Stories of strength, perseverance and dignity from women who inspire hope in Kenya.
Dedicated to women around the world who exhibit strength, perseverance and dignity in their lives, and to my maternal grandmother
M a j o r P h y l l i s Ye e who was promoted to glory when i was two years old. her legacy continues to live on through many.
Lake Nakuru, Kenya. Because of the drought in Kenya, Lake Nakuru is slowly disappearing, killing hundreds of flamingoes.
War. F amine . D isease . P overty —these words often correspond with the ongoing crises in Nairobi, Kenya. Women are at the heart of these issues solely because of their gender. Violence, rape and abandonment have been used as weapons against women who are barely surviving and trying to raise families. Despite such political unrest, social turmoil, sexual victimization and relentless poverty, countless enthralling stories emerge of success, hope, strength and victory. The Salvation Army in Kenya provides women with education, vocational training, sponsorship and spiritual guidance. The women who have participated in this tight-knit community are inspirations to all—as they triumph over obstacles and actively encourage, influence and motivate other women in their community. From different locations in Kenya come stories of difficulty and perseverance, weakness and strength, poverty and recovery, slavery and empowerment, loss and triumph, defeat and victory. These stories are shared to inspire change in the lives of women from all ethnicities, cultures, backgrounds and experiences. The purpose of this book is to spread social awareness, provide monetary aid to projects in Kenya, and empower women worldwide to overcome adversity and live freely in hope.
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kabete children’s home T he K abete C hildren ’s H ome in N airobi is a safe haven for 66 been orphaned due to AIDS, poverty or lack of proper care .
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children who have
“HIV/AIDS has orphaned about one million children “HIV/AIDS has orphaned about one million children in Kenya least 13 million in Africa .”frica.” in Kand enyaat and at least 13 million in A – human rights watch HIV/AIDS AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN KENYA
– HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
HIV/AIDS AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN KENYA
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nduko
is the youngest child at Kabete. She was found living with her dying grandmother; her parents died from AIDS.
winslet
comes from a single-parent family. Her mother lives in a nearby slum and is unable to care for her.
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The Kabete Children’s Home also includes a nursery school that educates 40 children ages 3-6 in a single classroom. 6
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agnes
“Both my parents died from AIDS. When I’m here, I love learning. When I finish school, I want to be a teacher.”
catherine
“My mother was sick, had no work and was separated from my father. We stayed at home and sometimes had no food. It was a hard life. I don’t know where my father is now, but my mother died. I want to be a doctor to help others. Living here is comfortable and can help me be a better Kenyan because I’m learning. I know that people here love me.” 8
ruth
comes from a single-parent family. Her mother lives in a nearby slum and is unable to care for her.
alice
“My father and my mother are blind. We had a lot of problems and needs at home, but my needs are met here. I want to be a teacher when I grow up. “
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triziah
“My mother was jobless and we didn’t have a house. Life was hard at home and I only ate once a day. I can see the difference between here and home. Here, I am given shelter, clothes, food—everything! I want to be a pilot when I grow up. “
jackline
has parents that are both blind. She moved to the Nairobi Girls Centre for vocational training.
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susan
“My grandmother brought me to the children’s home when I was small. We didn’t even have water in my house. I want to be a doctor. Doctor Susan.” When Susan first arrived, her stomach had ballooned in response to starvation. Susan’s parents drowned on a boat trip from Uganda, leaving Susan and five other children orphaned.
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roselyn namikoye kundu “When my family returned a few days after my father’s burial, we found our house destroyed, and our land and belongings divided among the local clan members.
As a sign of his death, we were left with nothing. I was an infant—the sixth child—when my father died. He had just resigned as a policeman from the government wing and was in line to become the area chief. To earn money in between jobs, he distributed bread from the bakery. While delivering one day, he was hit by a vehicle and died immediately. We later learned that some of the clan members didn’t like the idea of him being the chief elder.
It is now believed he was murdered.” 15
“With nothing left, my mother decided to take the
family to the banana plantation where my father was a farmer. In the middle of the plantation circle, we laid down banana leaves to make a place to sit. On one side we cooked maize and beans or vegetables we grew or borrowed. We ate bananas as part of our food, and used banana hard shells in place of cups and leaves as plates. Our mother managed to plant sweet potatoes to sell for a small income. When she managed to sell some she would buy maize flour or soap or other necessities.�
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“I was 8 when one morning an uncle came to visit. When he learned that my dad had died, he wanted to help the family. He felt that at least one of my siblings could live at a shelter.
