Slaying the Monster of Poverty in Africa – a conversation with Moses Tai Founder and CEO of African Development Choices (ADC), Author of ‘There Is Shade’ and Speaker

Welcome and welcome back to Leaders in Conversation with me, Anni Townend, the podcast that helps you to grow confidence and courage your leadership.

I created this series of candid conversations for leaders to share their inspirational leadership stories, weaving together the threads of their life - the people, places and experiences that have shaped them and made them the leader that they are today. 

They offer valuable insights and rich experience to help and inspire you on your own unique leadership journey. If you are not already please do subscribe to the podcast, review and share it. Thank you!

About This Episode

In this episode I am delighted to be in conversation with Moses Tai Founder and CEO African Development Choices (ADC), Author of ‘There Is Shade’ and Speaker.

We delve together into the working culture of African Development Choices, in particular how they encourage community and reflect who they are in what they do: 

• Seeking and giving input, raising awareness of choice
• Showing and taking initiative as part of sustainable change
• Commitment to the organisation and its purpose through building belief and hope, and working together

Moses’ Three Key Encouragements to Leaders 

1. Develop a strong vision 
2. Recruit and retain talented people 
3. Build well structured teams

Connect with Moses Tai, and find out more about African Development Choices

www.linkedin.com/in/mosestai

https://mybook.to/TISHADE

https://africandevelopmentchoices.org/

To listen to other Leaders in Conversation with me Anni Townend go to my website, www.annitownend.com

A big thank you to my support team at the Conscious Marketing Group for helping me with all the marketing of the podcast, to Coco O’Brien for the wonderful intro and outro music, for the lovely design, and for the excellent editing and sound production.

To contact me Anni Townend do email me on anni@annitownend.com visit my website www.annitownend.com, subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on LinkedIn.  I look forward to connecting with you, thank you for listening.

About Moses

My mission with the podcast is to be in conversation with people who have a passion and purpose (no matter how small or large), and, who want to make a difference through their leadership, and to give them a way of sharing their story to inspire, confidence, care and courage in you the  listener - far and wide. So when Taryn Weeks of Sparks Marketing suggested that Moses would be a great guest I contacted him, and bought a copy of his book ‘There Is Shade’. Moses is an inspiring leader, a passionate voice for sustainable change. 

Transcript

Anni Townend 

Welcome, and Welcome back to Leaders in Conversation with me, Anni Townend the podcast that helps you to grow confidence, care, and courage in your leadership. 

I created this series of candid conversations for leaders to share their personal leadership stories to encourage and inspire you on your own leadership journey. 

Together, we weave into the threads of their life values and beliefs, passion, and purpose, and how they live these through their leadership every day. If you're not already subscribed, please do. Please review and share the podcast. Thank you for listening. 

Today, I'm delighted to be in conversation with Moses Tai. Moses is the founder of the African Development Choices, ADC charity, he's a speaker, and also the author of The is Shade. And we're going to hear the poem read by Moses during our conversation along with at least one other poem from the book. 

Welcome, Moses.

Moses Tai 

Thank you for having me, Anni.

Anni Townend

I'm delighted to be in conversation with you, Moses, to have been introduced to you. And the great work that ADC African Development Choices does. And for you to be able to share your story of how and why you started ADC. And I know that we're going to talk about the working culture of ADC, how, in particular, you  help people to seek and give input to show and take initiative, and that people are truly committed to the organisation and its purpose, which I know you are as the founder of this organisation. And I think so important for listeners to hear about your own story, and what inspired you to found  ADC. So let's start with you. And who are the people and the places in particular and experiences that have sh aped you, Moses, your values, your beliefs, and of course, your passion and purpose?

Moses Tai

Let me start by saying that I appreciate the opportunity to come on your podcast  and have a conversation with you. I grew up in Kenya, in the 80s. And as I got older, I remember wondering why there was so much poverty in my community. And as I became more politically aware, in my youth, it occurred to me that  one of the root causes is the mismanagement of public finances and resources. And so, for a long time, I kept thinking to myself, what can I do, to change the situation to help improve the situation, to slay the monster of poverty in Africa. And that is what inspired me to develop my approach to sustainable change, and to set up African Development Choices in order to bring my vision to life. So African Development Choices is on a mission to empower communities in Africa to make informed development choices, hence the name of the organisation African Development Choices. So we are  on a mission to empower communities to make those informed development choices because we believe, I believe personally, that's how we are going to slay the monster of poverty in Africa.

Anni Townend 

Moses, tell me what it was like for you growing up in the community that you grew up in and what raised your awareness to what you've described as the mismanagement of public funds and what might be possible. What was it like growing up as a child in the community that you grew up in?

