The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Diocese of Malindi has launched a community-based development trust to promote financial literacy among the church’s faithful and address environmental management issues and human-wildlife conflicts.
The Malindi Community Development Trust (MCDT)’s main objective, according to officials, is to economically empower households and communities, thereby eradicate extreme poverty among residents, especially Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) faithful.
The trust was officially launched at the St Andrews ACK Cathedral by Bishop Dr Reuben Shukuru Katite, who underscored the need to promote a saving and investment culture among Christian faithful, noting that this would assist the church in evangelism.
The trust is a subsidiary of Five Talents Kenya, a financial services intermediary that works with the Anglican Church of Kenya to promote micro-enterprise activities with a view to economically empowering households and communities and ultimately eradicating extreme poverty.
“Our people have all along been used to receiving handouts, but we are determined to change this by promoting financial independence through promoting the culture of saving and investment so that the church can carry out its evangelism mission without relying on donor support,” the bishop said.
He said the organisation would provide financial management skills and empower people to know how to make money and enable them to govern themselves instead of relying on politicians who give them handouts and the expense of their voting rights.
Five Talents Kenya Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Mugendi said the organisation was already present in 14 counties, where church faithful are organised in community-based organisations (CBOs) with a view to pooling resources together.
In the Coast region, the organisation is working in Taita Taveta, Kwale and Kilifi Counties where about 3,700 Anglican faithful had joined groups have been trained on financial literacy, climate literacy, natural resource and human-wildlife conflicts arising from the counties’ proximity to the Tsavo East and West National Parks.
He said to avoid members from falling victim to pyramid schemes that have in the recent past been associated with the church, the groups were being allowed to operate independently, while Five Talents Kenya’s role is only to provide necessary literacy.
The Programme Coordinator of the Malindi Community Development Trust, Mr. Anthony Mwendo Kivuva said a total of eleven CBOs had been registered with the trust and had already saved about Sh100, 000 after sensitization.
“The trainings are targeted to members who reside where human wildlife conflicts and we are teaching them on how to invest in a coexistence manner,” he said.
Reverend Tom Dawa of Malindi diocese said that the programme was long overdue and that he was now confident that church members will have a well- coordinated and organised saving platform.
“Apart from our spiritual wellbeing, it is important that we must be able to be economically empowered and this initiative is the best way to go and my members will become economically independent,” he said.
Ben Mwambegu from Kama Gahaleni parish and Elizabeth Yaa from Mida Majaoni parish lauded the launch saying that it will help them save money and take loans to improve their livelihoods as well as run away from the begging culture.
By Emmanuel Masha
