person feel welcome. Or when someone randomly stops by at a Kenyan’s house, it is not just to say hi. There is an expectation to take them in, have some tea and bread, and spend time together despite what they had going on before. That is just one example of how various values affect everyday life within a culture. And how you absolutely have to be able to adapt to that if you want to connect with those you lead and work with.

Let me clarify that I do not think leaders should change who they are or what they believe. I simply mean to say that you must be able to adapt to and understand cultural differences. I do think there is a line that differentiates cultural values and absolute values. There are certain Biblical values that I will never compromise or condone. With the norms and practices that are relative, as the saying goes, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”.

At the CFA kick-off event at a church in Kisumu, it is tradition to plant a tree for special events. Although I had no idea what I was doing, I was welcomed to step into that culture!

N is for Network Intentionally. Simply defined, networking is building connections and relationships, both personally and professionally. Networking is a normal part of most people’s lives. But I think it becomes even more crucial when you are living overseas. That is because you are more vulnerable being outside your comfort zone, new to the environment and people around you. Just networking will not be good enough, because the process takes time and hard work. To be wise, you must network intentionally. In a professional sense, it is useful for more than just fundraising. It means seeing gaps and finding people and organizations that can help you close them. For example, if you see a technology skill gap with the staff, find someone who can train the staff. In CARE for AIDS, we have noticed that we need to continue finding new and innovative ways to get clients jobs and employment. We are constantly searching for other organization that can help train clients in new skills and business creation. For example, we are able to partner with Equity Banks, a Kenyan bank, which helps train our clients in personal savings and finances. We have also found an organization called KickStart that is able to train the clients in good farming practices. Another relationship that has paid off tremendously is an organization Feeding Children Everywhere that has been able to provide us with over 150,000 meals of food for the clients!

In the personal sense, networking intentionally means having a support team around you. You should not live life alone, we were not meant to. Especially in leadership, you need friendship, accountability, and encouragement from others. Being intentional means finding people who can offer you those things. Find people who you can share life with, people who will be honest with you no matter what. Find someone who will keep you accountable. It’s easy to get caught up in our own ideas thinking we can save the world, without realizing the affect of our decisions on others. Learning to network intentionally will help you to be more effective and can keep you from being unproductive, wasting time, and trying to do too much alone.

Thanks to our partnership with Feeding Children Everywhere, we have over 600 boxes of meals which will be given to CFA clients.