Nakuru Safehouse for Kenya Women and Children

Hi Everyone,

Meet Susan, one of our recent graduates.

Susan is the 3rd born in a family of four. She didn’t have the opportunity to meet her father, who died when she was very young. Susan was 3 years old when her mother passes away in 2001 after a short illness, forcing Susan and her siblings to live with their 80-year-old maternal grandmother in the Nyamurutu slums. Her maternal aunt and her oldest sister are the ones who supported her with school fees in high school. 

Susan achieved high grades in school, however, after completing her secondary schooling her grandmother was not in a position to pay her college fees. Susan stayed at home for two years with little prospect of following her passion for learning fashion and design. Susan was very grateful when she was offered the opportunity to join Springs of Hope Foundations, Kijiji Mission Center in Nakuru on 5th October 2020, starting her new journey of studying the design and dressmaking one year course that we offer to help our needy girls attain a skill for their future, enabling them to earn a living.

We are often approached by outside organizations, offering our students special projects. One such example is the Rotary Club of Nakuru, which asked the students to sew reusable sanitary napkins to be given to high school girls within the community. These projects are wonderful for our students on many different levels. They help improve their speed and accuracy, while also giving them a huge sense of pride and confidence as they earn enough money to pay for their own sewing machine and a little seed money upon graduation.

Last week Susan left our center after being offered a job opportunity in a town known as Olkalou, at Quito Fashions Ltd, to work on piece work to which her sewing machine, paid for with the money earned while doing small projects while living with us, will be of great help.

Earlier this week we celebrated the International Day Of The Girl. We wish Susan, who now joins our alumni of young women who have become part of our huge Kijiji Mission family of successful young women over the years all the best in the future, you have made Kijiji Mission proud.

Again, we want to thank you for all of your support over the years, to be able to provide hope and a future to so many women who couldn't have possibly dreamed of having either is truly a blessing. You have made a tremendous difference in so many women's lives, including ours!

Thank you again,

Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom

Founder/CEO

Springs of Hope Foundation

(We've changed the student's name to protect her privacy)

Links:

• FACEBOOK
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Among the many young women who have come through our one-year training program was a group of young single mothers from Samburu County; Samburu is a county in the former Rift Valley Province of Northern Kenya. The primary economic activity in this region is nomadic pastoralism with other areas practicing agro pastoralism. The Samburu diet comprises mostly of milk and occasionally blood from their cows. This is also one of the communities still practicing FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), child/forced marriage, marriage by abduction etc. These are mainly caused by unequal power relations between men and women, rigid gender roles, norms and hierarchies and ascribing women to a lower status in society. The young women who joined our project were single mothers and, in the community where they come from, giving birth outside wedlock is considered an abomination, thus making the girl an outcast to her family and community. Virginity is regarded a very important element before marriage and this explains why girls get married at a very young age, obtaining a handsome dowry for the father in the transaction.

We admitted the young mom’s, along with their children into the project and after one year of training, the women were well equipped to go back and start their business. Initially there was only one seamstress in their regional community center and the work was too much for her, so the opportunity was available. Upon graduation the young mothers returned to their Samburu town center, set up their small shop, displayed samples of the work they had learned at Kijiji Mission in their small shop front window and started taking orders immediately. Their first assignment was to do uniforms for choir members, second was to do bridesmaid dresses. As word of mouth of the quality of their workmanship spread, orders started coming in. It has been a little over two years since this small group of Samburu women graduated, and they are doing very well, affording to pay for their children’s education and assist other family members. These young women are very grateful for the opportunity to receive support and training from Kijiji Mission.

Warmest regards,

Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom

Founder/CEO

Springs of Hope Foundation

With your support, we can continue to empower vaulnerable women through our vocational training programs. A donation will go a long way and support our efforts. As you may be aware, all work done by our USA and Australia directors is voluntary and all travel and pesonal expenses are paid for by the individual. So, your donations go a very long way in Kenya.

The best part is, if you donate on July 14, donations of $100 and up will be eligible for matching funds from our partner, GlobalGiving! The higher the donation, the higher the match and the more vaulnerable women we can empower by teaching them marketable skills, can we count on you for a one-time donation this July 14th? ?

Links:

• FACEBOOK
• WEB PAGE