The warriors for good

It all started a warm autumn morning in Africa. I can´t quite remember why we decided to go to Makuyu. Makuyu appeared in my life way before I even knew it existed. Alvaro, my friend, decided to go to Kenya as a volunteer. He fell in love with the country but lived a bad experience at the orphanage he was working in. As the weeks went by, he realised something strange was happening; the prices the volunteers payed for accomodation were too high and the children didn't need as much money. He questioned Joffrey, who was the person in charge of the orphanage. Joffrey didn't like Alvaro's questions so he ''invited'' him to leave the orphanage. Alvaro found himself in the middle of an african field thanks to a corrupt man who stole money from orphans. 

The team: 

ERIC CHALO: Born and raised in Kenya, wrote the truth in order to help. The one and only ERICMAN. 

ALVARO MUTUKU: Kenyan by heart, thanks to him, the life of many people is going to change for better. 

PABLO MUTUA: Rastaman who likes whatever makes the world a better place and hates whatever makes it worse. 

MARIA FERREIRA: A Spanish with an impressive curriculum. Graduated from Drama School, Maria writes on a web page. She studies psychology, funded the Karibuni Kenya asociation, works in the Coptic hospital of Nairobi and in her free time challenges Waldo at mathematical problems. 

WALDO: Tall, with a beard and thin face. Diagnosed with Asperger's, he is incredibly smart when it comes to computers and has studied biological engineering, but has social difficulties when it comes to mantaining relationships with others. Waldo was our driver. The other four occupants of that rented car, knew that Joffrey was a corrupt man. I was a guest. Our mission changed as the day went by... 

We had arrived at the main gate through a beautiful road surrounded by intense green vegetation. It had an only direction. We parked and Eric stayed in the car. 

Once inside, our job was to ask and record. From the first moment, Joffrey realised that our go pro was a camera and Waldo's useless intents to try and explain that it was a camera charger, and that the real camera was in the car, were completely ignored by Joffrey. His wife appeared and things started to drift towards the violent side...he threw us out like he had thrown Alvaro out three years ago. 

Once outside the main gate, he went crazy. Waldo was still recording the whole situation whilst we talked to the camera to record our feelings and impressions. Joffrey decided to take the camera and throw it into the car which was facing him with Eric sitting in the back. We didn't object at first..but quickly changed our opinion when he didn't let us get into the car. 

When Alvaro said ''Joffrey, do you want me to hit you?'' while pushing him, Joffrey came to the front of the car, armed, and took the keys out of the ignition. Waldo faught with him whilst we all waited for him to start the engine. Joffrey was paralised and at that moment Alvaro and I got out of the car to try and take advantage of this moment and move him away from the car. Joffrey, meanwhile, shouted at his ''soldier'' to get the pistol out. 

We ran back into the car terrorised by the possibility of being shot, whilst our invisible shield guarded us from all the stones Joffrey was throwing at us. We got into the car and with the engine on we were all witnesses of how Joffrey broke our front windshield! We drove backwards and into a bush. With the car stuck and Joffrey running towards us wanting to finish the job, panic overwhelmed the car and the silence was broken with us shouting at Waldo to START THE CAR! 

Waldo turned the engine on and didn't brake. He wanted to run over Joffrey and end the problem for ever. However he managed to hear himself (I'm sure his thoughts were much louder than the shouts coming from us) and he stopped. 

Backwards, we managed to get out of the road and decided to go to the police... 

We thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to go to Makuyu police because Joffrey could have friends in the service so we decided to go to Nairobi. After a long wait at the police station, we managed to get one policeman to listen to us, but he told us to go to a police station nearer to Makuyu. They told us not to wait until tomorrow, so we drove two hours back to Makuyu, and arrived at the police station where we were attended by a woman who paid no attention to us, another woman who thought we were acusing the Makuyu police of corruption and a third officer who listened to us but thinks its not important enough to take care of today. Then the chief appeared, who, whilst looking at his phone, tried to understand our story without being able to actually listen because he was too drunk. We were going to leave, but the same woman who complained about out corruption acusations, demanded 60euros from us. We left and slept in our beds. Waldo and I discussed about religion during the three hour drive back. 

Two flags waved at the end of the room that offered us views of the rich Nairobi. The spanish consul was very polite and intelligent and she gave us her opinion; to leave justice in Spain and the truth for us. She used other words, ofcourse. 

This has been the first story of the warriors for good. In this chapter, Evil has been victorious, but some of the best warriors for good have come together to find the way to defeat it. 

Rumours say that the GOOD is starting to come out of the people and that we are recruting WARRIORS to fight. I have faith. 

''Back to the battle'', as my father says every morning after breakfast... 

