Meet Our Founders

Dave and Dayle met in southern California in 1970 and were married in 1971. Dave was born and raised in Kansas, moving to California in 1964 with his parents. Dayle grew up in Rhode Island moving with her family in the summer of 1967. Their families attended the Downey First Baptist Church and that is where they met. Their first son, David, was born in 1974 in Riverside, CA. The family moved to the Pacific NW in 1978, where their other two children, Amanda & Daniel, were born. They committed to home schooling their children and Dayle carried the majority of the responsibility to graduate all 3 children from high school. They now have 7 grandchildren, ages 1 to 9. They are committed to family and enjoy the fact that all of them live within a 10 mile radius. Two of their kids are on the board of directors of Poyeho and all three support the work in Africa.

They are active in both their church and in the community. Dayle volunteers at the church helping with organization and special events. Dave is a part of the business community, the local chamber of commerce, and is on the board of Communities in Schools Puyallup. Serving others has always been a part of their life, especially working with young people.
Dave’s first trip to South Africa was in 2005 to visit a farm and ministry that was started in 2002. The farm is located near Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape Province. During that trip he had the opportunity to help re-build a fence. The lack of proper tools prompted him to begin to think of ways he could help these people. Returning to the US in December of 2005, he spent the next year developing the vision and mission of Poyeho Project. Returning to South Africa in April of 2007, he began to train and envision the indigenous people regarding business development.
Selling their home in October of 2007, Dayle accompanied Dave to South Africa for a two month trip. The impact on Dayle was quite remarkable. She had made a few trips to Mexico prior to this, but this trip changed her perspective of the world. She was affected by the overt racism and oppression of the people. She realized that they as a couple could live on much less than they had experienced at home. She moved from a 1500 square foot home to an 800 square foot rustic cabin. There was electricity and running water, but not the nice things to which she was accustomed. Her heart for the people and their condition was deepened and she discovered that people truly are the same everywhere; they have hopes, dreams, and are grateful for life. Her appreciation of the United States and the small things that we take for granted was impacted by experiencing everyday life in another nation. Her heart for the people of Africa became a passion and her commitment to making lasting changes is now flowing through Poyeho Project to impact individuals on the other end of the globe.
They formed and incorporated Poyeho Project in 2007 and have now made 9 trips to Africa. Poyeho has trained over 150 business men and women, taught classes on Accounting, Business Practices, Time Management, and Business Structure. They have helped numerous businesses either start or grow. Poyeho Project is currently engaged in three nations; Republic of South
Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. This year we will be making our first trip to Malawi and we have open invitations into Ethiopia and Rwanda.
The heart and vision of Poyeho’s founders continues to grow as God opens new doors to help bring sustainability to Africa one business and one person at a time. They would like to thank all those who have partnered with them to make this dream a reality. If you are interested in joining with them in bringing sustainable change, please contact us at Poyeho Project to see how you can help in this vision.