Finding Yourself, Finding Home

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Traveling always teaches us something about ourselves. Over the years we have seen many volunteers come. Some find adventure, some find relaxation, some find purpose, many find friends but only a few find themselves and home.

Kimberly Watson came as a businesswoman ready to take a break and find out what God had store for her next in life. When I picked her from the airport she was full of energy, even after a full 30 hours of traveling. She looked surprisingly refreshed! We quickly became friends as I introduced her to Mwanza. What we did not expect was the friendship we would form. Kimberly helped us personally through a big house move while Eric was in America. She played with the boys, went out to eat with us, texted constantly and was a rock to many within the Mwanza community, in and outside of Wesley College. She worked tirelessly to be “mama Kim” to a group of younger men that were living in Mwanza without their families. She made sure they ate, had fun, and I think grew better for having known her. All of this is not even to explain her impact on Wesley College!

Kim worked alongside Reiko, Noel, and Eric to get Tukuwe: Wesley College’s Entrepreneurship Center launched using her business skills, knowledge, and heart for ministry to begin something new in Mwanza and at Wesley College. In the time that she was here Tukuwe was able to start piloting three businesses through the incubator and have their first stakeholder’s meeting to introduce the idea to the wider Mwanza community. This may sound like a simple step, but nothing here is simple and the quick development of the business incubator idea into a reality shows a passion for work that Kim and Noel, Head of Business and Entrepreneurship at Wesley College both have. This including meeting with local businesses, working on a financing model for the incubator and the businesses, and most of all looking into the most common challenges for Small to Medium Size Businesses in Mwanza (SMEs).

After two months and quite a bit of work Tukuwe is shaping up and getting ready to officially launch, Kim headed back to the US, and some of us in Mwanza are forever changed. We are already excited for her next time around.