On Shattering Conformity and Sparking Transformation

Village Care International recently held its 3rd annual VCI Conference of Leaders on January 21-25. The conference was held in Kisumu, Kenya and was attended by leaders from each one of the countries currently utilizing the Village Care. This was a time of profound dialogue and innovation centered around where Village Care as a movement is headed. In a small, unassuming room backed by the hustle and bustle of life in Kisumu this group of passionate, pioneering, forward-thinking African leaders mapped out the course of VCI and debated the path on which we tread. Topics such as vision and mission were accompanied by discussion around financial independence, program content, and ensuring that the next generation of VCI leaders are prepared to carry us forward into the future with confidence and a shared understanding of the work we are doing. Even with discussion of this gravity we still found time to have some fun, joke, and enjoy the company of friends and make memories that will last forever.

To give you a quick and concise breakdown of what was discussed I think we can break it into three parts: program continuity and consistency, expansion, and refining what we do and why we do it. Many more things were talked about and debated for many hours, but these main areas give a clear picture of the importance of this conference and the success that was achieved through coming together as ordinary radicals and putting the future of VC and the communities we work in at the forefront of our work.

When dealing with program continuity and consistency the discussion centered mainly on the topic of “drift.” There was debate about what drift means for us and what it means in general, everyone sharing their own viewpoint and putting on the table all the issues that we might face as a group. Drift, at its core, is the idea that without a clear, concise, and sound base from which all programs and efforts flow there is the possibility that VCI might drift from our core philosophy. The group talked at length about how we can decrease the chance of drift as more and more countries join the movement and mold the program to each community’s unique situation. It was decided that the solution to drift was to think metaphorically. It was suggested that we think of the base mission, vision, purpose, and method like the bones of a skeleton. Once those things are set and created with sound principles and with the philosophy by which Village Care is founded it can not be altered. No matter the flesh, or programs, that are placed on the skeleton by each country initiative, the skeleton remains firm and unaltered. Each country is free to form the flesh of their initiative to be the best it can be for each unique situation while keeping the bones of a movement proven to work. This was a huge success and each leader in the room agreed we had done our best to put VCI on a path of solidarity and cooperation no matter the breadth of its reach.

Naturally stemming from a discussion of drift, the topic of expansion was an exciting, as well as eye opening conversation. There were many countries and regions suggested as potential partners for the coming year. These included South Sudan, Cameroon, Gambia, Rwanda, Liberia, and Congo. Expansion into a new country is a delicate process that is unique for each new place we go. Usually a leader from each of two countries near the new partner will make multiple visits to the country to plant the seeds of the VCI tree there. Partnerships are made, relationships forged, and the seed begins to become a tree. Over time our leaders train other leaders in the new country and those leaders go into their communities and present the Village Care program to new people. From there it spreads and viola, a new VCI country is born. There were high hopes and lots of excitement surrounding these new countries for this year. The Village Care movement can not be contained and it is just a matter of time before communities all over the world are shattering conformity and sparking transformation.

Revisiting our purpose and vision is a topic that we delve deep into at each conference. It is so important that we ensure, as time goes on, that our vision, mission, purpose, and method are relevant, effective, and in line with our overarching philosophy. As these things are discussed it is so amazing to listen to such inspiring, thought-provoking dialogue from men who are natural leaders and innovators in their field. Those of us still learning are left in awe at the depth and scope of the discussion, always taking notes and trying to absorb as much of it as we can. From start to finish this discussion was a success and everyone agreed that we had done justice to the power of this movement and to ensure it is sound and ready for what is to come.

As our time together drew to a close, goodbyes were said, and friends who had become brothers and sisters prepared to part ways with heavy hearts and full minds. It is hard to deny the power of the human spirit when you consider the circumstances from which each of these people has come. From brutal civil war to famine to colonial occupation, each country seemingly possesses every opportunity to give up. Instead what we see is true strength, unwavering determination, and a pride in their people that is seldom witnessed. If every person in a position to affect change in the world had the mind, heart, and soul of these people the world would be forever changed as would the perception of poor communities across the globe. Before we left I had a chance to sit and talk with Phillips and Gabriel who are from Nigeria. As they recounted the horrible atrocities being done in their country you begin to understand why they are here. For so many years their people, and the people of many other nations, have been held down, demeaned, walked on, and told they can not do any better. Behind the teary eyes and heavy heart lies an unmistakable will to see their people transform into the nation they once were and once again will be. Though I can not even begin to understand where they come from I can’t help but feel the depth of their conviction, the power of their words, and the promise of their action. It is only a matter of time before Africa regains her rightful place among the powers of the world and the beauty that lies beneath the residue of occupation, enablement, and corruption we strive to overcome. Until next year friends, I am in awe and so proud to be a part of this movement

Village Care Third Annual International Conference 1.27.12

Dear Friends,

We just completed our third annual Village Care International Conference in Kisumu Kenya. Attending were the national leaders for VCI of our nine member countries, including Sierra Leone, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, and the Congo.

