Microcredit summit for the poor comes to Nairobi

As we gather with family and friends through the Christmas and New Year holidays, many of us search for the deepest meaning of this season. But my mind keeps wandering off to an event that Nairobi shall be hosting in April 2010, and the compelling narratives from individuals who shall be featuring at the Africa-Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit.  

Sometimes that meaning can be found in the most unlikely places, such as the slums of Nairobi where Jamii Bora, a microfinance organisation that shall be featuring at the Microcredit Summit, has secured a foothold.

The group has been offering savings and loans to former beggars, prostitutes, thieves and gang members. Along the way, Jamii Bora has learned that some of the best gifts aren’t given, but are earned through the grace of a fresh start or a second chance.

Just months after the post-election violence that engulfed Kenya two years ago, Jamii Bora received funds to rebuild Toi Market in Kibera, which had been destroyed by fire in the deadly rioting.  Jamii Bora decided to find the rioters and enlist them in rebuilding the market they had destroyed.

This was a seemingly preposterous proposition, even in the world of microfinance –which knows a thing or two about defying conventional wisdom.  For most microfinance institutions, just finding the perpetrators of the destruction would have been a dangerous, if not unwise, task.  Convincing them to rebuild what they had destroyed would seem to be an act of folly.

But believing in the impossible comes naturally to Jamii Bora whose staff are mostly former street people who have used Jamii Bora’s combination of savings and microloans to leave behind their lives as beggars, prostitutes, and thieves—lives that at one time were mired in extreme poverty.  What they didn’t leave behind, however, were their deep roots in the community. Jamii Bora’s staff was able to find the leader of the gang of 200 youths that had destroyed the market and talked with “the General”, as he is known locally, about helping rebuild the market. When he first met Ingrid Munro, Jamii Bora’s founder, General told her he was upset with her staff when they first spoke with him because they didn’t seem to realise how dangerous he was. But through persistence they were able to convince the General and his gang to aid in the reconstruction of the market, paying them to guard the materials at night and helping rebuild during the day.

After the reconstruction General and a third of the gang joined Jamii Bora.  The others were still skeptical about microfinance, but they were intrigued as they watched the General build a legitimate business constructing metal cases that are popular with children attending boarding schools.

Recently, General told Munro that he had done what he hadn’t done for 13 years: Visited his mother in a village in Nyanza. He was unwilling to visit because his mother was so ashamed of him, just as he was ashamed of himself. 

But with after months of toil, he felt redeemed enough to face his mother. His mother cried for three days because she was so happy about how General had turned his life around.

There are many visions for microfinance, including this one: providing microfinance for redemption.   The dictionary defines redemption as restoring one’s honour and worth, setting one free.  Isn’t that the highest vision for all of development: assisting people in restoring their honour and worth—setting them free from the clutches of poverty?

The General’s story of redemption isn’t an isolated case. Ask Munro to describe other Jamii Bora members and she’s likely to tell you about Wilson Maina, who was a notorious thief, one of the most wanted criminals in the Mathare Valley slum. After saving Sh750 (none of it from stealing, a condition set by Jamii Bora) he received a Sh1,500 loan. Today he has four businesses and has convinced hundreds of youth to get out of crime. Now that’s a return on investment that the world desperately needs.

Daley-Harris is founder of the Microcredit Summit Campaign which seeks to reach 175 million poor families with microloans. www.microcreditsummit.org