Moses Tai 

There was a lot of poverty in the community. And I remember just walking around and seeing how people are living, lacking access to very essential services. At this point as a child for me it was the  lack of playgrounds in the community, that's my biggest concern at that point. But then later, as I get older and become more politically aware, I realised the reason why there's lack of playgrounds is the reason why there's lack of access to clean water, and other essential services, because all these services are supposed to be provided to the community, by their leaders. In an ideal situation, it's just witnessing that poverty and seeing how people are suffering and thinking to myself, and watching on the TV and seeing other communities, in Kenya, and in other parts of the world, and how they're living, and comparing that to the situation in my community. And thinking, there's got to be a way we can find a solution to this challenge of poverty in the community.

Anni Townend 

And were your parents politically aware, or the people who took care of you, Moses?

Moses Tai 

The people around me, including my parents, my family, my friends, relatives, the community, every time it came round to elections time, and people were discussing who they're gonna vote for, and why, listening to those conversations, I couldn't understand why people would want to vote in for someone who everybody knows has mismanaged public finances and resources and enrich themselves through that process. Because everybody knows when someone comes into leadership positions and does those kinds of things. The whole community is aware. But when it comes to that moment of making the decision of who they're going to vote for, it seemed  like there was other factors that were being prioritised. And not, not the fact that, we don't have access to these essential services in the community, because this person, or that person has mismanaged public finances and resources that would have enabled them to provide the community with access to these services that are lacking. And so it's from that understanding, and asking myself, so why is it that people are making decisions, not based on what I feel is the most important factor. And from having conversations with my parents and community people around me, I came to the realisation that people don't believe that things can change. So they don't expect things to change. And then that becomes their reality. So there's a quote that says, people's lived experiences, shapes their beliefs, and their beliefs, shaped expectations, and expectations shape their realities. So I realised because this mismanagement of public finances and resources has been happening for a very long time in these communities. It has become the entrenched precedent, it's kind of what people expect their leaders to do when they get elected now, and people don't believe that that can change. So that affects their decision making their choices when it comes to who they're voting for who they're electing. Because even though they know someone has mismanaged public finances and resources in the past, that's not a factor for them, because they don't believe that can change in the first place. So that becomes a non factor a non issue to them when they're making that decision when they're making those choices. Hence, why I came up with the idea of empowering people to make informed development choices especially when it comes to development and providing access to essential services because lack of access to these essential services such as clean water and sanitation is one of the root causes of poverty. So I believe if people have better access to these kind of services, that is one way to reduce poverty.

Anni Townend 

One of the poems in your wonderful book There is Shade, refers to water and to our being extolled during the pandemic to wash our hands, which is all well and good if you have water. But in the poem, you speak very powerfully, to not having water Is that a poem that you would read now, Moses?

Moses Tai 

Yes, I'll be happy to read that poem, Anni. So I wrote this book its a small collection of poems to  explain the approach that ADC is taking in fighting poverty in Africa. And these poems, they focus around access to essential services, and clean water is one of them, clean water to drink is one of the essential services that we're focusing on. And also another theme in the book is also around building self-sufficiency in these communities, because I believe, without empowering communities to be self-sufficient, it will take a very long time before we have sustainable impact in terms of reducing poverty. If we want to make that impact, and make it sustainable, then it has to be driven by the communities themselves, they have to become self-sufficient, in a way. So this one that you just mentioned, it's titled, A Luxury, and what I'm trying to say is when COVID came around, and people were being advised by the government, especially to keep their hands clean, as a way of stopping the spread of the disease. And, it occurred to me that if you have access to clean water, then it's not a big issue. But there are people in this world who don't have access, even to drink water. And so for those people telling them that they need to wash their hands to stay alive, basically, because at that point, that was kind of wash your hands to stay alive. People don't even have water to drink. So it is kind of a luxury for them. Telling them that they need to wash their hands, they can't even afford that luxury. And so the poem goes like this: 

Covid spread 

across the world

like wind driven wildfire

on dried out grasslands. 

The spread initially thought

to be fueled by hand 

leaving in its wake

a rapidly rising 

number of victims.

The rallying cry

‘Keep hands clean 

to stop 

the spread! 

But what if 

you can't even quench your thirst? 

Washing hands 

to stay alive

a luxury billions 

can't afford. 

So the people say

‘Let us hope 

and pray!’ 

Souls at mercy 

of impending calamity;

grim realities 

shaped by centuries.

