By Peninah | Peninah - Director
JUDITH GRACE
Judith, now twenty years old, had great determination to change her life. A few years ago she joined the Auto Mechanics Course offered to her at Safe Spaces.
Raised by a single mother in the Eastland Slums of Nairobi, Judith witnessed many horrific acts. Her mother was a victim of severe domestic violence.
At 18 years old, Judith became pregnant by a man who had made many promises to her. Most importantly, he said he would send her to school but after he learned of Judith’s pregnancy, the man disappeared.
Judith gave birth and became a single mom herself. She worked as a house help to fend for her child and support her ailing mum. Despite this, through thick and thin, Judith remained very optimistic and knew that her life would change one day.
After a Catholic Priest introduced her to Peninah and the program at Safe Spaces, Judith was able to complete her High School education as she only had an additional year to graduation.
After Judith re-entered school, with the support from Safe Spaces, she was confronted with many obstacles. It was clear that her previous education was quite inadequate. Although she only had a year to complete her studies, to receive her diploma, Judith had to work extra hard to compensate for her past. Many of these obstacles formed challenging revelations for her. She was insecure and unsure of what life could offer her but she persevered. Judith and her mum worked long hours under difficult circumstances to make ends meet. On top of this Judith, had to study very hard but it all worked out well with the guidance from Safe Spaces where she was learnt to focus and became determined.
After graduating, Judith was one of five girls that KIBO AFRICA chose from the Safe Spaces Auto Mechanics program to receive internships and train at their company. KIBO AFRICA is one of Safe Spaces Partner Companies where they design, build and repair modern motorcycles. Their operations and facilities are very sophisticated and professional. Once the girls complete the training period, the aim of the internship program is to give full time employment to one of the girls who shows exceptional skills. Judith Grace scored high on all aspects and was very fortunate to have been selected. Given the opportunity to work for KIBO Company, Judith began working full time as of October 2017.
We are very proud and happy to see Judith turning her life around and creating a positive future for herself and her family. She now has a secure salary and her life has transformed from a trainee mechanic to an employee with benefits.
If Judith had despaired, due to her upbringing and her family problems, she would not have received this opportunity.
She is now a remarkable and respectful role model for the other girls at Safe Spaces.
Judith’s life will never be the same again!
This program allowed her to continue to work hard and remain focused and positive.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
