Reflection :: Interdependence Meets Independence

Tony Ngala, Tatua Community Organising Fellow in Madika, reflects on the relationship between independence and interdependence. Tony is leading a campaign in Madika to get parents to take responsibility for their kids going to school.  

I can not do it on my own, I need you.

It’s funny how that statement brings up the value of a person’s unique contribution, like a puzzle of 1000 pieces, each of our pieces is important to complete the big picture. Your time is also a key ingredient, you need to be there. we are interdependent.

On the other hand, this idea about showing up is core to ending an unhealthy dependency on others. I believe we all have the resources and capacity to change our own lives. We are independent.

The truth is, we each the resources to address challenges facing our children,  we can all do something. In fact, we can do more if we do this together. What do you want to change? What do we want to change?

Update :: Seeing the Challenge in Madika

James Njoroge, Tatua Community Organising Fellow in Madika, updates us on the campaign in Rongai to to get parents to take responsibility for their kids going to school.

Today most 1:1’s I did proved to me that most members in Kware want to point fingers and blame the government for some of the challenges facing them and their children. I took the chance to challenge them during our conversations and ask if there is anything they could do as individuals to change this. When asked that they gave me lots of answers.

I then asked if they would come together to work on this as community organising is about bring the community together, not just individuals. This showed me the common challenge in most of the community to not want to come together and forget their differences to make a difference.

VOTE! Natalie’s Excellence Earns Nomination for Most Valuable Organiser

Kenneth Chomba, Tatua Kenya Co-Founder and Field Manager, nominated Natalie for NOI’s Most Valuable Organiser because of her display of excellence. Read what Ken has to say about Natalie below and then vote for for her work with Tatua by clicking on the link and “liking” the page.

VOTE HERE: http://rootscamp.neworganizing.com/awards/2013/mvo/entry/natalie-finstad/

How the nominee exhibited excellence
Today, we just worked on our fundraising plan incorporating even the junior staff in the organization. Everyone took a role in the team and took a chunk of fundraising a percentage of the budget for 2014. As always, Natalie scheduled with everyone coaching sessions through the fund raising responsibilities that every one choose to make sure that we all achieved our goals and outcomes from the meeting. I find that a very strong value of excellence.

VOTE HERE: http://rootscamp.neworganizing.com/awards/2013/mvo/entry/natalie-finstad/

Natalie and Kenneth after Tatua Kenya’s 2013 Training

Reflection :: Lining the world up with truth

Tony Ngala, Tatua Community Organising Fellow in Mandika, reflects on his work of restoring truth in our world. Tony is leading a campaign in Mandika to get parents to take responsibility for their kids going to school.  

“Our work is lining the world up with truth.”

These words gave me strength during my coaching session with Ken and Natalie last week. The community has its foundations of lies, former encounters with “people” coming to fix the community that have lied to the community. The community has been disappointed by people who have promised to come back after taking a few videos, photographs, collecting a few documents about the groups in the community and then, leaving.

During my work of asking parents to come together and talk about the challenges facing our children it has been extremely hard to introduce myself as a member of the Tatua Kenya staff because of their perceptions of NGO’s. The push hard and then the truth looks bitter but I know my work is to offer a view of a new kind of NGO and to “line the world up with truth,” that is my work.

Follow this link to vote Natalie Finstad for Most Valuable Organiser in 2013 — http://rootscamp.neworganizing.com/awards/2013/mvo/entry/natalie-finstad/