Every day I see my work and the future with more clarity

Tony (front) with other Tatua staff at a visit to Nyumbani Village-Kitui

I find working in the community exciting because you interact with such a diverse people. What gives me hope in my work is seeing the people in the community willingly helping and been a part of the Kanyerere campaign. I had conversation with some of the leaders of the campaign and for the first time they all appreciate that as interesting as community organizing, it is new to them. It has taken us so many meetings to identify the problem. We now know what our root cause is. Some parents are not responsible enough. As they put so much effort to fend for their families, the forget some of the other aspects of been a good parent. Taking care of their children. In order to solve this challenge, we have come up with a ‘parents watch group’. These parents will meet once a month, donate money, stationary, uniform, school bags, shoes and desks, all towards taking 50 children back to school in an year. The parents will also begin to develop a relationship with their children through school follow up with teachers, and well being with their children through daily 1:1 conversations. We believe if we got parents to sign up to this dynamic group, we would have a community with responsible parents. A community geared towards bringing up responsible children and generation.

 

Reflections of Transition- Natalie Finstad

Saying goodbye to something we love  is one of the hardest things to do. We try as much as we can, to do it with grace. Natalie shares a story of how she came to accept and think about her time spent here in Kenya  as Executive Director and Co-Founder of Tatua Kenya.

Natalie taking a break at a kids event in Ngong.

I began saying my goodbyes mid January.I was sitting on a rickety wood bench in Embu Kenya, peering into the eyes of my good friend Patrick. I told him, in about a year I’m going to be returning to America and I won’t be coming back for a bit. It would be sad, but I would come visit as much as I could. I started to cry, not big tears but soft tears of recognition that this phase of my life would end soon.Tatua Kenya is also preparing for this transition. We decided not to let loss hit us unprepared. Instead, we have taken the time to walk through how the organization will look, how it will be funded, what programs it will run etc etc. Some of those conversations are hard, it means coming to terms with the fact that we are all losing a really sweet phase of our life … but most of them are joyful. They are joyful because we can see how our time together has changed us and prepared us for the next phase of life. I’m really glad we’ve taken this time to embrace transition because it’s given me the time to recognize that joy and to choose to celebrate ever more so.

 

Reflection of Transition- Sarah Welch

Sarah Welch took lead during the transition process and took us through the decision making with a lot of patience. It was no easy task. She will be leaving us in the next one month but has played a great role in ensuring that the organization runs smoothly and that we have the support we need to attain our vision. Sarah shared her thoughts towards this process and our vision.

Natalie with Sarah during an event to set up Garden Sacks at a partner home, Nyumba ya Tumaini.

Building a new vision from ground up is quite an incredible process, taking a just world and breaking it down to concrete objectives that lead us forward. The Tatua staff has done an incredible job bringing together our ideas and changes we want to see, and pushing us to the next level. Starting from just a concept around building a just society, we have created goals, a staff structure that takes us there, and even a salary structure that leads us through our values. This process has been one of debate and discussion, as well as lots of looking forward and imagining what we can create. The beautiful aspect is coming up with tangible changes that reflect our values, and give us a larger sense of ourselves. We have a Tatua team that will lead us to a just society, changing community after community and I am excited to be a part of it! 

Ever been involved in a process to come up with a vision or goals? What was it like? How did you make decisions?