My mom suggested that he take the youngest child: Me. The following morning, we traveled to Nairobi to the Salvation Army Kabete Children’s Home. My uncle left me alone at the children’s home. The people there showed me a bed where I would sleep that night. The following morning I was shown what was expected of me, but I couldn’t understand because they did not speak in my mother tongue. I started schooling in the nursery and learned to speak Swahili. I later joined the primary school in class 1. Eventually, I realized that this home of children was normal, but I could see that I was in a different lifestyle all together. We woke at 5 a.m., took our showers, made our beds, cleaned our assigned area of the room, ate breakfast, and went to school to learn. I got to learn a lot.”
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“When I arrived at the Kabete Children’s Home, it was a revolution to have my basic needs met. I was malnourished
and had rashes all over my body. At the home, I was given a better diet to get my health back and was given a uniform, which I wore at school. They took us to museums and on trips. It motivated me to work hard and to be anxious to know more and take advantage of the opportunities. We used to have Sunday school where older girls and boys taught us about Bible scriptures and the doctrines; that’s how I grew up spiritually. There was a game that used to make me feel good—we pretended to be a family. We would divide the duties of mother, father, and children and act them out. It helped me remove my memories. I knew that I didn’t have a father, but I felt that I did when I played this game. There was a point that the father would die and that person would hide while we did the normal funeral ceremony. I learned that when you live a righteous and holy life, you are not dead when you die but will be with Christ in heaven. That helped me to connect that game with the Bible teaching and believe that even if we lose our fathers, as long as they lived a holy life they are not dead. They will be risen up and we will be joined in heaven.
It gave me the feeling that I have not lost them. I knew that I belonged at the home because it gave me a sense of belonging, like I was not alone. By living with many different kids, I felt like I had brothers and sisters. People were there to take care of us; they gave us the morale to move on despite all the things that have happened in the past.”
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“Now, at 23 and in my second year of accounting education, my desire is to finish all the required skills in accounting and explore
my potential in that career. I pray that I can be a recognizable person in society to assist others who may be down and don’t have funds to finance themselves. It is my prayer that God will bless me to have the providence to provide for the community around me.”
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“For the kids who are thrown away, my aim is to start a home like Kabete or help pay for kids to join similar homes so they can grow up like me.
I feel connected to those kids because I know, deep inside,
they are just like me.
When one is young, he is still hoping for tomorrow. He doesn’t know what will come about. To help him grow is to teach that the situation he is facing can make him feel rejected and thrown away, but he has to use his potential to become a better person. Right now, I feel that I am a person who has hope and a person who has a good attitude about life. I will face anything that comes and find a way to get through it. In this life, we need some encouragement from others and we need some help from others. Most of all, we need encouragement to know God, to love him and to trust him.�
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“I was separated from my family; I don’t even know how they are now, but I don’t feel discouraged or rejected because God has given me peace in my heart. I feel so changed and relaxed; I still have desire to live and to see the future that God has provided for me.
”
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genes miluni “I had so many questions without answers: ‘What am I going to do? Who am I now? I am a useless woman, so who will take care of me? Who will love me? Who will comfort me?’
Here in Africa, a widow is often unvalued…and my husband had just been murdered.
I was on a trip to visit our daughter in Nairobi to hear her preach. When I arrived in Nairobi, my other daughter called me from home. Before she said anything, I heard people crying and singing in the background. ‘My father is not alive,’ my daughter said. ‘People came into the house and he was killed.’ I couldn’t do anything; I fell unconscious. Eight women escorted me home, traveling all night. When we arrived, many people in the compound were crying. The crying turned to wailing when they saw me.
