Name of Project: East Africa Diaspora Community Progress of the organization (person) towards stated goals (or lack thereof): It has been remarkable that the Jenkins were able to notice a significant shift in the secondary migration of Africans into the Dakotas and relocate to be close to it. Most people are not as aware of demographic and economic movements as the Jenkins, and how that impacts missions. We also find it remarkable how the clustering of Africans that are in Western North Dakota are so like the Jenkins’ experience. There is a cluster of West African from Nigeria and Cameroon where Jana was conceived and born. The other cluster of East Africans is largely Kinyarwanda speaking with a heritage of cattle keeping in Rwanda, Congo, and Burundi. That is a great follow-up of the relationship network the Jenkins had developed as they worked with Rwandan, Burundian, and Congolese refugees during their time in Uganda, and then served in Rwanda later. We are also pleased to see how quickly the Jenkins were able to shift plans to remain relevant during the pandemic. With Dave’s past column writing and their radio experience plus how they have tried to use social media to stay relevant as their network scattered, they were able to shift quickly to keep disciplining relationships ongoing when face-to-face contact became minimal.
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