DID KIMELI HAVE TO DIE?

At dawn on February 14, 2008, the Sang'al family of Olare Scheme a kilometre from Burnt Forest awoke to find that their 34 year old son, Elijah Kimeli Sang'al,hanging in his Sigiroino (Boys hut). He had abruptly ended his own life.

Kimeli was approaching his 35th birthday with an excitement which was barely containable. Like most people who owned some properties at Burnt Forest township, his kiosk with property worth about Kshs. 200,000 had been torched by arsonists. 

Kimeli for some reason unknown to his friends, had put on a brave face following the torching of his kiosk. No one knew what was brewing deep within. According to close associates, he had taken a microfinance loan which he was in the processes of repaying.

Though many of his friends at the funeral talked of his generosity and hardwork, Kimeli Sang'al had taken his own life in post-election related trauma. 

During his funeral service attended by more than 500 people, it became clear that many need psychosocial support. Sad as it is, Kimeli's case is only one of the many who are undergoing post-election related trauma and depression. A tale of untold suffering.

During the funeral service at the graveside, Rev. Rirei spoke on the need to let Jesus carry all our burdens. The text was based on Matthew 11: 28 and stressed the need for people to put their hope in Jesus Christ. After the funeral service, one young man confessed that he had contemplated taking his own life due to hopelessness and depression.

But all is not lost, Anglican Church of Kenya is embarking on a psychosocial support to cushion against untold suffering that the affected are going through. 

Join us in praying for our staff and for resources to ensure that many people who are stressed, depressed and truamatized may be reached.
Story courtesy- Rev. Rirei, Eldoret

VOICES FROM THE ACK POLICY REFERENCE GROUP (PRG)
JANUARY 30th 2008

 In the recent past the nation of Kenya has experienced a great magnitude of political unrest in different parts of the country. Unfortunately mixed emotions of anger, disappointment, hatred and revenge, have been expressed through a trail of destruction, unlawlessness and death.

Speech has been a rare form of conflict resolution; a group of Policy Reference Groups (PRG's) spoke their minds.
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“Indeed it's only by God's Grace that we will be able to move on in the right direction as a nation. My heart is still bleeding from the pictures and stories especially of the people who were burnt alive in a church. What kind of monsters are those that even the fear of God does not seem to exist in them? I can't believe that the words ethnic cleansing are being used here in our country. Keep praying.  
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I am a Kenyan, irrespective of where I come from and who I support. Kenya has come a long way from a one party dictatorship, to a multi-party democracy, which many paid for with their lives. Innocent people are losing their lives, they may have never even had anything to do with politics in their lives, they probably never even voted in the first place, but they are being massacred for a mistake not of their own. We need each other because each one of us has a special thing to contribute to the great nation Kenya .
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Sunday services countrywide should to preach repentance as found in Matthew 18:15-21 and Luke 17:3-4, we Christians must stand in the gap. I also think this is a spiritual warfare and it is darkest before dawn. The truth will come out and God shall reign. I pray that God increases our faith and teach us how to pray and win more political leaders to Christ.
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An injustice has been committed to Kenyans. Everybody is calling for Peace. We have a Justice and Peace commission which in my view seems to suggest that the two go hand in hand. We need to ask ourselves 'Can you have peace without justice'. What do we make of the stanza in our National Anthem "Justice be our shield and Defender? As we continue to pray for wisdom to prevail, we should know that our primary duty is to pray for peace in the country.
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“If it will be of any assistance, I think the Church needs to move to the next level of exploring ways engaging the aggressors. This is a very sensitive task and in my view it cannot be left to the politicians or the government. The church has consistently been accused of dragging its feet. Now is the time for the church to lead.     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I am glad that we are making some progress in the matter and that people are talking. I am also glad that Sunday 6th January was dedicated as a day of national prayer and that this was played also in the local media. We cannot underestimate the power of prayer. We should also continue to pray for the Ufungamano Team led by His Grace the Archbishop that is trying to find a solution to the problem. We should also go beyond facilitation of the talks and be involved in relief work.
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KARARE VETERINARY DRUG STORE

CCSMKE helped a community in Karare to set up a veterinary drug store. Karare Livestock Self Help Group constituting of 17 members, chose the location of the store and have been responsible for its running and maintenance. Previously they had to travel 22km to Marsabit (one way), which would cost both time and money, yet the animals would need immediate treatment.

