Emma Wambui was a member of the 2010 Leadership Team. She recently was asked to share about her take on community development and wrote the following.
My name is Emma Muthoni. I am a 24 year old Kenyan born resident so I have enjoyed the perks and suffered the consequences of having a developing country as my motherland all my life. In November 2010, I met Natalie Finstad, an American born citizen who had just moved to Nairobi and was intent on bringing change to the poverty stricken slums of the Kenyan capital. Natalie was not only an inspiring leader (which she continues to be) but she also became a good friend and a great teacher. It was then that I became one of the eleven initial founders of Be the Change Kenya (BTCKE) in which Natalie was the director. After undergoing a Leadership Training developed by Marshall Ganz (Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government), I was well equipped to handle the tasks ahead of me.
My position in the organization was that of a Local Community Liaison and my responsibilities included but were not limited to organizing speaking opportunities for the organization,recruiting of volunteers for the organization and mobilizing donations. Working with such a young organization was both taxing and rewarding. I got to learn new things about my country and the world as well. I realised that it was possible for the world to sustain itself. That the resources needed for poverty eradication were available and all we needed was to get an efficient way to distribute these resources. Even though I am no longer engaged with the daily activities of BTCKE, which has now changed its name to Tatua Kenya, this is a gratifying experience I have carried with me since. It has not only made me a wiser human being but I am also more aware of the world around and beyond me.
TATUA 