Our full annual report to the Charity commission can be downloaded here.
Three key sections in the narrative section of that report are given below: our charitable activities, achievements and future plans as reported after the year-end.
Charitable activities
In 2022 we served our object through the continued support of the BUILD programme (Biblical Understanding for In-service Leadership Development), which operates primarily in East Africa. Our support continues to focus on the activities previously reported. However, the Trustees agreed to tease one of these apart to better reflect our grant-making, giving the following six: (1) Contributing to partner project budgets; (2) Connecting projects with other sources of support and resources, one another included; (3) Consulting in order to help serve the development of programmes; (4) Consolidating training resources alongside our partners; (5) Coordinating the wider network in partnership with key local leaders; (6) Co-training alongside BUILD trainers when and where possible.
Achievements
The year witnessed a step-wise opening up of East Africa post-pandemic. Our Executive Trustee, Revd Dr Jem Hovil, was able to visit projects again and experienced ever decreasing levels of friction in relation to testing, form-filling and mask-wearing. The increase in travel was indicative of an exceptional bounce-back in the work, indeed a leap forward. 2021 was marked out by detailed and in-depth preparation, 2022 was the year of that bearing fruit. New projects began, greater numbers of local leaders were trained, and there was an increase in human and other resource capacity on the ground. It also meant record income and expenditure for the Charity, due to a new funding partnership, with
£107,619 provided in support for our church leadership development work as a whole.
In the Anglican Church of Tanzania prior planning bore fruit in an exceptional sequence of events. A consultation on training in their Lake Zone, which Jem Hovil participated in took place, followed by a ‘training-of-master-trainers’ event to build the faculty for two learning centres. That has led to ongoing training-of-trainers work at those centres, with both day-release and block-release programmes. And all this under a new ‘Lake Zone BUILD Coordinator’ Mrs Mercy Mungai, who has also been adopted by CMS Africa as a local partner.
Work in the Anglican Church of Kenya has also gone from strength to strength. A new ‘intensive’ approach to equipping existing theological students was launched at two colleges: Carlile College in Nairobi, and Bishop Hannington Institute in Mombasa. Rev Capt Benjamin Kibara has led those initiatives and he has drawn in new trainers into the team, and grown the capacity of his office through an office administrator. Jem Hovil had the privilege of witnessing some of that training first hand.
Jem was also able to travel on to Uganda for a graduation of BUILD trainers at Uganda Martyrs Seminary, Namugongo in April. This represented fresh capacity for the work and the fruit of work on accreditation. The cohort was the first with diplomas in Bible, Theology and Leadership recognised by Uganda’s National Council for Higher Education. This holds great promise for future cohorts and for the local sustainability of the programme.
Finally, it would be amiss not to mention that BUILD Partners has directly supported training of trainers in Kamango Diocese, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, despite the difficulties of internal displacement suffered there due to ongoing conflict. And the planned work in Ethiopia continues to gain momentum.
Future plans
In 2023, in addition to support for existing projects we aim to: (1) finalise a new source of accreditation in Kenya; (2) build the capacity of the work in the Church of Uganda, particularly at the Provincial Secretariat; (3) witness the launch of a training of trainers’ cohort at St Frumentius Anglican Theological College in Gambella, Ethiopia, after a preparation period; (4) renew our BUILD Partners website and launch a new BUILD Training one; (5) develop a strategy for UK consolidation and growth; (6) strengthen our Safeguarding Policy.