Nothing is sacred at Village Care, so to speak, except our faith in God, so we spend a lot of time on the topics; What is Village Care?, what works?, and what is our purpose? What can we do better? Each year I have seen amazing strides in our leadership and organization as we get our feet under us and mature into our calling. Now entering our 7^th year, Village Care is a very out of the box organization, and that means that we constantly challenge the status quo. This year our theme was “Shatter Conformity, Spark Transformation; therein lies the key to achieving our full potential”. It is from Romans chapter 12, verse 1. Village Care is a faith based community development organization that works among the poorest communities in Africa. Our focus is to care for people in crisis, mainly widows and orphans. Our main aim for orphans is to place them in loving homes where they will be safe, well cared for, loved, and protected.

We are different because we expect the poor to solve their own problems, and we hold them accountable for lifting themselves out of poverty. We don’t give a handout, and we don’t give a hand up, we don’t even teach them how to fish, actually. As I said, we are pretty out of the box in our thinking. From our first official VC Village in Kenya in 2005 we now have nearly 800 member villages across the belt of Africa from east to west. Each month we are expanding into about 30 communities. In Kenya nearly 27000 orphans are involved in some phase of Village Care initiatives. Last year almost 7000 new volunteers joined nearly 100,000 Africans already involved in VCI, working without any compensation. About 300 new business were started through our Outcomes for Business program. We also added about 600 “small group projects”, all of which exist to support their own local orphan populations, and all of them started without any outside donations or loans. That’s something virtually everyone believes to be impossible.

I started Village Care for a few simple reasons, mainly that nothing else works in Africa, and I could see nothing to lose by trying something radically different. In spite of what you may think, after trillions in donations, Africa is getting poorer and increasingly more radicalized every day. Nothing feeds terrorist movements quite as effectively as poverty. I often hear Americans express how happy they think the poor are. When they visit Africa they see happy little children playing in the streets just like children everywhere. But to be honest, the poor don’t like being poor, and in the world at large there is massive unrest. When those kids grow up they become prime targets for radical sects. Our original plan this year was to meet in Jos Nigeria but that area has been struggling through quite a bit of strife with insurgency by a radical Islamic sect known as Boca Haran. There have been bombings targeting churches, many deaths, and a deepening sense of national crisis. The group in Nigeria has targeted Christians and the eradication of Western teaching as one of its primary goals. Such radicalism is spreading across all of Africa.

We have come a long way in a few short years. Across our nine member countries we have invitations to train over 200 new communities and requests from 248 existing villages for Outcomes for Business Training. There are about 400 Villages that just need followup, but our resources are stretched pretty thin. Everyone seems to agree that our understanding of how to really empower the poor to take care of themselves is a solid, it really works, but most people would still prefer to give $25 to feed an orphan for $25 per month that they feel connected to rather than give $25.00 to feed a hundred of them, about what it costs us to support our network. We struggle to make that compelling personal and emotional connection. We aren’t very good at marketing frankly, and haven’t figured out how to help people connect at a heart level to our work.

God is in charge though, and in spite of all logic, we keep growing, and I figure that as long as we keep our focus on His work, then our work will thrive. We sincerely do appreciate your help, and I can guarantee you that a dollar to Village Care is an investment in a brighter future, not a perpetual welfare program.

This year we gained a lot of clarity and I was deeply impressed by the maturity and ownership our African Leaders have expressed in our time together. We clarified our role as agents of change, and we spent a lot of time reflecting and working on how we express ourselves to the world. Here are some key points.

Village Care International 3^RD Conference Summary

Vision: We promote healthy and empowered communities around the world.

Mission: We equip leaders to mobilize their communities to empower their widows and orphans to raise their standard of living using the resources they have on hand.

Purpose: James 1:27; “Pure worship in the site of God is this; to visit widows and orphans in their distress, and keep oneself unstained by the world”. To put it simply we serve God and each other by assisting vulnerable populations to thrive.

