How does superman sleep at night? (By Dreaming Big)

Today’s blog post is a little more sober of a post than the last few. I hope that I can articulate some of the things that I’m feeling.

As a team we are involved in some pretty cool projects that are addressing needs and solving problems in innovative and exciting ways. Just a few of the projects that I’ve been involved in up to this point include: working to set up computer literacy courses sponsored by local businesses that benefit both the business and the students; working along with local university volunteers to plan and carry out an education week in one of the more rural communities; working with local and regional government to clean up and move a trash pile and create a better and more consistent pick up system; evaluating HIV education techniques among the Maasai and creating materials that are culturally sensitive and tailored to audiences who may not speak Swahili (let alone English). I have had a lot of fun with all of these, and working with our partners has both encouraged and educated me. Problem solving for each of these groups has come spontaneously (While I’m showering, or traveling) and often.

There’s one project though that has given me a lot of trouble. Utukufu is a group of ladies (about 50) and at least 2 men, who are HIV positive. 15 of them meet three times a week in an unfinished house (house is a generous word) in the only room with a cement floor where they receive education, share questions, stories and answers, and help each other feel that they’re not alone. Utukufu is the Swahili word for glory The group is lead by Goodluck a man in his 30’s who used to guide safari tours but quit, received training as an HIV counselor and started this group because it was something he wanted to do. He wants to start an orphanage too – and in addition to making house visits to all the Utukufu members whenever they are sick and bringing them food or taking them to the doctor, he also visits neighborhood orphans living with relatives to check up on them as well.

Up to this point in time, he has been doing all this with his dwindling savings. (Not the smartest plan financially) I think he hoped to find a rich sponsor to help keep it going. Obviously sponsoring isn’t the line of business that we’re in, but trying to figure out some way to help a group that doesn’t own a collective piece of land (they rent the meeting house for 10 bucks/month, and Goodluck lives in a single room in a nearby housing block) or any assets really has been difficult. The first time we met with the group they suggested things like helping them get a goat, or chickens, or a corn grinder, and I just couldn’t see how (or where, or who) any of these activities would be carried out and how they would be a sustainable source of income in a saturated market. I encouraged them to be creative.

As a team we struggled with this idea for a couple weeks before proposing in a group meeting that we have them create some sort of craft and market it as souvenirs to tourists with specific advertising that the proceeds will go to an HIV support group. It was an idea that I had brought up before but was not very confident in (I’m approached by at least four people a day selling souvenirs – it’s an already saturated market, and there is a low barrier to entry – what’s to prevent another similar organization to start marketing their charity bracelets?) but the team felt it was a good idea and we shared with the members of Utukufu. The ladies (and men – there is always at least one man and the team always reminds me it’s not just the ladies, but they are mostly ladies) discussed the idea back and forth bringing up problems and offering solutions. Should they hire an outsider to teach them craft making skills? No – some ladies in the group had prior experience and they had friends and relatives that they could go to for free. Who would pay for the transportation to go and learn the skills? “We pay on our own!” one lady said, “this is an investment in our education!” The lady with the craft making skills spoke up – would she be compensated for her time? Again the group responded – this was for the benefit of the Utukufu family – there would be no compensation as they worked together to help support themselves – and the lady agreed to teach for free.

It was a powerful thing to watch. Each of these ladies (and men!) had at some point in the past walked into a clinic and been told that they had tested positive for a disease that was incurable and would, at some point, cause their bodies to weaken to the point of death. Each of these ladies (and men) returned to the same government clinic every month to receive ARVs that sometimes made them sick but kept them alive. Yet when they sat talking about this idea in that small room, you could see them taking control of something again. I don’t want to make what we were doing with Utukufu sound overly dramatic – the group was established long before we showed up and the members helped and took strength from each other just by interacting – but watching them discuss the way in which they would take charge of the group financially was powerful.

…and intimidating. To me, this was just an idea. I still have no idea if it would work. It’s one thing for me to invest my time and money in an idea – I’ve got enough to spare. For these ladies discussing how they’d pay travel fees of twenty cents – the investments could cost them a days worth of food. And the investment in hope, the belief that this idea was so great and grand that it only could have been inspired of God (something one of the ladies said) was daunting. I did not sleep well that night.

But then, we got to work. Goodluck contacted vendors that he knew who added their opinion that the idea would work and agreed to market our product. We met with hotels who were open to selling the bracelets at their giftshops if they could see a sample of our work. Goodluck begin contacting more members of the group about their talents. And when we met again, instead of being unnerving, the faith these women had in the idea was inspiring. We started the meeting singing gospel songs – a call a repeat that lasted more than 20 minutes. The voices of each of the women suited the situation and the environment so perfectly that I would fail in any attempt to describe it. And they helped me to believe that this will work. With a little faith and a lot of work – you can beat HIV. You don’t need to be superman to do the superhuman.