A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; 

and a man of understanding

shall attain unto wise counsels."  

 

Proverbs 1:5 (KJV)

 

One of the great benefits of experience is learning both what works and what doesn't and then wisely applying those experiences to make adjustments or take new paths along the journey.

 

We have learned two very imporant lessons since our beginnings as a Project in Kager, Kenya (Village #1) in 2009:

 

A sustainable community transformation program in rural Africa depends on trustworthy, committed and accountable local leadership that is tested and developed with time and experience.

 

Big investments, big participation rates and big growth (e.g. the American way) leads to dependency and entitlement, and rarely leads to sustainability.

 

As we look back over all the programs JVP developed and implemented in Kager from 2009 to 2015, these two truths are clearly evident.

 

With these lessons in our back pockets, the Jubilee Village Project adopted a new community development apprach in 2016 and are committed to use as we expand our work to new villages in the future: the 3S Approach.

 

3S stands for:

 

1) Start Small

2) Scale Slow

3) Seek Sustainability

 

This simple, three-step approach will help guide us to avoid starting with big programs with big risk.  It provides a disciplined approach to succeed at a small scale with a small scope (3-6 months, 6-8 participants), gaining experience and building leadership capacity along the way.

 

With this 3S Approach, JVP now starts outs in a village with a small SEED Projects.