Method: Our method is to present a program called OPOS; Outcomes Practices and Open Space, and a followup program called Outcomes for Business, and other community and family programs that promote self-reliance within the local community and eliminates dependence on donor-funded initiatives. Our main care program is called Outcomes for Children, and our main support program is called Basic Home Practices.

The Roadmap for Village Care

1. The road must lead to independence for each country VC Initiative to be self sustained.

2. The roadmap for Empowerment is to spark transformation using OPOS within the community, then fuel transformation with activities that encourage the continuation of the process in the life of the person, family, and community. Benchmarks are:

a. OPOS to OFB (Outcomes for Business)

b. SLOPE within and without (the members of the community and the encouragers who come live to Serve, Learn, Observe, Pray, and Encourage.

c. An actualized Phase I community has:

i. The support of the majority of the community

ii. Groups meeting regularly

iii. Active projects continuing across the five practices

iv. Projects focused on the vulnerable population (via registration or scoring)

d. An actualized Phase II Community

i. Is adding new members continuously

ii. Meeting personal, family and community goals

iii. Has a measurable focus on a vulnerable population, which is registered and scored by the Community Leaders.

iv. Has officially become a VCI Member Community approved by the National Team

e. An Actualized Phase III Community

i. Has profitable income producing groups/businesses that support the vulnerable community.

ii. Has volunteers involved in community development

1. A Care Community that may Include

a. Child Care Centers

b. Adult Literacy programs

iii. Is regularly conducting OPOS programs within their community.

iv. Is actively supporting VCI Initiatives inside and outside their community.

f. A Phase IV Community

i. Is always growing and expanding programs and ideas.

ii. Has a Volunteer Group Training adjacent communities

iii. The newly trained communities are accurately replicating the principles of VCI.

iv. Has an official VCI representative at the regional level

v. Actively supports VCI nationally financially

If all four phases are not within the seed of VCI at day one, they will not materialize. Grafting in added essential concepts later is much more difficult.

The VCI Dictionary:

· OPOS, a skeleton that communities can use to grow a body of work. OPOS is a program of Outcomes for Children (our Target Group), Basic Home Practices (the tools necessary to accomplish the Outcomes and raise a healthy community), and a self-initiating event called OPEN SPACE.

· Outcomes for Children: A program that identifies practical ways to insure that every child in the community starting with the most vulnerable is safe, healthy, living in a loving home, and has a good reputation in the community.

· Practices: Basic Home Practices are the essential features of a healthy community that has good Sanitation, Nutrition, Health Awareness, enforced Educational Policies, and Economic Security reflected by growing businesses and creating jobs.

· OPEN SPACE: After exploring the skeletal framework of Outcomes and Practices the members take charge of the program and meet in self selected groups to answer five questions:

o What will I do for myself

o What will I do for my family

o What will I do for my community

o Who will I do it with

o When Will I do it

· Conformity: The barrier to change, conformity can include tradition, or any habit that maintains the status quo.

· Transformation: Transformation is a new life, not a repair of an old life. To transform means to be made new.

· Empowered: A person is empowered when they are able to make their own choices. The more choices one can make for themselves, the more empowered the person is.

· Community or Village: a community is any group that has a common interest and works together to solve problems.

· Healthy Community: A healthy community reflects a collaboration of projects that keeps the community and members clean, healthy, learning, and working together to care for themselves and their most vulnerable population.

· Self-Actualization: Achieving our full potential personally and as a community

Village Care Succeeds because:

· It is a movement that inspires cooperation

· It is adaptable to the community it serves

· We prepare in faith, live in hope and are inspired by Devine grace

· VCI immediately points to an internal solution, owned by the community, not an external solution dependent on someone else.

· Of the use of Open Space around a Skeletal Framework of Goals and Tools to inspire the community to solve their own problems.

· Of SLOPE, leaders and members Serve, Learn, Observe, and Pray and Encourage each other all the time.

January 29, 2012

David Glenwinkel, Founder

3240 Professional Drive

Auburn, Ca. 95602

www.villagecare.com

What will you do today to make a difference?

Community Profile: Bar Ndingo Village and Mraera Group

Over the next few weeks we are going to be highlighting some pretty awe-inspiring examples of how the Village Care method and vision are changing the lives of people all over Africa. These next few profiles will focus mainly on the area in and around Kisumu Kenya and will showcase a variety of projects and groups impacting the lives of children and others in profound and incredible ways. We hope that through sharing in these successes that you might be able to see how through empowerment, education, and understanding those who live in poverty can overcome it and enrich not only their own lives, but the lives of all those around them. Please enjoy these stories and as always please remember, Village Care depends on the support of people like you to keep this work going. Please visit our website at http://www.villagecare.com/ to support these and many other people throughout the world making an impact in their communities.

