By Annabel Khouri | MWB Volunteer
Work continues with the field officers. They are now in the field working to recruit customers to our program, which has been a challenge. This is an election year and candidates are sending representatives to the rural areas (such as where we work) and handing out money! In some cases, the money is paid out in exchange for the individual’s voting card, so someone can vote on their behalf (though not necessarily for the individual’s preferred candidate). Essentially, they are buying votes from the rural poor who don’t have 2 shillings to rub together, so 100 shillings (less than $2USD) is worth giving up their right to vote! Since we are not giving out money, some people have ignored our meetings, but we continue to try to spread the word. Apparently, there have also been some bad experiences with NGOs who have promised the world to some of these poor farmers and then failed to deliver, which makes for a difficult work environment to say the least. We have to convince the people that we have a proven plan of action to offer, that we are not trying to take advantage, but instead help them. All very challenging indeed! But, the program is doing very well in our first district. Starting up in a new area is difficult and we have to prove ourselves in each new area we move to in order to gain the trust of the people.
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