What’s in our February 2021 Newsletter: :  Notes from the Field Meet Joshua Odhiambo ~ Economic Development Report ~ P4P Volunteer Garry Morgan ~ Spring Fundraiser on Hold ~ Something Ventured, Much Gained - It’s Your Choice ~ Thank You to Board Members

Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright 

Notes from the Field 

By Nereah Obura, P4P Kenya Program Coordinator

Dear P4P Friend,

“I have always wanted to help uplift the food security conditions amongst my people,” says Joshua Odhiambo, P4P’s Pilot Poultry Project and Agriculture Manager.

“Because of this, I opted not to go to the big towns to look for a job. Instead, I prefer working with locally based agricultural organizations,” he adds. “This enables me to directly impact the lives of my people.”

“My vision is to change one farmer at a time by giving them knowledge on modern and conservation agricultural practices and enable them to get maximum production with minimum input using practices that heal the land.”

Originally from the Kopanga sublocation, 30-year-old Joshua attended primary and secondary schools in the Magongo Ribe school system. In 2014, he began his degree in general agriculture at Rongo University.

Joshua joins P4P at a critical time as we implement the chicken farming project in Kopanga, and he brings essential skills and experience to the job. Joshua was previously employed as an agricultural extension officer for the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Program and worked for Eastobac Kenya Limited as a leaf technician.   

Egg-cellent News from the Economic Development Committee

By late September last year, P4P had identified farmers to participate in a pilot economic development project – raising chickens. Our hope is to create a sustainable, profitable small businesses so farmers will earn enough profit to adequately feed themselves, send their children to high school and save enough to reinvest in their farms.

Ten eager farmers quickly went to work building chicken coops in preparation for the 100 baby chicks scheduled to be delivered to each of them this month. P4P provided funding for fencing and the farmers purchased coop materials and provided all the labor.

P4P hired Joshua Odiambo as part-time agricultural manager. His expertise makes him well suited to spearhead the chicken project. In November and December, Joshua met with poultry farmers to survey the land they had chosen for their fenced chicken coops. When the coops were completed, he began advising farmers on safe and effective chicken farming. Joshua makes weekly visits to each poultry farm, takes photographs and sends us a report. 

P4P partnered with LimAfrica, a regional non-profit that aids small farmers with training, vaccines, feed and consultation. LimAfrica will buy back the chickens when full-sized and will purchase eggs if necessary. Poultry farmers will give back a percentage of eggs or broilers to support P4P’s health, education and economic development programs.

We do not anticipate a swift return on investment, but we are excited at the possibility of increasing self-sufficiency and improving nutritional opportunities for our partners in Kopanga/Giribe.  

Stay tuned as our chicks grow.

JOIN the Chicken Club

P4P Gets the Luck of the Draw from a Chance Encounter
By Reneé Sande

Music has a way of bringing people together. Apparently, so does mistaken identity.

Garry Morgan first met Gordon Jackson, P4P past board chair, at an outdoor concert. But it was Garry’s wife that got Gordon’s attention.

“He thought he recognized my wife. She's an identical twin and it turned out that her sister is Gordon’s neighbor,” said Garry.

It also turned out that Garry had previously lived and worked in Kenya for almost 18 years, and he had spent much of his time focused on community-based development.

Gordon, a transplant from South Africa, must have thought the meeting was pure serendipity. Wasting little time, Gordon invited Garry to join P4P’s Economic Development Committee, where he’s been an invaluable member for a little over two years. Garry expanded his involvement with P4P and joined the Board of Directors in January.  

“I really like that P4P tries to help without creating dependency, attempting to empower communities in rural Kenya to become self-sustaining,” he said.

After moving back to the States and teaching intercultural studies at University of Northwestern-St. Paul for 17 years, Garry and his wife, Connie, moved to Spokane four and a half years ago to be near family. 

Semi-retired, Garry still teaches part time, but now he’s able to enjoy more time with his loves: family (including a daughter and two grandchildren), the great outdoors, reading, traveling, indulging in his daily cup (or three) of coffee and the occasional slice of pumpkin pie and handful of cashews.

Spring Fundraiser on Hold

P4P’s annual partnership with the Civic Theatre has always been a fun night of socializing, live theatre and a chance to support P4P. Unfortunately, COVID has prevented the Civic from staging rehearsals for the much-anticipated musical production of Spamalot. 

Along with nonprofits the world over, P4P is finding new ways to stay engaged with our supporters and raise funds for our important projects in Kenya. Innovation and creativity are coming to the forefront, and we have something exciting on tap – stay tuned for details.

Something Ventured, Much Gained - It’s Your Choice

Are you a Thrivent Financial member? In 2020 P4P received $476 Thrivent Choice Dollars® grants. The Thrivent Choice® program gives members an opportunity to direct Choice Dollars to a Thrivent charitable grantee. P4P can be a grant recipient of these funds if you take these steps. (The donation dollars come from Thrivent, not your personal account.)

1.    You must be a Thrivent Financial benefit member. 
2.    Set up a member account (if you have not already done so) by going to www.thrivent.com. Just fill in your member ID (it’s printed on your membership card, on your statement and on your contract/policy) and follow the prompts to establish an online account. 
3.    Then go to: https://www.thrivent.com/what-we-offer/generosity/thrivent-choice.html

You’ll see a Choice Dollars amount (it’s been calculated according to what insurance or financial activity you have with Thrivent), and you just click to make the donation. We hope you will register and direct those Choice Dollars to Partnering for Progress. 

They’ve Left the Board of Directors But Are Still a Big Part of P4P 

Serving on a non-profit board is selfless, generous and so important. We want to thank three people who recently finished their service on P4P’s Board of Directors.

Gordon Jackson brought energy, organization and a dry wit to his time on the Board and most recently served as board chair. The retired Whitworth University professor intends to continue serving on P4P’s Education Committee and join a future trip to Kenya.

Kendra Jones helped navigate P4P's financial structure, took minutes at Board meetings, served on the Economic Development committee and secured volunteers and funding for Into Africa Auction and the Civic Theatre events. Kendra works full time for Numerica and is a prolific Instagram poster showing off her furry companions, Juniper and Bama.

Reneé Sande left the Board, but she continues to be involved with P4P writing volunteer and staff profiles for the newsletter. She’s been a professional journalist for over a decade and is adept at ferreting out personal tidbits and bringing each personality to life.

Asante Sana for sharing your time and talents!