Group: Mraera Group

Location: Bar Ndingo Village, North West Kisumu, Kenya

Description: This small but inspiring group of individuals is the product of a Village Care OPOS Training program lead by our Kenya National Director Jack Mila. After receiving the training and coming together as a group to discuss the greatest needs in their community, Mraera Group decided to focus their goals on providing education for orphans in their village. The main goal of all of their project efforts would be to provide funds for school fees and supplies, provide uniforms, and supply any other resources the child would need to attend and be successful at school. Currently the group is supporting two young boys ages 8 years and 10 years old. They are both in grade three are doing doing extremely well in school.

To accomplish this amazing goal the group has taken on several income generating projects. These include the building, stocking, and maintaining of three fish ponds, the making and selling of bricks, and raising and selling poultry to the local market. The fish ponds have been a great success for this group in particular. Since their construction less than a year ago Mraera Group has been able to harvest the fish 3 times totaling $300, which $200 would be profit after paying expenses of the ponds. This is a significant amount of money and has allowed the group to support the two orphans that live in their village.

For what this group lacks in size it makes up for in resolve and the passion to see its own orphans and children have the chance at a better life. They have taken what they have on hand, without the help of any outside group or agency, and have impacted the lives of not only the two boys they support, but everyone who lives in their village. Mraera Group is a shining example of what can be done when a community comes together with a common goal in the spirit of cooperation and hard work and makes the decision to improve their lives on their own. Let them be an example to all of us about what the human will and spirit can accomplish when given the chance to succeed.

Specific Activities: Fish ponds, brick making, poultry keeping

Community Profile: Nyahera Village and the Amazing Group

Over the next few weeks we are going to be highlighting some pretty awe-inspiring examples of how the Village Care method and vision are changing the lives of people all over Africa. These next few profiles will focus mainly on the area in and around Kisumu Kenya and will showcase a variety of projects and groups impacting the lives of children and others in profound and incredible ways. We hope that through sharing in these successes that you might be able to see how through empowerment, education, and understanding those who live in poverty can overcome it and enrich not only their own lives, but the lives of all those around them. Please enjoy these stories and as always please remember, Village Care depends on the support of people like you to keep this work going. Please visit our website at http://www.villagecare.com/ to support these and many other people throughout the world making an impact in their communities.


Group: Amazing Support Group

Location: Nyahera Village, Kisumu, Kenya

Description: This group truly lives up to its namesake. A while back we wrote about a woman named Judith who is a member of the Amazing Group and a prime example of what these men and women are all about. This group is comprised of HIV positive men and woman who have taken a stand and refused to be pushed to the fringes of their community. During the original Village Care OPOS training in their village this group of people stood in front of a room full of their peers and declared that yes, they are HIV positive but they will not hide from it. On the contrary they choose to stand and fight and educate those in their community on this horrible disease. One of their biggest goals as a group is to break down barriers between HIV positive people and their neighbors and destroy the stigma that surrounds this disease. Since that first day when they decided to stand the Amazing Group has accomplished so much. They now have a fully functioning support and home care program for those individuals too sick with HIV to care for themselves. They are also engaged in goat and poultry keeping as well as jewlelry making to generate a susbstantial income for their group. These profits are pooled together and given out to the group equally and used to support those in need. If there was one group who embodied all that Village Care strives to be and bring to the communities we work in, it would be the Amazing Group.

Specific Activities: Community Education, Local and Alpine Goat Keeping, Home Based Care, Small Community Banking, Jewelry Making

Village Care Directors Conduct First Ever OPOS Training in the DRC

Village Care Directors Mitchell Lutaaya (Uganda) and Jean-Baptiste Sibomana (Burundi) are currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo conducting OPOS trainings there. They are currently in Goma meeting with community leaders and officials during their training sessions. The DRC is one of our newest countries and the progress so far is promising. Below are updates from both Mitchell and Jean-Baptiste on the very beginnings of the trainings. Join with us in supporting these two men and the amazing work that is going on right now.

December 12^th, 2011

Dear Friends, Pr. Jean-Baptiste and I arrived safely in Goma yesterday. Goma is safe and quiet. We have a city-wide leaders' meeting today at the Bungwe Hotel starting 8am local time. Among the dignitaries expected are the local government officials including the city mayor. Tomorrow we'll speak to church leaders from the entire city and then we'll speak to the citizenry on Thursday. In effect, that means 3 OPOS trainings in 3 days. Please pray for strength, clarity, focus and safety.