Anni Townend

Thank you Moses. It's a beautiful poem. And in the book, the next one, which I think is one that you said many people are drawn to, speaks to helping people in a sustainable way. It's called For Themselves.

Moses Tai 

That's right. So this one, the theme that is covered in this poem is building self-sufficiency, and then that's what For Themselves means. And I will read the poem, 

When people plant trees 

for themselves, 

they meet their own needs

for shade 

under hot sun. 

There's also a bit of symbolism here, because shade here is symbolising access to these essential services that we've been talking about, such as clean water. So by saying that people have  shade, we are saying that they have access to those essential services. That's what that means. And so by saying they have when they plant trees for themselves is saying when they have been empowered, to be self sufficient in their own communities that provides them access to those essential services. So for example, ADC is looking to set up clean water and sanitation projects in our school in Kenya. And the purpose, the reason why we are doing that is so we can empower the community using that projects, and show them how they could do similar kind of projects for themselves in their own community going forward. So that is basically the mission of ADC.

Anni Townend

Which is a very, very powerful mission Moses. And I was wondering, you spoke earlier about, because of decades of people really being used to not having these essential services, they didn't and don't believe that change is possible. What have you noticed through ADC and the work that you're doing in the communities where you're able to empower people around belief and the choices that they're making, by way of when it does come around to election time?

Moses Tai

I think the lack of a better precedent is a big factor in causing people to, not not to believe that things can change. And so ADC is looking to use its projects. So we design our projects as precedent setters, we want to go into these communities and set an example for them. And so it sounds like common sense, but if people have never experienced something for generations, it becomes a lived experience and that becomes what they believe. And so how do you change those beliefs? How do you change attitudes and behaviours and cultures the way people think, it's a difficult thing to achieve, but I think one of the things that has not been focused on in the past, especially in the international development sector, there's a lot of goodwill towards Africa, a lot of foreign aid, and charity for donations that go to Africa, it's in the 10s of billions every year. And there's been some criticism in the past that those funds, and those efforts are not having the desired impact, especially when it comes to reducing poverty. So poverty in Sub Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank, is actually increasing. It's decreasing in other parts of the world. But in Sub Saharan Africa, apparently it's increasing. And so ADC is focused on trying to reverse that trend.

Anni Townend

And ADC is a very particular charity with a particular culture, Moses around encouraging people within the charity, to seek and give input to show and take initiative, and that you really empower people to live the purpose of the organisation and to believe in it. How do you do that? How have you initiated yourself that kind of belief that encourages people to seek and give input almost mirroring exactly what you're wanting to happen in the communities in which you're working?

Moses Tai

Exactly. Thank you, Anni. One of the podcasts I've been listening to, from your shows is the one that you're where you're discussing, Radical candor. I find a lot of similarities between that approach that framework and what we are discussing about the culture at ADC, especially around trying to build that culture of seeking and giving input. So, in the past, I've noticed that even though I've tried to encourage people to, to give and to seek input, there's been people have been reluctant in some cases to do that. And, even though I try to lead by example, I'm always seeking input and giving inputs. So, this podcast where you're discussing this framework actually put it all in perspective for me, because then I realise first of all, for a lot of people, they are reluctant to seek input because maybe in the past they've ended up receiving obnoxious aggression, as opposed to radical candour. And in some cases, they've ended up receiving manipulative, insincerity or ruinous empathy.

Anni Townend 

It's an immensely useful framework for listeners who haven't come across it before it's called Radical candour by Kim Scott, she has a book of the same title, radical candour. And she also has done a number of YouTube, TED Talk videos as well. Really worth listening and watching. I think radical candour is really summarised as be kind be direct, which one of my speakers Raj Kumar speaks about in his podcast conversation with me. And in order to be able to be open and honest, it's creating a safe environment in which people can be open and honest and give and seek input from each other. So this is something you and I could talk about Moses, and I can help you with in encouraging this kind of open conversation, sometimes referred to as courageous conversation.

Moses Tai 

Yeah, I think that's something I will be very keen to explore further and doing, and to improve on.

Anni Townend

And you also encourage people to show and take initiative, which again, mirrors the work that you're doing in the different communities in Africa. And how do you do this in the working environment of ADC? How are you encouraging people to show and take initiative?