That’s when I thought:
‘It is better for me to die because I am now nothing.’” 29
ruth miluni “Our father was killed in cold blood. One night, someone banged
on the door. My father met them at the door, but they beat him and he fell down. They stabbed his head with a poisonous arrow. He never even screamed, but we heard them say, ‘We are finished.’ I came out of my room and saw him on the floor, bleeding.”
jael miluni
“I felt safe when he was around and it was
very secure for us to live with him. He used to do everything for me. So now, we are closer to my mom because she’s the only remaining. She’s the only one we have now. My father is not a part of what is happening to me right now. I’ll be getting married soon and he’s not here to hand me to my husband. I really wish he were here with me at this time. He was a really good man and we loved him so much. He was proud of us– his girls.”
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Genes continued, “Richard and I met when I was in primary school and he was in high school. He made sure to come and see me to talk before he went home. We were friends for about five years before we got married.
Now, when I am alone I remember and think about him. I would often feel tears when I sat on the platform…he used to sit near me…if I had a question, I used to whisper it to him. For the year following his death, I had to ask for prayers from people, some who came to my house to comfort me. I realized I had to be strong because people respect you according to how you stand.
If I respect myself, others will also respect me.”
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“If I was an ordinary woman, I would not have made it. God made me an example to others who lose a husband or wife. I’m strong because God wanted me to serve him throughout my life. Others have told me that they thought I could never make it without my husband. Yet, I know that even though Richard loved me so much, God loves me more than anyone else. Where I come from, there are many widows. In my former role as the Kisumu district director for women’s ministries, I worked with a widows group; I didn’t know I would become a widow one day. Richard and I used to go to the market together, we woke together,we walked together. Now I walk alone. When people see me, they see me alone but I know that Jesus is in my heart. When I meet anyone who is a widow, I tell them,
‘Do something to show that you are still here.’” 33
“I now have 66 children, ages 5-17, as the manager for the Kabete Children’s Home.
I know God is going to do something to help my children become respectable people who know Jesus as their savior and father. I am blessed with seven children of my own, and four grandchildren. If you put God first and trust him, he will provide what is not there and he will guide you. We still do not know who killed my husband. But in Isaiah, the Lord says he is the husband for the widows and I trust he is the owner of this house. The Lord is the father of the orphans.
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community based rehabilitation I n the S abatia D istrict of Western K enya , T he S alvation A rmy C ommunity B ased R ehabilitation program supports widows living in extreme poverty. T he program provides education on living positively with HIV/AIDS, tools for sustainable farming and opportunities to access micro - loans to start small businesses .
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capt. violet matodze,
39, coordinates eight groups of women involved in the Community Rehabilitation Program. She encourages and teaches the women in their trade.
sabina agatswa, 29, has four children. She sells fruits and vegetables to earn a living.
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beatrice simiyu, 32,
raises poultry to pay for her college fees.
janet kigudwa, 50, has six of her own children. She also cares for four additional orphans in her community.
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ruth kabei mangavu, 54,
raises goats and sheep. In addition to looking after elderly widows in the community, she is raising six orphans.
rasoah andefwa, 81, is a widow. All of her children have died.
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“More than one million inhabitants, half under age 15, are squeezed like sardines into one square mile. Many children stay out of school to search for food and water...crime and despair are rife.” – GLOBAL HEALTH COUNCIL
SUPPORTING NAIROBI’S MOST VULNERABLE RESIDENTS
kibera slum
K ibera is the largest slum in K enya and one of the largest in A frica . A bout a fourth of N airobi ’s population live in this slum without access to clean water, electricity, or a sewage system .
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“I was evicted from my home. When my husband died, his family
mama graham 46
kicked me out. At 32, I moved to Kibera in 2004 with no job. Now I do small jobs like washing laundry. In a good week, I wash clothes for two days out of the week. I make 150 shillings ($2 USD) to buy food, water and pay for the house rent, which is 300 shillings ($4 USD). After I gave birth to my youngest boy, I became sick on and off.
I was tested and discovered that I am HIV+. I have two young children.�
“The Salvation Army helps me live as a single
parent by providing books, school supplies and food for my children at school. Since my son joined class 1, I have to pay 300 shillings ($4 USD), but I haven’t been able to pay recently. One day he came home from school and told me that the head teacher would not allow him to go to class because I had not paid the school fees. He also needs a uniform and good shoes. In Kibera, kids have to walk to school in the mud since the streets are dirty. They need good shoes. The pair I bought him for 150 shillings ($2 USD) are not good enough.