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God bless you.

-Mitchell

December 13^th, 2011

Hi everyone,

This is Jean Baptiste in Goma (DRC).Thank you all for praying for us. Mitchell and I have just finished our first day of training. It has been very wonderful, well organized, and full of heavy protocol where the day and the training was opened by the mayor of Goma. We feel so fulfilled and have enjoyed our day and saw that the combined OPOS in one day was a success. This is a place we will have to come back.

God bless you all

-JB

VCI Board Members Visit Village Care Burundi

During a recent visit to Africa, VCI founder David Glenwinkel and Village Care board member Dave Steiner (the Davids) made a visit to Burundi to observe the amazing work of one our newest country initiatives is doing. Below is a report written by Jean-Baptise Sibomana, the Director of Village Care Initiatives - Burundi.

They arrived on 9^th November 2011 and went straight to the hotel “Le Bouquet”.

The 10^th of November 2011, we went to Kinama Commune ( Bujumbura Province, Buhinyuzacolline) in a farm where a number of widows were cultivating potatoes and other crops to support their children and some other orphans.

After that, we went to Gatumba village to see the orphanage where there are boys and girls living in that home supported by those women we saw farming. We gave them soccer balls. I will give them blankets on the 6^th December 2011.

Then we went to the border of Burundi and DRC and stepped on the soil of DRCongo a bit.

We continued our visit to a group of women who do the grounding for cassava flour (the staple food here) to support their orphans.

We also went to visit a group of men and young men who are keeping goats and have been helping some orphans and people living with HIV AIDS. They are trying to use a place of hand washing. We want to see if we can introduce that to all villages for people to have a place for handwashing.

After lunch, we had a small meeting with the executive committee (the VCI Burundi Board), then started our long journey to Gitega province where the Davids saw their hotel rooms and visited JB’s home for dinner and the day was over.

The 11^th of November 2011 was a busy day when we took an early breakfast and started a journey to Gikomero refugee camp (camp for displaced people) in Kayanza Province, Commune of Rango. After talking to them and looking at their farm, we headed to Buramyacolline.

Yes, we went to Buramyacolline (Rango Commune, Kayanza Province) where we visited men and women at work in a farm working, then got their story, then looked at their cattle, saw the crafts of other women of baskets and traditional plates, gave them balls and blankets for pictures. After that we walked to an indigenous group (group of Twas) where pots of clay, mats and baskets are being made to support orphans and widows.

After that we drove a very long distance going to Rutana province to meet the governor of Rutana but passing by JB’s home for lunch. We saw the governor who liked the work of VCI Burundi.

On our way back to Gitega we visited 3 groups of people working together to support their orphans: in Munyweroand Nyakiruri. It was dark by then and we had to rush going to Gitega to rest for that night.

The 12^th November 2011, from 8 am to 10:30 am there is always community work where people clean where they live here in Burundi, that is the command of the government. After that, we visited one great group of widows who came up together to support their orphans, right in the center of Gitega town, in a place called Nyabugogo.

After that we drove to Bujumbura for the Davids to catch the airplane.

That is the summary of the short visit of the Davids. It was short but very important on our side so that the Davids can see what we are doing in Burundi as Village Care Initiatives-Burundi.

To God be all the glory for all the things that He has done and is doing in and through us!

On Behalf of Village Care Initiatives-Burundi

Pastor Jean-Baptiste Sibomana

VCI Burundi Director

US TEAM VISITS BURUNDI IN NOVEMBER

Village Care International Founder David Glenwinkel and US Board member David Steiner have arrived in Burundi where they will visit and view the work started there in late 2010.

"The David's", as they are known, will travel to various communities to observe the outcomes of the OPOS training done in November of 2010. Among many stops they will visit the community of Buhunyuza to observe a farming project, and the Gasenyi area, where they will see the indigenous pygmee tribe Twas. Another stop will take them to Gatumba village, where they will visit a flour making project started by 2 teams of women, and one goat project started by some young men, all to help the orphans in their community.
This is just a sampling of their visit to Burundi where they will be on the road almost non-stop for three days before heading to Uganda.

Please keep our US and Burundi teams in your prayers as they traverse the less-than-perfect road conditions there, and as they visit in places that have recently seen tribal violence. Pray for protection from all harm and for their safe flight to Uganda on Saturday.

Thank you all for your never-ending support!
Sally

US Board Member Dave Steiner (Colorado) and Village Care Burundi Director Jean-Baptiste Sibomana share a meal after The David's arrival