Moses Tai

Thank you, Anni. One of my favourite quotes by Steve Jobs, says that it doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people, so they can tell us what to do. This quote, I think, summarises why we are trying to set up this culture because ADC has been built by people who came on board and told me what to do, as opposed to the other way around. I hired people who came on board, and they were able to take initiative, and tell me what to do and help me to set things up. And that's why we are where we, if it wasn't for those people, we wouldn't be where we are today with ADC. Hence why I feel very strongly about that, because I've seen also other volunteers who have come on board. And they've kind of expected me to tell them what to do. And I've tried to encourage them to say and try and say to them, I am actually expecting you to tell me what to do. And sometimes people find that very strange. And so I use the examples I always give examples of volunteers who have come through ABC and have added a lot of value because they've been able to show and take initiative and how to set things up. So for example, there's a volunteer by the name of Carrie, who came on board about two years ago, I think. And she used to lead our operations, and she could see how much we were struggling with operations. And because we did not have a good structure within the organisation. And straightaway, she said to me, I think we need to recruit a volunteer who can help us with organisation design, I would never have thought about that, because I didn't know much about organisation design and how important it is. So Carrie went ahead and created a job description, put it out, as interviewed a few candidates and recruited Angela, who is a professional in that field in organisation design. And Angela came on board, and she did a lot of research, interviewed, all the people in the leadership team went away, put some thought into it and came up with our design structure for ADC that did not exist before. And which made a lot of sense to me. And I could see now clearly how we can keep improving this structure. And so that was that made a big difference added a lot of value to the organisation made it a lot easier for people who are joining the organisation to settle in, because now they can see a very clear structure. So that's why I think showing and taking taking initiative is very important as part of ADC’s culture. It’s the reason ADC exists, because people have come and taken initiative.

Anni Townend 

That's so good to hear. And they come because they believe in what ADC he does. And one of the titles of the poem, and indeed, of our podcast, which is called Slaying the Monster of Poverty in Africa is Slay the Monster, and it would be great to hear you reading this poem, Moses.

Moses Tai 

Yes. So this poem is partly explaining why my own experience, growing up in Kenya in my community, seeing what poverty was doing to people around me, and I'm thinking to myself, we've got to find a way to slay this monster. And that's basically what I'm trying to do with ADC setting up the organisation, is actually we are trying to Slay the Monster of poverty. So here is the poem:

Ever present 

flashes;

people suffering 

at the hands of a monster.

Dehumanised 

families,

dignity stripped, 

condemned to 

degrading existence 

by the monster. 

Men, women, children! 

Trapped like mice 

in abject squalor;

Stalked like prey 

by deadly disease; 

Emasculated like skeletons 

by perpetual famine

Vivid flashes

goad gallant warrior 

into battlefield.

Slay the monster 

with a spear 

to its heart 

and end the scourge.

Anni Townend

Thank you, Moses. All the poems are very powerful that one is especially so I think and why you chose the title of our conversation to be slaying the monster. The title of the book is, There is Shade. And as we draw to close our conversation, I thought there would be no better fitting poem to draw us to a close than the title of the book and of this poem.

Moses Tai 

Yes, so this poem gives the book its title. And so I think it's a very powerful poem. And this one talks about how it feels like to not have shade, which basically translates to not having access to essential necessities, basic necessities of life, like clean water. And so I'm comparing that to being exposed to the sun with no shade and the sun really being very, very punishing in the process. So  here is the poem. 

Burning glare of flaming ball.

Furious wrath of unforgiving rays.

Blistering heat of scorching sun.

No reprieve. 

No escape.

No shade. 

I'll plant the trees and water the seedlings. 

I'll have the roots spread deep into the soil. 

I'll have the trunks grow tall into the air. 

I'll have the branches grow evergreen crowns. 

Fleming ball

Unforgiving rays

Scorching sun-

Now there is shade for all to escape the sweltering 

and have a reprieve.

Anni Townend 

Thank you, Moses.

Moses Tai

It's speaking to what I'm trying to achieve through ADC to plant trees, using the projects that we are looking to set up. So I see that as planting trees. And that are going to provide shade to not just this generation, but also to future generations. Because this, this poem is inspired by a famous Greek quote, that says, As society grows great when old men plant trees, whose shade they know, they shall never sit in. And so I'm trying to encourage current generations in Africa, to follow my example, and plant trees to provide shade not for themselves, necessarily, but for future generations. And I feel like, that's what has happened in the West, since I've come to the UK and seeing how things are, I think, the past generations here, they planted trees, that current generations and future generations will be enjoying the shade of, probably those generations that planted those trees, did not see them enjoy that shade. They did it for future generations. And I also say this issue has been related to the migration crisis at the moment, people willing to risk their lives, crossing the sea on boats that can sink anytime. They're overcrowded. Sometimes you have mothers, with their babies on those boats, trying to get across to come to Europe and the Western world. And you're thinking to yourself, What makes a human being take such a risk with their lives with their child's life, just to get to the other side of the sea, to get to Europe or America. And to me, it's because they've been, they've felt that the wrath of unforgiving rays where they are, because there's no shade, there's generations that came before them did not plant the trees that could provide them with that shade. And so they're looking to come to Europe and America, because they hope that, here, they will be able to have a reprieve so to speak, and just experience that human dignity. And I think, looking at it from that perspective. So the focus really, on international development will be how can we plant trees in this communities where these people are trying to get away from. That is the solution to the migration crisis, in my opinion.