Pablo Pérez de Miguel

Landing in Kibera

'Happinnes is felt interiorly, not exteriorly, and therefore it doesn't depend on what we have, but on what we are.''

It seems convenient to begin my story with this sentence as this feeling invades my mind and my heart with a stronger force each day. Throughout the years, I have commited multiple errors that have made me suffer and made others suffer, when, really, my biggest problem was the absence of happinness. Having everything is not being happy. Happinnes is only felt with small things.

My first day, walking through the streets of Kibera, I felt a hole in my heart seeing the extreme poverty in which these people live in, even though their situation is of little or no importance to them. They fight only to overcome each day, always keeping a smile on their face. They have taken me into their culture, into their life, even into their house (a small room made of adobe which they call house). It´s impossible not to appreciate the kind and generous gesture they make when they offer me a plate of food, as simple as ''matoke'' (bananas, potatoes, tomato and onion) which for them is a luxury and which only costs one euro. It's incredible to discover that those who have less are the most generous. Without having anything, they have given me more than anyone will ever give me. It also amazes me to see how they walk through rivers of feaces or between mountains of rubbish, which must weigh a ton, just to look for anything that may give them a few coins to last for the week. Rusty nails, pieces of plastic or even broken shoes that can be sold on the street. Knowing that children choose to sniff glue in order to escape their daily hunger as it's cheaper than a simple plate of rice, makes your heart shrink. 

They live under inhuman conditions and meanwhile, in other parts of the world, other people are drinking champagne which has a price that could feed a whole family; sad, but true. 

This makes me give thanks to God for the family I grew up with and especially, for the luxuries with which I've lived, although I must say; always eductated to be generous and respectful to others, as we are priviledged to have what we have.

To help these people it isn't necessary to come here and see the suffering first hand. What IS necessary is that we ALL are aware of this situation and that we ALL contribute to erradicate this human punishment. If you think about it, any one of us could have been living in this situation. 

To blind eyes; all human beings are the same in body, lets make it possible for them to also have a minimum of dignity, eating and living conditions.

Coco Diaz Merlo

Take a walk on the wild side

Lou Reed’s recent death made me listen to some of his most famous songs, including, of course, “Walk on the wild side”. This song got me thinking about the decisions I had taken in my life.

Since we decided to start “Mas Por Ellos”, I can´t stop thinking about the life-changing decision we took in Alvaro’s terrace while having some beers. That decision was our own walk on the wild side. When we started this project we couldn’t help but feel the anxiety and excitement of those who face the uncertain of taking their first steps. Now our project has started to bear fruit and day by day we continue developing “Mas Por Ellos”.

Every now in a while I think it is worthwhile to look back and assess the path we have walked, the decisions we’ve taken. At the end of the day, those decisions lead us to where we are today. The decision to start “Mas Por Ellos” was a decision to walk on the wild side. The walk on the wild side that will enable us to achieve our dreams. 

When I look back on the steps we have taken, I feel proud of the effort done by each and every member of the group; the intense debates, the discussions, the all-nighters, the time stolen from friends, families and boy/girlfriends. But above all, I value the work done by others. Others that decided to start their own walk on the wild side and can proudly look back on their path and see their impact along the way.

“Mas Por Ellos” is just starting to develop but we are lucky to be building our own walk on the wild side. This walk will lead us to complicated places and situations but it will also set us free. We will enjoy every step of our journey, a journey which we can truly call our own.

I believe that in life we should all step out of our comfort zone and take a walk on the wild side. We took that decision some months ago and we can now say without any doubt, it was the best decision. In the world there are many paths that lead to amazing places, but they are all overcrowded. What’s really interesting is the journey itself. It’s the journey that’s going to determine how much you value the end.

This February “Mas Por Ellos” decided to start its own walk on the wild side.

Taking advantage of my tribute to Lou Reed, I invite you to take your own walk on the wild side, because what really matters is the journey.

NGO vs Social enterprises

"The way NGOs work to achieve development is old fashioned”, “an important share of the money I donate does not reach their recipients”, “the money I donated never reached the project it was supposed to help”. I am tired of listening to these phrases knowing that they are true. They all show some of the basic inefficiencies of the model used by traditional NGOs which lacks transparency. However, it should not be understood that we are advocating for the end of a cooperation model that has been growing since WWII. That would be totally unreasonable. If we compare the number of NGOs approved by the Socio-Economic Council (Consejo Economico y Social) in 1946 and 2003 we will see an increase of 2309. In addition, this number sky rockets if we take into account local and regional NGOs. Thus, if the number of approved NGOs has increased so much it might mean that these NGOs are serving the purpose they were designed for. Chances are that traditional NGOs have had a real impact in the developing world. 