Eating is a problem in this house because we struggle so much. Sometimes I do not eat, which means that I cannot take my AIDS pills. I wish I had someone to help my family, but I don’t have anyone here in Nairobi. I’m the only one in the family.
I pray, ‘God, how will I feed the fatherless?’” 47
ann mkangombe chozi “My mother was a prostitute. That is how my two brothers and I came into being. When I was four, my mother died. We hardly knew her or saw her, but I still felt the pain. My tears fell when she was buried.
Following her death, my brothers and I continued living with my grandmother and her three children, but our grandmother became very cruel. She abused us and said that we were just eating her food for free because now there was no one to pay her back. The three of us did all of the household chores including washing dishes and clothes, fetching water, looking after the goats, and selling the beer that she brewed. One of her customers almost raped me, but my brother John came to my rescue. He was beaten by the man, but made sure I was safe. We only ate one meal a day—heavy porridge. Our grandmother’s children attended school, but came home to scold and beat us. I remember those nights when I used to cry and wish that I was dead.
My life was unbearable.”
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“After two years, John said that we had to escape or we would wind up dead. That night, we snuck out of the house barefoot.
We did not know where we were heading, but we were looking for a brighter future. We slept in the cold for two nights. On the third day, as we slept beside a railway, a big car drove toward us. Social workers found us there and that night, we ate food and slept in a bed. The following morning, some social workers asked us where we were from, but we refused to tell them because we could not go back to that ugly history. The soldiers took us to The Salvation Army Mombasa Children’s Home for street children. There I became hopeful again.”
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“My life now has a different meaning—I have a reason to live and I will never stop
thanking God for it. I received counseling and was able to shun the past. I grew up just like a normal kid and am glad I have made it this far. I am now studying Business in Information Technology at Methodist University in Nairobi, with sponsorship from The Salvation Army. I am hopeful that I will study as far as I can because I know that God has a plan for my life.
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“Mathare is a cluster of slums with approximately 500,000 people, crammed between downtown Nairobi and an affluent neighborhood.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES
“CHASED BY GANG VIOLENCE, RESIDENTS FLEE KENYAN SLUM.” 10, NOV. 2006
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mathare slum F
ew facts are known about
K enya . M athare
M athare
slum even though it is one of the largest in
was one of the areas hit hardest during the post - election violence .
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peninah nduku “I am told that one day my mother carried me on her back, walked very far and just threw me away.
She left me for dead. Somehow, because of God’s power, some women were looking for firewood and heard a baby cry. They found me in a swampy field, so I’m sure my mom really meant it; she really didn’t want me. They pulled me out of the water and took me to the police station. Apparently, my mom really struggled with providing for my brother and I. She could barely get something to feed us. She tried, and she worked as hard as she could to get us food. Whatever she would manage to get after tilling land she would bring to the table. My dad was violent and a drunkard, so my mother left and returned to her mother’s thatched house. My grandmother tried to take care of my mother and us. It reached a point where my grandmother was suffering too much. We could barely afford a cup of milk. She felt too much rejection and poverty, so she decided that she would take her life. She hanged herself. My mom was left in the poverty, and eventually felt that her own children were a burden. She was jailed but later released because they found out that she was insane. We were taken to the Kabete Children’s Home.” 55
“I arrived bloated from severe malnutrition, but was returned to health. I began to attend the nursery school and acquired a sponsor who has shown me love throughout my life. We really love each other and have a bond. She saw me through school, starting with nursery school. We continue to be friends today.
As kids, the superintendant had us write letters to our sponsors. She told us to write about what we wanted to be. I wrote that I wanted to be an accountant, even though I didn’t really know what an accountant did.
I finished high school, thanks to The Salvation Army and my sponsor, and managed to pass above average. One day, I told my uncle that I would love to do accounting. He said, ‘Look here, we don’t have money. Your cousins didn’t even make it to secondary school, but you did. You are much better off than them.’ He was right; he was poor. At that time, everything was blank and dark. I would have had all the reason to give up and say, ‘Peninah, you’re destined for housework.’ First of all, accounting is expensive and I didn’t have any money. Accounting wasn’t offered in Machakos, my village. I felt so left alone.
