Minutes of the African Proverbs Working Group (APWG) Executive Committee Meeting held on Saturday, 30 September 2017 at the Maryknoll House, Nairobi, Kenya from 10 am to 2pm

 

PRESENT

Father Joseph Healey

Cephas Agbemenu

Elias Bushiri

Francis Njuguna

APOLOGIES

Margaret Ireri

Sister Ann Grace Njau

AGENDA

Opening Prayer.

Francis Njuguna report on use of the Smartphone for posting APWG messages on Facebook.

Elias Bushiri request for a Laptop Computer.

Changing one name on the APWG Bank Account.

New Project Proposals for the 2017/2018 project period.

Matching Grants including phone report from Gabriel Odhiambo.

Task of correcting, editing and fact-checking and other duties

Charles Gikera workload.

Actions to be taken.

Closing Prayer.

 Lunch.

 

Opening Prayer

The meeting started with a prayer by the Chair, Cephas, to welcome back the members after a recess and also to give condolence to Margaret Ireri, an executive member, who lost her sister through illness on the 29 September, 2017 and to Sam Wanyoike, our Website Host, whose mother died recently. The African prayer “The Dead are Never Dead” was read in living memory of them.

This was followed by each member voting in the “African Proverb of the Month” Poll. NOTE:  The July – September, 2017 Poll reached 552 votes.

 Francis Njuguna report on the use of the smartphone 

Frances reported having serious challenges in learning and effectively using the smartphone.  He requested some funds to buy internet bundles to facilitate his learning activities. However, the benefactors said that they cannot finance internet bundles to Francis Njuguna until he proves the capability to use the smartphone for posting some information to the Afriprov Facebook Page (http://afriprov.org/component/poll/39-my-favorite-african-proverb-of-the-month-between-january-and-june-2017-is.html).

Elias’ Computer Request

Elias Bushiri, has requested for a laptop computer after his personal laptop crashed. This request was made to the executive committee about two months ago. The committee members deliberated on the issue. It was noted that Elias uses his laptop tremendously and effectively for translation of all the research projects into French. It was noted that providing him with such equipment will be of a great benefit to the whole group. It was therefore agreed that the laptop be bought for him. Elias is requested to send the details or quotations of the Laptop to Margaret and Cephas to assist him to purchase it through online business (Jumia Website) or any other shops.  The funds will come from APWG online account.

Changing a Name on APWG Bank Account

The committee decided to remove the name of the former online signatory Mr. Francis Kimani who is no longer working at Maryknoll and replace with Catherine Wambugu. Margaret and Father Joseph Healey are advised to go to the NIC bank to effect the changes. They should go to the bank with a letter from Father Joseph Healey on Maryknoll stationery authorising them to do so.

Project Proposals 

There are 12 new Project Proposals which were well edited and will be approved for new grants during the next General Meeting in February, 2018.

Matching Grants

Father Healey stated that funds for Endangered Proverbs Booklets are slowly drying up. So, the subcommittee should work hard to find new sponsors. The sub-committee was asked to submit a report on the activity of finding a new sponsor. Gabriel Odhiambo was called and promised that he is going to submit a written report on the new sponsors.  He also reported the African Development Bank as a potential benefactor and said their application may be considered during their next financial year in 2018. Gabriel and the committee are encouraged to find out more about the application procedures and follow through with deadlines and supporting documents.

Task of correcting, editing and fact-checking and other duties

The benefactors asked Father Joseph Healey to stop spending a lot time on correcting and editing African Proverbs of the Month. So, the group should find someone else for that work. Cephas offered to do that work of correcting, editing and factchecking the African Proverbs of the Month.

It was agreed that Cephas, Margaret and Elias be paid for “additional services rendered” beyond their regular duties. However, the nature of extra duties and the amounts to be paid need to be clarified.

Charles Gikera’s Workload

We appreciate all the work that Charles Gikera is doing for our two websites, but we realize that his workload is very heavy.  The committee hopes he can catch up on posting the back photographs on the “African Proverb of the Month.” We will try to give new tasks to others like Peter Kyalo.

Action to be taken.

There shall not be any more general meetings in 2017.  Members are encouraged to continue working on their projects until the next meeting in 2018.

Closing Prayer.

The closing prayer was said in French by Elias Bushiri Elie.

Lunch was provided by the Maryknoll House courtesy of Father Joseph Healey.