However, the way to work on development issues is changing. The social, educational and above all, the technological development experienced in the last decades requires the modernization of the development field. In our opinion, NGOs continue to be necessary but in order to be able to face modern challenges we must make way for social enterprises as key vehicles for development practitioners.

In previous posts we have already discussed the role of social enterprises. However, for those that did not had a chance to read it, the concept of social enterprises is summarized as follows. A social enterprise is an enterprise with the main objective of creating a social impact. Nevertheless we should not forget that these social enterprises need to be economically viable. That being said, it should be made clear that social enterprises do not seek profit; they seek for a comparative advantage they can commercially exploit in favour of a determined social group. By this we mean that social enterprises aim at ameliorating the living standards of the community with which they engage. Social enterprises are a way of including those that best understand the problem in the development of a solution. Some examples of successful social enterprises are: Integra-e, Grameen Danone, or Coofund; which is the key element needed for our project to succeed. 

When I first thought of creating “Mas Por Ellos” I wasn’t familiarized with the meaning of social enterprises. However, I saw little chance of running a viable project if “Mas Por Ellos” depended solely on donations. Some questions were continuously on my mind: Why don’t we develop enterprises in Kenya or Spain and reinvest some of the profit into development projects which can have a social impact? Why don’t we give the unemployed, either in Kenya or Spain, a job so that they are able to develop more social projects?

I was determined to seek a solution to make “Mas Por Ellos” sustainable in the long-run, a solution which enabled me to diversify the risks faced by “Mas Por Ellos”. In addition, this innovative solution could potentially be very attractive for those that have lost faith in traditional NGOs.

After a lot of thinking I thought that the only feasible way to make “Mas Por Ellos” sustainable in the long run was for it to be based on the development of social enterprises. This will enable the diversification of risks since “Mas Por Ellos” will not only depend on donations. Moreover, Social enterprises will enable Kenyans to be involved in the development of their own community. Finally, this mew model might be a feasible alternative for those who do not believe in the work of NGOs. But above all, it is a way of tackling the root of the problem and not just alleviating its consequences. 

It is important in order to understand the concept of social enterprise to understand our project but also to understand how traditional NGOs are changing. Traditional NGOs are based on a model that although useful in some settings, does not provide long-term solutions. One could even argue that they can make recipients dependent on their intervention. However, it is equally important to understand how NGOs and social enterprises can and should coexist in the development field. As aforementioned, we do not advocate for the end of traditional NGOs as we understand that their work is totally necessary in determinate settings. For instance, their work becomes essential in situations of extreme poverty or humanitarian emergency. That been said, when we are faced with a society that already has some resources and in which the production fabric has started to grow, it’s time for the NGO to step aside. In that moment of initial and fragile development what is needed is the provision of tools and guidance which empowers local communities to participate in their own development. This is where the initiative of “Mas Por Ellos” fits in. We aim to develop a network of social enterprises that will hopefully become a driver of development. The network will also work as a link between its members and as a nexus for the community. This project will exemplify how the summation of small efforts can cause a big impact.

In conclusion, our project takes the work done by NGOs in the last decades as a point of reference but aims at modernizing the model of intervention so that long run sustainability is achieved. We bet on using the network of social enterprises as the driver of change. The ultimate goal of the network, that will also be economically viable, will be to promote development of the region via the effort of Kenyans. The orphanage, the secondary school and the health centre will all be sustained thanks to the development of this network of social enterprises. This meaning that the ones that will be maintaining these services will be the same members of the community who benefit from them. They will feel proud of their own achievement.

Muzungu reloaded

Wycleef, a 37-year old albino Kenyan man, tells us his story. It goes without saying that it is not easy to earn a living in the greatest slum of Africa and even more so when you suffer from racial discrimination throughout your whole life. 

However, today, after many years of struggle following the death of his parents during which he did not lose hope for a better life, Wycleef is now the proud owner of his business and he is husband and father of two lovely girls. Today he waves good morning to us with an honest smile on his face. 

We can’t help but feel overwhelmed when we hear the story of this man, who, fighting against all odds, has managed to change his life thanks to a microcredit. 

Thank you for teaching us how to believe…

‘’He succeeded because he didn’t know it was impossible’’.

Who are "Them" ?

Hi! Today I would like to explain the main motivation behind this initiative, the driving force that lead us to start “More for Them” (English translation for our Spanish name “Mas Por Ellos”). In order to understand this, it’s necessary to understand who “Them” are and the reality they face.