I knew I needed to do something for myself. I decided, ‘Peninah, this is a wakeup. You have to go to Nairobi and look for work.’ I didn’t tell anyone but woke up one morning and went to look for a job to raise money for a bus fare. I managed to raise some money, but not enough to get to Nairobi, so I walked halfway.
The journey was nearly 23 miles on foot.” 56
“After half a days walk, I got on a bus to Nairobi. In the bus, I
started asking myself, ‘OK, where are you going?’ I knew I was going to look for a job, but where do I start? I was 18 and had just finished secondary school. When I arrived, I remembered this donor who we used to love so much. We knew he was rich because we would go to his compound to swim. I decided to go talk to him and tell him that I was in trouble so he would help me. I walked until I reached the Westlands. I was so tired and hungry and finally saw the gate 901. I told him my name and that I was from the Kabete Children’s Home. He let me in and asked me if I was staying. I said ‘yes’ and he asked the servants to organize my shower and meal. I was so grateful. I thanked him and told him about my problem and how desperate I was. He listened and then asked if I would sing for him. I agreed so he asked me to follow him. I could see that he was leading me to his bedroom. In African culture, you don’t walk into a married man’s bedroom. It made me wonder, but I still thought he was a good man. He sat on his bed and asked, ‘So, you’ll sing for me?’ He asked me to come to him.
I was afraid and shook my head at him. I was so timid and naive. I said, ‘You know the Bible says...’ because I wanted to tell him this was not good, but he cut me short, and said, ‘the Bible says what?’ He was so annoyed and told me to get out. I went to the sitting room, thinking that we could talk when he came out. I waited for him, but a servant came and asked me to leave. It was night, though, and I didn’t think that I had done such a serious crime. But the man came himself and told me to get out. I walked out crying, he wouldn’t even let me stay until morning.” 57
“I didn’t pray that night because I was so bitter. I really
felt rejected. I arrived there with so much hope, and I left hopeless. Life didn’t matter to me anymore. I didn’t care. But it was clear in my mind that I would not do prostitution; I would not use my body for money. I would rather die. I returned to the bus station, where I slept for three days. I cried all day and night. On the third day, I thought, let me be done with all this. I thought I couldn’t take it anymore because I didn’t feel accepted. I felt so rejected, and remembered how my mom threw me away. I thought that maybe I was just a rejected person in this world. Finally, I resolved that I didn’t want to live. I put on a black dress and went to lay down on Haile Selassie Avenue, a very busy road. I thought a car would just come and, oops, I’d be done and there would be no more pain. I lied there with my dark skin and black hair and clothes and thought that no driver would see me at night.
I would have loved for somebody to love me, but right then,
I only felt rejected. I waited for 30 minutes, but no vehicle came.
Then I wondered, ‘Peninah, are you sure you want to do this?’ My heart started throbbing and I became full of fear. I stood up and cried as I walked back toward the bus station to resume my normal routine.”
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“On my seventh day sleeping in the bus station, a friend from the
Kabete Children’s Home found me sleeping on a bus. I just looked at her emotionless. I knew it was Meble, but I thought she would also reject me so I didn’t care. To me, nothing mattered anymore. She came onto the bus and asked, ‘Peninah, what’s wrong with you?’ I cried even more as she asked me questions, but couldn’t say anything. Meble took me to her home with her family. I remember it was the 7th of August when I left the streets. On that day in history, there was a bomb blast in Kenya at the U.S. Embassy. When I woke up at Meble’s house, I saw breaking news about the bomb blast on television. I was shocked. It killed so many people right around the area I walked each day.
I would have been there. For many, it is a day of doom and darkness, but I don’t know if I should rejoice with God or mourn with the rest of the Kenyans. God took me away from that and saved me. I remember that day so very well.”
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“Sometimes, I look back at my life and say, ‘Peninah, you’ve got to be strong. Look at where he’s taken you. Where you’re going, you’re almost there. You’re almost done. You’ve got no business to start retreating or feeling like committing suicide.’
That will never happen again. To me, my life is a testimony. I would love people to know this: when you want to give up, it is then that you must press on. I grew up hating poverty. I hate poverty today because I know what it did to my mom. I am passionate about not being poor. When I see people suffering out of poverty, I want to be able to do something…whatever small thing I can do to change someone’s life.”
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Peninah standing in the swampy field her mother abandoned her at.
