After a very long 12 months of hard work, sacrifice, and long periods of time away from their loved ones, our young ladies graduated at the beginning of this month. There was a great deal of excitement in the week leading up to graduation but on the day of graduation many tears of joy and sadness were shed as we all came to the realization that this brave group of young women who had become part of our family for the past 12 months would be leaving us and venturing into the next exciting stage of their lives. As the certificates were awarded each student made a very moving speech, expressing how much their lives had changed during the time they were with us, how much they have learned and how very grateful they were to be given this life-changing opportunity...More tears...followed by beautiful singing, dancing, and rejoicing.
During the 12 months that the young women are with us, they not only learn every aspect of tailoring, our volunteers also teach beginner computer skills which included working with Word and Excel, preparing their resume, creating their own personal email account and sending an email with an attachment. I know this sounds very mundane to most of us, but our students have not touched a computer when they first arrive. With shaking hands and sweaty palms, the young women are introduced to a whole new and exciting experience that they never dreamed they would be exposed to. This is not only a huge confidence builder for them, but it is also a great help when applying for work at one of the local manufacturing facilities or setting up and running their own business. By the time they graduate, they are quite confident and always eager to take their turn on our computers.
Empowering one young woman not only makes it possible for her to feed, support and educate her family, but the trickle-down effect will also continue for many future generations.
Please help us to continue to empower underprivileged young women by spreading the word about our project and our work. Please share this report on your Facebook, Instagram and other social media pages and encourage your friends to consider becoming one time or monthly donors. We have no office overhead, travel or salary expenses in Australia or the US. 100% of your donation goes directly toward our work in Kenya.
Asante Sana, thank you so very much.
Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom
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At the beginning of the month our tailoring students had a very special experience. We had gone out last month to a primary school in a very poor rural community within Nakuru County. Our girls each selected one young student to measure for a brand-new school uniform. I'm sure that at the time, the young children, who were accustomed to coming to school in torn, ill fitting, threadbare clothes and worn out shoes (if they were fortunate enough to have shoes) weren't quite sure what was going on.
Our students made uniform dresses, blouses, shorts and shirts for the young girls and boys they had each chosen to assist. We returned at the beginning of the month to deliver the new uniforms to some very surprised and delighted young children. The young girls also got an added surprise, some pretty new dresses out students had made for them.
The project was such a positive and uplifting experience for our students. When I suggested that we could do it again they eagerly agreed. Five girls were chosen from the group that will be graduating at the end of this month to go back to the region. This time they took measurements for 30 children. I’m not a dressmaker!!! I wouldn’t know where to begin measuring 30 children for pants, shirts, skirts, dresses, blouses, and shoes. Our young women started working very hard to get the task finished before their graduation from our 12 month course at the end of this month. I’m proud to say that, after working all day Saturday, they have the uniforms ready to take to the children this coming Wednesday. A joy our students didn’t want to miss before returning to their rural communities after graduation.
I learn from these hard working, determined young women every day and every day that I get to spend with them is truly an amazing gift. Watching marginally educated girls, who come from life experiences that are unimaginable to most of us, develop into confident young women during the twelve months they live with us is a great joy and true blessing for me.
I thank you so much for your continued support of this great program. If you have any questions please feel free to email me at jenniferhughes@springsofhopefoundation.org,
Asante Sana,
Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom
Links:
At the beginning of the month our tailoring students had a very special experience. We had gone out last month to a primary school in a very poor rural community within Nakuru county. Our girls each selected one young student to measure for a brand-new school uniform. I'm sure that at the time, the young children, who were accustomed to coming to school in torn, ill fitting, threadbare clothes and worn out shoes (if they were fortunate enough to have shoes) weren't quite sure what was going on. Our students made uniform dresses, blouses, shorts and shirts for the young girls and boys they had each chosen to assist. We returned at the beginning of the month to deliver the new uniforms to some very surprised and delighted young children. The young girls also got an added surprise, some pretty new dresses out students had made for them. The project was such a positive and uplifting experience for our students. When I suggested that we could do it again they eagerly agreed. Five girls were chosen from the group that will be graduating at the end of this month to go back to the region. This time they took measurements for 30 children. I’m not a dressmaker!!! I wouldn’t know where to begin measuring 30 children for pants, shirts, skirts, dresses, blouses, and shoes. The young women started working very hard to get the task finished before graduation at the end of this month. I’m proud to say that, after working all day Saturday, they have the uniforms ready to take to the children this coming Wednesday. A joy our students didn’t want to miss before returning to their rural communities after graduation. I learn from these hard working, determined young women every day and every day that I get to spend with them is truly amazing. Watching marginally educated girls, who come from life experiences that are unimaginable to most of us, develop into confident young women during the twelve months they live with us is a great joy and true blessing for me. I thank you so much for your continued support of this great program. If you have any questions please feel free to email me at jenniferhughes@springsofhopefoundation.org, Asante Sana, Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom
Links:
