June Impact 2014

IMPACT

JUNE 2014

EC ONOMI C SEL F - SUF F I C IENC Y

A FIRE WITHIN Kenyan father starts welding business

D

avid works hard each day in his workshop. He’s a welder, and in the Kenyan heat, wearing the heavy,

protective suit is stifling.

Despite the sweat dripping from his brow, David manages a big grin. He knows that by keeping at his trade, he brings his family closer to breaking out of poverty.

One of David’s children, 15-year-old Caleb, is sponsored through Unbound. Though Caleb considers David his father, David is actually his uncle. Caleb’s parents passed away when he was young, and David took in his nieces and nephew to raise as his own.

With a large family to take care of, David and his wife, Caroline, had their work cut out for them. Caroline worked at a local market selling fruits and vegetables, (continued)

DID YOU KNOW? Participants who traveled on an Unbound Awareness Trip have ranged in age from 6 to 92 years old. In 2015, we will host 28 trips in 14 countries. Visit unbound.org/trips for details.

From left: Caroline, Jane, David and Caleb.

Q

OVERHEARD “It opened my heart. It rekindled my faith. …

This trip changed my life and, in a way, may have saved my life in redirecting it in a much more positive direction.”

Tom Gagnon, Unbound sponsor and 2013 Philippines awareness trip participant

Small groups create

BIG SUCCESSES At Unbound, we believe in helping families become self-sufficient. Small groups, mostly made up of mothers, are a key part of that goal.

“In many communities where Unbound works, women are often marginalized and don’t have the same opportunities as men,” said Sara Asmussen, project specialist for Unbound-Kansas. “We have mothers groups to give women a voice in their communities and access to support David is a member of the Nguono mothers group, which helped him start his welding workshop. (continued from front)

to become economically self-sufficient

while David took the occasional jobs avail-

through microlending.

able at welding workshops around town.

Their income was minimal, and providing quality education for all their children

Because Caroline spent so much time at the market, she couldn’t attend the group meetings.

was one of the family’s biggest hurdles.

“I am a member of a support mothers

ily’s struggles. They invited the family to

group, although I am a man,” David said. “My

join Unbound and shortly after 4-year old

group is called Nguono group, and we have

Caleb was sponsored.

30 members. It is from this group that I was

“It is always a joy to us a

able to grow and

child

come

up

with

receives sponsor-

the idea of start-

ship,” said Anne

ing my welding

Musungu, a staff

workshop.”

member in Kenya.

David received a loan from

“All families that we serve are in dire need

the group to buy the equipment needed to

of a helping hand, and making a difference

start the workshop. Now, he is better able

in even one family gives us great joy.”

to provide for his family. Through his hard

One requirement of sponsorship is the family taking an active part in the

work, David is a positive male role model for his children.

program. In some projects this can include being part of a mothers group.

ilies work toward self-sufficiency. “[In Kenya,] fathers or male guardians may be permitted to participate in a mothers group when a mother or female guardian is unable to represent the family, but they’re not eligible for leadership roles.”

So David went instead.

Unbound staff in the area saw the fam-

when

and resources that will help their fam-

“My life and that of my family has become better thanks to the Unbound

As the name implies, these small

sponsorship,” David said. “I am grateful for

groups are typically made up of moth-

all the support they have accorded me and

ers. A main goal is to empower members

my family.”

Unbound’s small groups are organized in 43 projects spread across 20 of the 21 countries where we work.

The groups give parents of sponsored children access to a community of individuals all working to break poverty’s bonds. Group development initiatives and microfinance programs are among the opportunities available to the families.

Lillian Naka is the mothers group coordinator for Unbound in Nairobi, Kenya. She works with mothers on a daily basis and witnesses their struggles and triumphs.

When the groups started in Nairobi, the mothers said that meeting once a month and saving a dollar per person was too difficult, Lillian explained.

Now, the mothers eagerly join and some have asked to increase the amount of the monthly savings, which

The Kisumu project in Kenya has 101 small groups, in which more than 3,000 sponsored children are represented by a parent or guardian.

1 ELMWOOD AVE., KANSAS CITY, KS 66103

800.875.6564

is matched by Unbound.

“The idea of starting mothers groups,” Lillian said, “is to try to remove [families’] dependency on the

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program. We want them to be comfortable in the knowledge that even without Unbound, they will still be standing on their feet and depending on each other.”

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