Alright, my internship has just been finalized and paid for. In less than three weeks I will begin my work with my company in Kakamega, Kenya. To give you a better idea of the organization, their mission is “to build the field of microfinance through the development of appropriate microfinance products and services to create economic opportunities for low-income people and contribute to eliminating poverty.” What they do is that they provide small (around 50-500 USD) to local entrepreneurs along with technical assistance provided by loan officers. The entrepreneurs create or improve their businesses with these loans which allow them to increase their household incomes. What also makes this organization unique is that all of their clients are either HIV/AIDS-infected or HIV/AIDS-affected. Where I come in is to provide my “Western” university education and my other skills to help them learn and practice better business skills. Might I also add that one of the main reasons I was selected for this particular internship is because already know and can speak Kiswahili.So here I am, no longer with the pressure of school or work and just waiting for my departure date, May 31st to get started on this wonderful internship. Can I say I don’t feel any new pressure from this internship? I don’t think so. I am doing my best to prepare (but for what, I can’t say) by buying multiple books on conducting business, microfinance, missionary strategies and Kiswahili. Can you believe I only started learning Kiswahili in May 2005 and here I am, two years later, getting employed to use it? Though I feel in my own self completely unequipped to do this internship, I know God is with me. This is the same way I felt when I traveled to Kenya last year to teach Vacation Bible School. Everything I was required and expected to do, I had never done before but God saw me through successfully. I know God is in this internship as well, as He has already made that apparent to me through my successful fundraising (for the internship, my apartment expenses and airfare! Not cheap!). And now, everything is paid for and all I am doing is patiently waiting to get started while anxiously preparing. God is good.
I’ll tell you, my love for Africa began in late 2003 when I and some of my colleagues started the African Student Association at my undergrad campus, Sam Houston State University. My love grew and I became an advocate for change in Africa and pride demonstrated by Africans living in America. That turned to my passion to learn various African languages, starting with my own, Yoruba, to Kiswahili, Xhosa, Wolof and Bemba. I thought all that would end when I graduated and left my role as President of the African Student Association (ASA) but rather it deepened in another way. I learned about microfinance while casually looking for a post-graduate job and fell in love with it. I also learned about the politics of Africa (though it isn’t much more than extorting money) and I how I can impact countries through politics. If that wasn’t enough, I got a job as a banker and got accepted to study for an MBA in International Management at Baylor University. Looking back, I see how God ordered each of my steps to bring me here right now, and I already am looking ahead as I search for permanent employment in an Africa country doing microfinance. So while this internship is both exciting and scary, through God’s hand, I am more than qualified. Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Until Jesus returns, I got work to do.
Right now, I would like to publicly thank some of my supporters,
My supporting parents
My loving sister
My wonderful previous mission team to Busia, Kenya
My family in Kenya, the 33 children and their caregivers
All of my family and friends
The Exceptional Men of the Talented Tenth, Inc.
Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship
African Student Association
