Page 92 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 7

WALKING LOVE
When, how and why did Sim-
ply Do Good Kenya start?
SDG was started in July 2016
after the team at Tin Roof Foun-
dation decided that they needed
to create a way for people to
give back to their communities
in very simple and impactful
ways.
We had just come from wrap-
ping up a campaign against
Childhood Cancer and seen so
many different people want to
get involved through volunteer-
ing their time, energy and skills.
It became clear that people are
often looking for a place they
can give back to and so Simply
Do Good was birthed. To give
permission and demonstrate
how simple it can be to inten-
tionally do acts of kindness.
There are three of you on the
team, please tell us a little
about yourselves and what
drives you to do this?
My name is Barbara, I have
been part of SDG from its
inception. I studied Forensic
Science and did not ever see
myself in the social impact side
of life,but here we are. I do not
regret it one bit, innately I have
always loved LOVE. Not in
the romantic sense but in the
phileo sense. I have this deep
belief that love can conquer all
the hate and evil things in this
world. SDG is a conduit
for me and other people to
spread this love in the most
authentic and simple way.
I’m Kirsty and originally from
Scotland, I’ve been in Kenya for
almost 14 years. After working
with a small NGO for ten years,
I joined the SDG team which
felt like coming home. It was
like being given permission to
randomly help others and do
small things that would brighten
92 | heal . restore . rebirth . Afrika
people’s day. I have a young
son and I want him to grow up
knowing that people care for
each other and look out for one
another. I want him to be com-
passionate and look beyond
himself.
SDG’s goal is to create a
culture of selfless generosity.
That’s a world I want to be part
of and I’m happy to be part of
the team trying to make that
happen.
My name is Beth Wanyoro
and like Barbara, I never saw
myself working in this line of
work- I am a Political Science
graduate. My mantra in life is to
put a smile on someone’s face
at least each day and by the
end of the year, I would have
touched 365/366 lives. As much
as I may not do that because
we are all human, I looked for
a platform that would help me
do that- SDG provided that
platform for me. I joined SDG
on one deed that we did at the
central park during my holiday
in my 3rd year of university.
We were giving random people
notes of encouragement and I
was sold out to what they were
doing. I became a volunteer
and would join in the deeds
and later I joined the SDG team
and we continue to spread love
in the simplest ways and inten-
tional acts of kindness.
What sorts of programmes do
you do?
Simply Do Good can be adapt-
ed for a variety of different
groups. We currently partner
with Africa Youth Leadership
Forum as the action arm for
their work in developing young
leaders on university campus-
es. We also work with churches
and corporates to find the heart
of the people and ways they
can simply do good rather than
all the giving being dictated
from the leadership.
In order to inspire people to do
good, we organize deeds that
people can participate in and
we partner with other organi-
zations to provide volunteer
opportunities. We believe that
volunteering is a great way for
young people to build their skills
and enhance their CVs.
We have focus areas that guide
us, namely:
● Public Officers i.e. police
officers,
● Vulnerable people i.e.
children with special needs,
elderly people, people with
disabilities
● Environment.
What has it been like running
SDG in Kenya? Are people
HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY