By Mary Muhara

The Kenyan post-electoral violence in 2008 left many families homeless and condemned to a sudden state of poverty. As an initial step in assisting the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the Kenyan government gave each family Ksh. 10,000 ($133) to help them re-settle. This was hardly enough to purchase farming land or to put up a house for those who could no longer go back to their original homes. Besides, most people were already starving and many used the money to feed their families. 28 year-old Peter Kariuki dared to do something different; he began to mobilize willing family heads to pool their money and plan together.  Of the 60,000 people living in that IDP camp, about 3,000 families - a total of over 10,000 people - responded to Peter's invitation. They developed a plan long before the government funds were availed. As wise farmers, they knew better than to use all of the seed money on their immediate needs. Instead, they put their funds into a common account and collectively purchased a 50-acre piece of land in the Nyandarua District. They have since moved to their new home which they call Shalom City. They believe an angel of God led them there.

A winding river marks one boundary of the 50-acre piece of land and also contains a dam. The area contains highly productive soil where a crop of Irish Potatoes already grows next to their satellite community.  Individually, none of the members could have afforded even a portion of this prime land. Buying collectively guaranteed each family a better price and a larger portion. After putting their heads together, however, the group agreed to own and use the land collectively instead of dividing it between them. Shalom City is being registered as a Co-operative Society with government leaders' help to run the farm professionally.

The group envisions having an Eco-City with large scale commercial farming. They plan to put up decent housing for each of the 3,000 families and social amenities such as schools, health facilities and business premises in one part of their land. On the larger portion of the land, they intend to do a group business of large scale horticultural farming. They have hopes of increasing the farming land to 1,000 acres using an additional Ksh. 25, 000 ($333) promised by the government to each IDP family for construction of homes. They have already identified a nearby 500 acre piece which they will purchase when the funds become available. One day they hope to have their own packaging or food processing centre. They will need seeds, seedlings, farming tools and equipment, storage facilities, transport services, markets, electricity, business support systems, input of experts… the list is endless. This is all part of the big dream. Shalom City, they believe, will be a model community for any group in Kenya that wants to rise from poverty by working together. It will take months, probably years, before they can see the object of their faith and the fruits of their effort. But as it is said, where there is a will there is a way.

Shalom City co-operative is a show of the power in numbers and a reminder of what people can achieve when they work together, regardless of how much or how little they may have. None of these families could have afforded the new lifestyle they now envision. Out of the worst catastrophe of their lives has come a future possibility they could never have imagined. The group remains dependent on aid for their daily bread and to keep their children in school, but they take it with hope of a better tomorrow. They also acknowledge that it will take other “angels” to help them achieve their dreams for the community. Even with the expected help from the government, the mechanism of commercial farming, construction of an eco-town and accessing markets for their products, the future holds a resource intensive venture beyond what is available to them.

Peter and his group need the help of partners. These partners would be a help to Shalom City in realizing their dreams, a positive impact which would spread to the Kenyan nation as a whole. They would be helping pave a new path of economic development; a model that could lead many other impoverished Kenyan communities from a lifestyle of need and dependency to a life of hope, productivity and prosperity.