Anni Townend 

I think you're right. And it's the metaphor of there being shade of there being essential services, that have people be able to live in dignity to raise their children with love, and generosity, and that the metaphor of there is shade of planting trees for future generations. what you're talking about there is all the essential services that enable people to live full lives, to live with dignity, and not to risk their lives in seeking it somewhere else for them, and their children and future generations and to risk so much in doing that.

Moses Tai

Exactly. And it is not sustainable for Western countries. They can't keep taking in people from elsewhere forever. It's not sustainable. At some point, it's gonna cause some issues here as well. So, finding ways in which people can feel they have shade where they are, I think that's the best way to address this issue.

Anni Townend 

I think so too Moses, thank you so much for our conversation and for inspiring that belief that that is a sustainable future for everyone, for the small communities in which people live but indeed, for the bigger global community in which we all live, what are your three encouragement to leaders who are looking to develop their leadership, create and inspire belief and others, and a culture in which people are able to input and to be part of in the way that you've described?

Moses Tai 

Thank you, Anni. I think one of the important things from my experience is to as a leader is to develop a strong vision, so when I look at the journey I've been on, since I decided to set up ADC, and the kind of people that we've been able to attract the kind of talents that we've been able to attract, I think, from talking to a lot of the volunteers who have come to ADC, my feeling was, what attracted them in the first place is the vision, they felt it was a very strong vision, it's resonated with them. And that's why they applied to come to help as volunteers in ADC, so I think.

Anni Townend

To slay the monster, to slay the monster of poverty. And what's the second encouragement that you have?

Moses Tai

The second one is to recruit and retain talented people. So I think, again, like we've talked about, we've had some very talented people, very smart people who come to ADC, and they've taken initiative, and they've added a lot of value that happens to be where we are today. So how developing strategies for how you can recruit the best people and how to retain them, I think it is very critical for the success of any organisation.

Anni Townend 

And your third encouragement.

Moses Tai 

And the third one is to build well structured teams. And this is where I was talking about my experience with the volunteer who came on board to help us with our design work, because from that work, is when we were finally able to build very, very good structures for our teams. And we could see an impact immediately after that, because now, new volunteers were coming on board found it much easier to settle in, because things were a bit more structured a bit more clear. As they say, being a startup, obviously, there's always going to be ambiguity, to some extent. But trying to reduce that ambiguity and put some structures in place, I think is very important.

Anni Townend

Wonderful. Thank you, Moses, thank you so much for sharing your vision and reading your poems and sharing your leadership story of growing up in Kenya and of realising that you had to make a difference and that you are making a difference. For people who are listening to the podcast and would like to get in touch with you would like to find out more about ADC, and potentially to volunteer and work with ADC, what is the best way in which they can contact you.

Moses Tai 

The best way will be to visit the ADC websites, which is AfricanDevelopmentChoices.org. There you will find opportunities to volunteer,  opportunities to donate, and other ways you can get involved. I think that information is on the website. I'm also on LinkedIn. So you can search for me on LinkedIn, you'll find my profile there, you can engage me on LinkedIn. And also my book is available worldwide on Amazon. So you can also buy the book to help promote the work that ADC is looking to do.

Anni Townend

Thank you, Moses. And I strongly recommend that you the listener to buy the book, There is Shade. It's a really wonderful book. You've heard Moses read a few of the poems from the book. Thank you again, Moses for our conversation today.

Moses Tai 

Thank you. Thank you very much Anni for the opportunity to have this conversation with you today.

Anni Townend 

You're very welcome. Thank you and thank you to you the listener If you would like to listen to other leaders in conversation with me Anni Townend and do go to my website annitownend.com I'd also like to thank my support team at the conscious Marketing Group and Coco O'Brien for helping me with the production of the podcast and Coco in particular for the intro and outro music. To contact me directly do email me on anni@annitownend.com and visit my website, annitownend.com subscribe to my newsletter. Follow me on LinkedIn. Subscribe to the podcast. I look forward to connecting with you. Thank you again to you, Moses. And thank you for listening. 

Moses Tai 

Thank you Anni.