Day 3, Ngong Weep Center & home visits

So WEEP stands for Women Equality Empowerment Project and the HEART  Organization started it  for women who are HIV+. What happens: usually a friend has told the center about a specific woman's situation, they are so sick that someone has to visit them and evaluate their needs. At this level you are considered a PROPS(Project Rescue Orphan Prevention Service) woman. You are mentored by other women who bring you food and you begin on medication for your HIV+AIDS. Your children are schooled and fed, you are able to get the medication you need to fight your disease. Once you feel well enough to visit the center you are given your own sewing machine (considered phase 2). You learn to sew and eventually how to have a business for yourself.

Imagine having no husband, no family and maybe even no friend. You have a very severe case of the flu and it lasts for months on end. How can you care for your children in any way let alone buy food to feed them. You are so weak, all you can do is lie on your bed as the days pass. The landlord wants his rent. You don't have any $. Your children cry for food. There is none. Your house is a 8X10 space that you and your children live in. The walls are made of corrugated sheet metal or wood. Your floor is dirt. This is where you live and fight your demise. Hopeless and alone is all you feel daily. Who will care for your children when you pass. Daily thoughts they ponder, which turns into weeks, months and years.
Then one day you get a visitor and she brings you food! She talks with you, and takes time to pray for you and your family. For the first time you feel a spark of hope. "Just maybe I can heal or at least my children can eat."
Today we visited a center like this in the Ngong region.  The women are so filled with joy to see you and there are many hugs and happy greetings. We were welcomed with singing as we got off of our bus. Such a beautiful experience listening to these women praising God. There truly is nothing like their music, so filled with passion for their Lord and acceptance of the grace He has given them. Gratitude. I ask how they can be so thankful "all the time"! Most of them had been so sick, rejected from society, family and friends. Hopeless and damaged upon repair. Unable to provide for their families.
We toured the center and enjoyed some worship time with these ladies. They told us their stories. So heartbreaking. So lonely and yet the women who are graduating this year (saturday) have made it through the 18 month program. They are healthy, they smile, laugh and sing. Their heads are raised higher, they are filled with joy and pride! They have learned to sew and a way to provide for their families. They have come so far. HOPE is in their hearts and their smiles.

sewing machines 

her new sewing machine to practice on

Naomi loves her machine

Love the smiles of joy

patterns: they practice on paper before material

Our hands blessing theirs

Jane loves sewing, we saw her wear many  of her own creations

From the center we took our bus into the Ngong slums. It dropped us off and we split into groups, carrying food and a bag filled with inspirational items that would remind the women how much God loves them.

Dorcas in her doorway

Dorcas was the first stop. She graduated last year and had bought her own home by selling the items she sewed and made. Her story: Her husband dies,  2 months following that two of her seven children also pass away (babies). She finds out she is HIV +.  Her husbands family come and take all her belongings. She gets cancer, has surgery & fights that too. This is repeated 7 times. Because of that she uses a voice enhancer so people can hear her.

I was so moved by the immense perseverance this woman has. What a fighter! She was SO proud of her home. It actually had a linoleum floor. She was so thankful to God for all He had given her. SO MUCH gratitude!

Dorcas sharing her story with us

The next woman we visited was Frida. She had been in the first phase of the program but had been sick again, Tuberculosis. Her story: she had come from a very educated, affluent family, her husband left her after he found out she was HIV+ so she went to her family. (she has two boys). Her family didn't want to have anything to do with her and she became homeless. She was pretty sick and unable to work and provide for her family. We prayed and cried with her. So hard to imagine your family abandoning you and your children.
Frida's home was much worse than Dorcas' so it was interesting to compare the two. Seeing the beginning and the end of the program. Difficult to really explain all my emotions, the experience of being there is something you have to do yourself, to really get the full impact. I ask what is it God wants me to gain from this. I truly came away changed, definitely heart broken and grateful beyond measure.

Frida and her son, we had just prayed over her

 how could a grandparent reject him?

They love the bookmarks Katie made for them

Bonnie and Naomi

love my new friends

they love having their pictures tken

kids playing outside the Ngong Center

I love the kids

Ambassadors Wives Tea/Freedom For Girls, Day 5

Every time I think about this day I bust up laughing!

