Opportunity Is the Difference: Nelima Sitati Munene on Faith, Advocacy and Economic Power

So I think if I was to sum it up, I've worked with a variety of issues over time.

And I think to me, one of the main realizations that I have had in whatever issue is being addressed is the decision-making process.

Mm-hmm.

People making decisions in the absence of the folks who were most impacted.

And I think this is where the term that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

And so there's a gap.

There's always a gap between decision makers and the folks who are impacted.

Mm-hmm.

And sometimes they are very well-intentioned decisions that are made that are not suitable for folks, for the folks that it's going to impact or the folks that we're trying to help.

And I want to say this, even as an organization, right, that is serving our community, It does not exclude us as well.

In the process of doing our work and our advocacy, we try our very best to be very community-driven and to really bring the community that we intend to serve along with us.

So it's very important.

And to me, this was a realization from a very early on in doing my work as an advocate and even as an activist and realizing, okay, back home when I was a kid, it was sometimes you'd listen to parliamentarians and you're like, who in the world are they speaking for?

Yeah.

Where did

they get that information? Yeah, and sometimes I would just say, and especially being a young kid, I remember there were all these youth agendas and youth platforms.

Yeah.

And I'm like, who did they ask? Totally disconnected.

How do they

select? What's the selection process? And

apart from that, there's just this huge disconnect of ideas being proposed and the people who are being impacted and then money spent and then it doesn't work.

And

then

the people who are supposed to be whatever the victims or the people who are being helped are being blamed.

Like, oh, we have spent so much money on these people and the situation doesn't change.

So I think if I was to sum it up, I've worked with a variety of issues over time.

And I think to me, one of the main realizations that I have had in whatever issue is being addressed is the decision-making process.

Mm-hmm.

People making decisions in the absence of the folks who were most impacted.

And I think this is where the term that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

And so there's a gap.

There's always a gap between decision makers and the folks who are impacted.

Mm-hmm.

And sometimes they are very well-intentioned decisions that are made that are not suitable for folks, for the folks that it's going to impact or the folks that we're trying to help.

And I want to say this, even as an organization, right, that is serving our community, It does not exclude us as well.

In the process of doing our work and our advocacy, we try our very best to be very community-driven and to really bring the community that we intend to serve along with us.

So it's very important.

And to me, this was a realization from a very early on in doing my work as an advocate and even as an activist and realizing, okay, back home when I was a kid, it was sometimes you'd listen to parliamentarians and you're like, who in the world are they speaking for?

Yeah.

Where did

they get that information? Yeah, and sometimes I would just say, and especially being a young kid, I remember there were all these youth agendas and youth platforms.

Yeah.

And I'm like, who did they ask? Totally disconnected.

How do they

select? What's the selection process? And

apart from that, there's just this huge disconnect of ideas being proposed and the people who are being impacted and then money spent and then it doesn't work.

And

then

the people who are supposed to be whatever the victims or the people who are being helped are being blamed.

Like, oh, we have spent so much money on these people and the situation doesn't change.