In 2002 a Kenyan business woman was expanding her horizons by getting a theological degree in Nairobi. For a course practicum, she spent time with women infected with HIV in one of Nairobi’s slums called Kware. It sounds like a rock quarry because it was one. Many of the houses are made of stones piled on top of each other. By the time her practicum was over, Jane Wathome had grown attached to the women and wanted to continue working with them. She asked them what they’d like her to do. They said they wanted to learn to weave rugs and sell them. Where they got that idea, I don’t know. But the important thing was that is was their idea, not an idea pushed on them by someone else.

Jane rented a small warehouse and found a Kenyan weaver who made rugs for the tourist hotels in Nairobi. He taught the women how to make a frame for weaving, to comb and die the wool, and then to weave. The church I was attending had a relationship with the church Jane was attending, and our two churches were looking for a way to collaborate in a response to AIDS. Jane’s Beacon of Hope, as she called it, was a perfect opportunity. We began supporting them by bringing rugs to Chapel Hill and selling them. And we have hosted Jane here in North Carolina on several occasions.

Working with Jane and Beacon of Hope has been a very rewarding experience. Visiting Africa with African hosts is an entirely different and more fulfilling experience than traveling as a tourist. We have spent time in Kenya meeting the women she is helping, and we have seen the effects on their lives. One woman, after she had learned to weave and sell rugs, was asked by some people evaluating the program whether her new skill had affected her life. She said, “Now I am wealthy. Now I can help my neighbors.” This was a woman who was still living in Kware, in what you and I would consider destitute poverty. She was still infected with HIV and not taking any antiretroviral drugs. But now she considered herself wealthy to the point of being a philanthropist among her neighbors.

Because we have seen Africans rising very effectively to the challenges facing their communities, we wanted to further their work rather than the work of outsiders bringing in programs. Because we have grown by being in relationship with Africans, we wanted to help others develop relationships that go beyond the donation of money. Through these relationships, not only will we help Africa rise, but our Western images of Africans will change. No longer will we think of Africa solely as a place of disasters and atrocities, but also as a place of hope, courage, entrepreneurialism, and strength. No longer will we think of Africans as children to be cared for, but as resourceful, hardworking, and joyful adults from whom we have much to learn. We formed Africa Rising for this purpose.

Here is what we do:

• We find grass roots organizations that were founded and run by Africans.
• We then ask Mary Muhara, a Kenyan woman living in Nairobi, to visit the organization.
• We look for a variety of organizations serving a variety of purposes.
• We also want to find organizations spread out over several countries.
• We then find individuals and organizations in the US looking for an opportunity to support the work of Africans
• Once we have established connections between Westerners and the organizations we support in East Africa, we will begin identifying organizations in another region of Africa.

Perhaps most rewarding to us is the enthusiasm expressed by Africans when we describe to them the mission and philosophy of Africa Rising. I have heard time and again how important it is to them that we are honoring their work and their achievements.

July 2008