Please read this story: Bonnie and I were roommates. We shared some great memories and would rather talk and laugh late at night than try to organize our stuff.  Our room wasn’t the most picked up, as we were gone a lot and generally in a hurry. 

This particular day was the Freedom For Girls Tea,  which our honored guests were Ambassadors’ Wives currently living in Kenya. We had been up late the night before and early that morning making sure everything was just right. We had just a couple minutes to freshen up before the “Tea Party” began so we ran back to our room. We were there just a minute and Sheri & Misty had stopped by and our door was open as we talked. Suddenly there was a lady there who shook our hand and we all introduced ourselves, then she walked in and more women followed! Soon we had about 12 Ambassador’s wives in our room! Mess and all! Once they left we quickly scanned the room and saw my bra and Bonnie’s panties just hanging out for all the United Nations to see! Needless to say we are now unwelcome in several countries! Still laughing!!

As the party got under way I was amazed at the reality that there were 20+ women present that had the connections to help spread the word for HEART & Freedom For Girls( a program that for $5 a girl can be supplied with enough feminine products for a year). If more Kenyan girls are helped then they will stay in school and get more educated about HIV/AIDS, how to care for themselves properly, and avoid teen pregnancy. This in turn could possibly prevent them from becoming one of the HEART women. 

I was told that most Kenyans born and raised in the city of Nairobi had never visited the slums or were truly aware of the conditions the people face in those areas. So getting the education out, linking arms, and doing what we can to make a difference, no matter how big or small, should be our goal. I saw God working again. Opening women’s hearts, and stretching our faith, and working together to heal. Every time I think about this day I bust up laughing!

Please read this story: Bonnie and I were roommates. We shared some great memories and would rather talk and laugh late at night than try to organize our stuff.  Our room wasn’t the most picked up, as we were gone a lot and generally in a hurry. 

This particular day was the Freedom For Girls Tea,  which our honored guests were Ambassadors’ Wives currently living in Kenya. We had been up late the night before and early that morning making sure everything was just right. We had just a couple minutes to freshen up before the “Tea Party” began so we ran back to our room. We were there just a minute and Sheri & Misty had stopped by and our door was open as we talked. Suddenly there was a lady there who shook our hand and we all introduced ourselves, then she walked in and more women followed! Soon we had about 12 Ambassador’s wives in our room! Mess and all! Once they left we quickly scanned the room and saw my bra and Bonnie’s panties just hanging out for all the United Nations to see! Needless to say we are now unwelcome in several countries! Still laughing!!

As the party got under way I was amazed at the reality that there were 20+ women present that had the connections to help spread the word for HEART & Freedom For Girls( a program that for $5 a girl can be supplied with enough feminine products for a year). If more Kenyan girls are helped then they will stay in school and get more educated about HIV/AIDS, how to care for themselves properly, and avoid teen pregnancy. This in turn could possibly prevent them from becoming one of the HEART women. 

Everlyn was a graduate last year and has her own business now, sewing and jewelry making

I was told that most Kenyans born and raised in the city of Nairobi had never visited the slums or were truly aware of the conditions the people face in those areas. So getting the education out, linking arms, and doing what we can to make a difference, no matter how big or small, should be our goal. I saw God working again. Opening women’s hearts, and stretching our faith, and working together to heal.

Day 4, Coffee in Nairobi and HEART staff party

Misty and Sheri are happy campers

Enjoying a latte with Bonnie

Today we started off the day by leaving the HEART compound by 6:30 so we could head into the city of Nairobi for a little shopping and some good ol’ coffee. I was running on 5 hours sleep and really enjoyed a latte with the girls.

When we arrived back at HEART we began the preparations for the staff  party. The reason this was such a big deal is they had never had a party given to them. We had decided on the Hawaiian theme, they like to do things American!

It was so fun to watch each one of them grinning throughout the day. First we split up and played card games with them.  Then we showed them how to play musical chairs. Next was egg on a spoon. They told us they don’t play games. Knowing that I could see why they all had such a blast and just couldn’t stop smiling. A few of the staff members had told us later “they didn’t want this day to end! That was one of the most amazing days they’ve had.”

The women playing musical chairs

We enjoyed this beautiful place to come home to

The grounds at the HEART lodge

Again, blessing those whose jobs are to serve others was so rewarding. I realized how such basic things as having a party is a treat and something I tend to not think twice about.  Once again I was the one who came away blessed and filled with gratitude.