Today we went on a fieldtrip to Kibera to interview the people who were going to start out microcredit program. Although we had been there before, this trip turned out to be an awakening and revealing experience for me. Let me try to convey what I felt by telling you a little story. I was standing with the interviewee in the middle of a narrow street which seemed to be the natural flow for a river of black water when a man approached me asking for help for his niece. He handed me a notebook written by a child and I started reading the page he pointed at. The story tells how she was playing in the river when she suddenly saw people running because a fire had started. She decided to go with them. Once they reached the fire they all tried to extinguish it but their efforts were not enough. The story ended there. When I lifted the eyes from the paper I saw a 7-year old girl, with a burnt face, staring at me. Next to her, the man who continued begging for help and the interviewee with a sad look on his eyes due to the lack of attention I was paying to him. I had never felt so powerless and experienced such a deep sadness. I cried. Nobody noticed. I was crying inside.

Kenya is a place where everyone says hello smiling. However, Kenya is also a place where most of the smiles hide what we would consider dramatic life experiences; kids walk through garbage, they live surrounded by flies and their houses are no bigger than what your bathroom would be.

My name is Pablo, and before deciding to move to Kenya I suffered many sleepless nights. Now, I couldn’t be happier. I am determined to fight to change this reality. I am aware it is impossible to change everything, but one thing is clear, nothing is going to change if we don’t try.

Now it’s time to write the hardest part of this blog: asking you to help us with our project by telling our story to your friends and relatives (Facebook is a good way to do so). You will help us a lot by just encouraging your friends to “follow” us. You can participate in “Mas Por Ellos” in a very meaningful way even if you are not in the field with us.

Imagine for one second it works and that in a week we have 10.000 followers… Achieving this outcome depends, partly, on you. 

“Nothing changes if nothing changes”

When experience overcomes expectations

I start writing this post in the airport in Kenya after saying goodbye to Erick who brought me here. I can’t stop thinking of how I will answer to the question I will be repeatedly asked when I get back to Spain; ‘‘How was Kenya?’’ ‘‘How is the project going?’’ Incredible, real...it’s difficult to explain everything I’ve learnt and lived these days.

The first few days we were busy looking for an apartment. Our aim was to find one with big rooms where we could fit bunk beds where long-term volunteers could stay. For this, the apartment needed to be near Kibera, where all our efforts are going to be focused for the development of this project. 

After some days of walking through the neighborhoods of South B. and Langata, we came across the ideal apartment in a surprisingly quick and easy way. Moving was a difficult story. In only one pick up truck we piled up all our belongings and furniture Erick had given us, and held it all together with ropes, making a three meter tower. This can only be seen in Africa! What a team!

Installed in our apartment, we got ready to close the plot deal. We travelled an hour from Nairobi, near a small village called Kangundo. Red land, green vegetation, just as I imagined Africa. An incredible landscape. The idea was to find an ideal place to build the orphanage and the school, a place where kids could grow surrounded by a healthy environment and a place where a secondary school could really make a difference to the children of that area.

Before I arrived, Alvaro, Bea and Erick had already visited the area, so this time we knew where we were going, or at least thats what we thought, but as always, difficulties kept coming our way. There was always something wrong with the plots of land; we saw plots between valleys with incredible conditions but that ended up not being for sale; the plots that were on sale had owners which couldn’t be reached; plots that had none of our requirements; plots that were sold for 5 times their real price. This really began to burn our energy.

After weeks of problems, we all decided the best thing was for there not to be any ‘‘muzungus’’ (white people) when we visited the lands, so Erick spent the weekend in Kangundo, where his girlfriend, Monica, lived. It was the only way to close the deal once and for all, if Erick did it on his own. Not long after, we almost had a plot of land, one which had everything we were looking for and which we ended up deciding to buy! We arrived at Kangundo with little hope, but Erick is AMAZING and he reached the expectations. Even more, he overcame them.

(photo; andrea de sancho)

In spite of the problems we had with the land, we didn’t want to stop moving forward in other aspects. Not everything is easy, especially not in Africa. There are moments of frustration in a project like this one, cultural differences which need to be overcome, and impotence. It’s important not to drive to despair and to keep moving forward.

We were in Kibera several days and we met a lot of small businessmen with different businesses. These would be our first contacts for our microcredit program which will start as soon as COOFUND starts working. We visited orphanages in Kibera and Mathare Valley. We met a Kenyan architect, a geologist and our new lawyer! 

In conclusion, we have done this, and much more. We have a thousand little stories that we will continue to tell and that made us go home every day with a huge smile on our face (although always very tired and hoping it wasn’t your turn to cook...because nothing beats Bea’s spanish omelette)! I will come back in January and it will be incredible as we will begin to build the orphanage. I can’t wait, but I don’t think I will ever forget my first face to face with Africa..where my experience definitely overcame my expectations.

Álvaro Mesonero Romanos

‘‘Give what you have so that you deserve to receive what you ask for’’ St. Agustin.