April 7th commemorates the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, which was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2003. The date marks the beginning of the genocide perpetrated against members of the Tutsi minority by the Hutu extremist-led government. Loom team member Ninziza Kamanzi recently attended…
This past month we had the joy of welcoming Jacinta, a Social Innovator working in Kenya and Tanzania, who visited us in Portland while traveling in the US. She shared many updates and stories with us about projects that may be familiar to you. A new class oftwelve students – young, single mothers and women…
Thank you for joining us this year in accelerating Social Innovators across East Africa! Here is a small glimpse of what your investment has accomplished this year: Social Innovators ran 45 Celebrating Children Seminars for over 2,100 participants, impacting a total of 10,750+ lives. We gathered with over 30 Social Innovators from 7 nations during…
I want to tell you a story about a memorable journey I set out on about twenty years ago. I traveled west through nine nations from Kenya to Congo, back to Tanzania and south to South Africa to visit people working alone in remote and hard places. My job was to assess projects for an…
What caught my attention is that there is no one who can love my children except me and this is the will of God.” – Pastor and participant in a CCS Seminar “As a community leader working with more than 500 children and having a school of 250 children…I have to play my role for…
One year ago, Loom announced the launch of a new movement called Thrive Africa. This fall, Lead Writer Jenna Funkhouser sat down with Executive Director Colleen Milstein to talk about the journey that led us here, and what lies ahead. Jenna: Colleen, in last year’s annual report Loom announced the launch of a movement…
“People are hungry for this teaching.” Penninah shared these words with us while a Loom team visited Uganda last week. While there, we gathered with some Celebrating Children Seminar Facilitators to hear how it is going, and what we can learn from as we prepare for a training in Uganda next Spring. Penninah, Jane Brenda,…
Recently we received a report from Jacinta, who was part of a Celebrating Children Seminar in the region of Pokot, Kenya. She writes: “The government leaders were shocked when they visited the village. “You brought life to these villages,” [they said.] Those who attended past seminars reported that much has changed for them since the…
By Janessa Colburn Joe Munisi is a local pastor in Tanzania, and a dedicated facilitator of the Celebrate Children Seminars (CCSs). He and his wife Carol have recently been leading seminars about once a month for men in the local church. Their seminars often last about two days, beginning with sessions on trauma and how…
May God bless you with discontent with easy answers, half-truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live from deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that you will work for justice, equality, and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for…