“I used to be full of resentment and bitterness toward my late mother. But now, I am full of forgiveness and I know that too much was happening with her. I would forgive her if she were alive today. I would tell her,
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joyland special school
for the physically disabled “D isability is not I nability �– is the theme at J oyland S pecial S chool in K isumu . T he school houses over 300 students , most of whom have been abandoned because of their disabilities . T he able - bodied young people are learning to fight discrimination and the stigma against disabled individuals .
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“For three days, I sat in a jail cell in my nightdress after being arrested for turning down a certain inspector. When I was taken to court, I was accused of ‘rejecting his advances.’ He wanted an affair and I rejected it; that’s what was read to me.
I have had problems with many men in my life.”
GRACE WANGOSI 64
“When I dropped out of school and started working in various houses to earn money, the men would
sometimes make sexual advances at me. I refused because I wanted to succeed in life and be a dignified girl. But one day I was fooled. The man that I worked for took me to a lodging place. The sign outside said, ‘boarding,’ so I thought it was a children’s boarding place. It wasn’t. I became pregnant and later aborted the child myself. I felt I could not give birth as an unmarried woman. In my next job, I became pregnant again and gave birth to a baby girl. Her father and I married, but he later also married two other wives. My daughter and I left and I worked in bars. I was a drunk. In fact one day, I was so drunk, a group of men urinated me on. My husband came and snatched my daughter away when I refused to be the house help to his other wives. I again became pregnant out of wedlock. I tried to abort, but this time the baby didn’t come out. Usually, when I was three months pregnant and took four family planning pills four times a day, the abortion was successful. When selling charcoal did not make me enough money, I got into prostitution. I seduced men to get money from them. My home was a grass-thatched house and I slept on a homemade mattress of rice paper sacks stuffed with old blankets. Insects would eat me, but I lived there for over five years. To earn more money, I roasted corn and helped women deliver their babies. Some women had AIDS, but I cleaned their feces anyway because they paid me. Again, I became pregnant and for the third time I self-induced an abortion.
One after another, I aborted my babies.”
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“One day I carried my corn from a far distance, sweating hard. A group of Salvationists met me and said, ‘God will bless
you with a better gift to relieve you and bring an end to your suffering.’ I told them that if they found any job for me I would do it because I had nothing else to depend on. They said that they would search for a job and give it to me. I said I have been roasting corn for so long but I want it to stop here. I had nothing and the money was not enough to get me food. I couldn’t even afford a blanket or cooking pans; I used an outdoor stove that belonged to a neighbor. I eventually found a woman who needed house help so I lived there until I became sick. I had a bleeding problem and would bleed so much that I couldn’t sit. I bled the whole year. I started feeling that nothing was possible anymore. I begged a man to accommodate me so he gave me a room to stay in. If I had to leave the house to go buy something though, he would lock the door and I would have to sleep out in the corridor. If he opened the door for me, fine. Then I’d stay with him. He would order me to prepare food for him and his guests; I ate the leftovers. I was still bleeding profusely and had a terrible back ache. When he kicked me out, I had 3,000 shillings ($40 USD) saved. I cut up my blanket to use as sanitary pads. I couldn’t tell anyone what I was going through because bleeding was shameful. I went to the hospital and the doctors said that I might have cancer. I sent a message to the Salvationists and said, 66
‘I am dying, please help me!’”
“God opened a way for me when I was offered a job at
The Salvation Army’s Joyland Special School. Most of the kids at this center were abandoned by their parents. Now, I live with these kids who are disabled and I stay with them and teach them to be independent. I teach them to walk, use the bathroom and wash their clothes.”
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Grace consoling her granddaughter, Ashleen, 3.
“My own family now accepts me again. When I used
to visit home, my parents would hear me and ask, ‘Who has arrived?’ My siblings would respond, ‘Grace is here.’ They said, ‘We don’t want to see her.’ Today, my family says to me, ‘Grace, if you have time, come and advise our children on the best way to live life.’ They welcome me warmly by cooking chicken. After so many years of anger toward my parents, I sought their forgiveness and we shared a reconciliation meal. I now care for my younger sister’s six kids because she died from HIV/AIDS. I don’t know where my own kids are, my daughter just threw her baby here and left her child with me.