The focus group members were selected by the community.

Having a drug store assures quicker access to veterinary services and lesser expenses. Since it's a community based initiative, purchase of drugs on credit is allowed unlike in Marsabit where cash was the medium.

Karare's populace occupation is limited to pastoralism and small scale farming due to low rainfall. Weather patterns started changing from the 1980s, characetrised with hotter temperatues and low rainfall. Thus limited water supplies, which has increased the susceptibility of the animals to diseases.

Increase in population stretches the resources to meet the demand for timber, firewood and pasture. The locals are encouraged to burn less charcoal and plant gravellia, crotton and leucaenia trees which can withstand the extreme weather.

ACK Micro Enterprise development network Launch ( JULY 30, 06)

(ACK MED)

Speech by The Most Rev. Benjamin M. Nzimbi
The Archbishop of Anglican Church of Kenya and Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are gathered here tonight to launch the Anglican Church of Kenya – Micro enterprise development network.

-The MED idea and the church's mission

The ACK Mission and Vision includes the needs to equip all Gods people to face the challenges of the new millennium through spiritual and social transformation, and enabling them to grow in faith and live life in its fullness.

Consequently, the church through this Micro Enterprise Development network will seek to spiritually and economically empower poor and marginalized members of the body of Christ. By so-doing this lot of people will also enjoy Gods abundance and live dignified lives.

The purpose of this network is to stir up the spirit of enterprise within the church and society at large. I also hope that this network will be able to provide resource inputs in form of training, experience sharing and micro enterprise funds.

I have no doubt in my mind that this initiative will greatly endow the poor majority in our society and enhance the economic well-being for glory of God. By extension, the spiritual and economic transformation of our society will lead to the sustainability and dignity of our congregations, parishes, dioceses and the entire church.

-MED value in poverty alleviation

Meaningful enterprise can defeat poverty. As we all know, individuals and societies that are more enterprising tend to be economically better-off than those others that just take things easy.

This is why even at the national level we are in support of policies that are geared towards promoting enterprise in the informal sector. For example, the proposed drastic reduction of vehicles for senior government officials, if indeed well implemented can spur growth in outsourcing of related services thus expanding the private sector in that field while shrinking the public sector and generally improving efficiency.

We note with appreciation the government s promise of a 1billion shilling kitty for youth entrepreneurship, a 40% improvement of the constituency development fund kitty to ten billion shillings, and drastically reduced hurdles that small and medium enterprises face in the country.

We must keep the government accountable for these promises, but I urge you all to tap from this situation by ensuring these funds spur enterprise at the local level. In particular you need to take seriously the training you will receive this week in order take advantage of the improving social economic situation in this country for the purpose of making a difference for yourselves and your communities.

We must double our efforts for enterprise development and internal resource mobilization to support our desired initiatives.

My dear beloved brother in Christ, it is fro this reason we are all gathered here tonight. By supporting this initiative we will together be making one more step in the church's divine calling towards fullness of life.

Finally I wish to thank all the participants for finding this training worthy of your financial commitment, and the steering committee for working so hard to put everything together. Very special thanks to go to all those who have financially supported this training and more so Mr. James Gitoho for going out of his way to organize a special event in support of this training. That is great commitment to be plight of the poor.

I am also gratefully aware of the enormous resources that Five Talents International and your associates have put to this initiative. This is a partnership I really treasure and I hope you continue to walk with us to exploit our great network, reach and opportunities

-together we can deliver hope to the poor and disadvantaged among us in obedience to our lord Jesus Christ.

With these few remarks I declare ACK MED Network officially launched, and CEDI training opened;

-In the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.