Minutes of the African Proverbs Working Group (APWG) Executive Committee Meeting

Saturday, 24 August, 2019
Maryknoll Society House, Westlands
Nairobi, Kenya
10.30 a.m.

Present

1. Fr. Joseph Healey Moderator
2. Margaret Wambere Secretary
3. Elias Bushiri Assistant Secretary
4. Ricardo Benon Member

Absent with apology

1. Cephas Agbemenu Chairperson
2. Sr Grace Njau Member

Opening

Fr. Healey welcomed the members to the meeting. The meeting started with a prayer.

The agenda was:

1. Favorite African Proverb of the Month
2. 2020 African Proverbs Calendar
3. Sourcing for funds to sustain projects
4. Incomplete projects in 2019
5. APWG members’ meeting

Favorite Proverb of the Month

1. Polls: The members noted that some of the proverbs performed poorly in the polls. Statistics showed that the proverbs with reference to animals usually performed best. Fr. Healey observed that two proverb links on the polling page led the reader to an incorrect page and not the correct description page. This had been corrected.
2. Proverb of the Month photographs: Best quality photographs were required for posting on the website. The members would train online how to pick those with the appropriate pixel count and cropping share among themselves and seek approval from Charles Gikera. Various online courses can help such as Photographic Designs and other applications would enhance their skills. Charles was requested to send guidelines on how to get the correct photographs.

2020 African Proverbs Calendar

Elias presented a draft copy of the calendar to the members. It was agreed that some photographs would be changed and the cover page edited. A few copies of the calendar would be printed in the United States by Fr. Healey on his next visit there. The APWG members would be encouraged to print for their own use once it was posted on the African Proverbs Website
(https://www.afriprov.org)

Sourcing for funds for the APWG projects

1. The members reviewed the efforts that had been made to raise funds to sustain the projects. Ricardo had been mandated with the duty of communicating with various organizations and seek for funds. The funds appeals would include exposure to African Proverbs conferences, and also other meetings related to African culture and writings. This would create opportunity for linkage and networking. The Annual African Proverbs Conference was due in November, 2019 and a request for support would be sent to Wolfgang Milder at the University of Vermont. The request would be for travel, registration funds, and arrangement for hosting. Ricardo would send an email to him as soon as possible.
2. Fr Healey would make requests for goodwill donations of $100 (one hundred dollars) to libraries which have been receiving booklets of the Collections of 100 African Proverbs. These include:
   1. Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA)
   2. Kenyatta University
   3. Hekima University
   4. Maryknoll Institute of African Studies (MIAS)
   5. Tangaza University

Wolfgang Milder donates $200 for goodwill and solidarity periodically.

In the United States of America the booklets have been sent to

1. Asbury Theological Seminary (we hope to have an institutional linkage here)
2. Maryknoll, New York
3. University of Vermont

2019 African Proverbs projects

Incomplete projects in 2019: The Committee was informed that several projects had not yet been completed. The members working on them had received communication from the secretary and were expected to present their projects by the 31 August, 2019. A grace period of one week would be allowed the members. The second half grant for these projects would be paid on a first-come, first-served basis. Once this period expires, the payment for the second half grant ($250) would not be paid to the members.

Tiriki proverbs project: The project was being researched by Agava Stanislaus, the Head Librarian at Tangaza University, Kenya. He had made good progress and would complete it soon. The project would be funded from other sources outside the normal APWG grants.

Facebook platform

It was observed that messages on the Facebook Page received 7 to 8 “Likes” per message that is quite low. However, it depends on the message posted. One message got over 50 “Likes.”

APWG Full Members’ Meeting

This would be held in December, 2019.