I am now like a mom to my granddaughter.” 69
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“I have been blessed since Christ saved me; I discovered there is victory, power and support in Christ. I was lifted from a hole and planted on solid foundation.
As an employee, the job is demanding. I must take good care of the kids that I look after and teach them to know God. I realized that they will not love or appreciate God unless I love them first, so I make fellowshipping with the kids my priority. In the evening, I stay with them and teach them to sing to God. I bring the foundations of Christ to them. I went through difficulties, but God brought me to this place and I have prospered. I recently asked for a loan from The Salvation Army to buy a small portion of land. I have even slept hungry to afford the downpayment for the land, but I am still happy because I will have a place to live. If there is a child here without parents, they will be able to stay with me. I rejoice over the land because I can help them and be a parent to them. I tell each of them that if you love God, He will lift you from the mud and raise you to a place where you don’t even deserve. I used to be a person with lots of anger. Whenever I remember what I had gone through, I would start crying. But now the Lord has taken away the bitterness. He has cooled my harsh heart completely. My hope is to finish paying off my land and build a house where I can settle with the twelve orphans I have taken in.
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cynthia, 5, has no physical or mental
disabilities. She is one of the many children at Joyland integrated with children with disabilites.
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mercy, 13, comes from a single parent family
and uses both a wheel chair and crutches to get around. She cannot always afford to pay her school tuition.
vincent, 14, is an orphan at Joyland
Special School. School donors donated his wheelchair.
nancy, 10, was born into abject poverty and is partially blind. She was recently enrolled at Joyland Special School and has excelled in school.
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cynthia “My father never visits. I heard he has another family living in Nairobi.”
As a toddler, Cynthia’s mother, who worked as a prostitute, left her alone.
As she went to work one night, she locked Cynthia in the house with the stove cooking food for dinner. Cynthia woke up hungry, tried to crawl out of bed, but fell on the stove and set the house on fire. Because of the incident, her mom was taken to prison and Cynthia’s dad fled. She was rescued, taken to the hospital, and later brought to Joyland Special School.
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yvonne
, 8, comes from a family living in extreme poverty and her parents work as hawkers.
solomon
, 14, was orphaned by a tragic road accident that also severed half of his body. He and his brother suffer from abject poverty and cannot afford to pay their school fees.
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calvin
, 10, is an orphan at Joyland Special School.
dorcus
, 16, is an orphan whose uncle dumped her on the streets because of her disability. Fortunately, an alumnus of Joyland Special School saw Dorcas and brought her to Joyland where she is able to receive physical therapy and an education.
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boke “My mother’s name is Elizabeth and she asks me to help her wash dishes and wash the clothes. I get milk and put it in a sauce pan while she makes mandazi (doughnuts). I make the tea. After I make tea, I clean the dishes, and prepare the rice if my mom asks me to.”
Boke, 5, was born with hydrocephalus, a condition where the brain
swells due to fluid in the skull. Her father abandoned her because of her disabilty. She is now enrolled at Joyland Special School. Physiotherapy at Joyland taught her to stand and is helping her learn to walk.
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82Boys
on their way home from school in the remote Sabatia District.
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“While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight;”
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“While little children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight;...”
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“...While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets,�
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“While there remains one dark soul God, I’ll fightI’ll fight to the very end!”
without the light of
William Booth (1829-1912) Founder of The Salvation Army
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WHILE WOMEN WEEP | KENYA Photography & Design by NIKOLE LIM San Francisco, California Content & Translations by MARION NDETA WASIA Nairobi, Kenya Edited by CHRISTIN DAVIS Long Beach, California Funding Made Possible by THE SALVATION ARMY GOLDEN STATE DIVISION San Francisco, California Produced by
FREELY IN HOPE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering widows and orphans worldwide to overcome adversity and live freely in hope. www.freelyinhope.org
ALL IMAGES Š 2010 NIKOLE LIM
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All proceeds from this book will benefit widows and orphans in Kenya. Projects include building a home for orphans of Joyland Special School, funding a beadmaking micro-enterprise of HIV+ women, and developing a sponsorship program for single mothers and victims of rape in the Kibera slum.
Learn more about the While Women Weep documentary film and portrait book, and how you can support the cause. w w w. w h i l e w o m e n w e e p . c o m
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