For over two years now I have had to attend our graduations virtually. I've always said what a blessing our dedicated team in Kenya has been during these very trying times.
I would like to introduce Antoinette, one of the newest members of our team along with Julia, (her name has been for her privacy), one of our recent graduates.
Please read Antoinette's full account of Julia's accomplishments despite the many, many challenges Julia has overcome in her young life. I hope Julia's success will bring you some happiness and joy during these very troubling times.
Warmest regards,
Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom
Founder/CEO
Springs of Hope Foundation
Hello Everyone,
My name is Antoinette. I joined the team at Kijiji Mission in Feb 2021, and I must say that I love being involved in this very special project and watching our girls blossom into competent, confident young women during the time they are with us. As a mother of adult sons, I must confess that I do become very attached to our beautiful girls. One of the greatest joys for me in my position as administrative manager is following up on the success of our graduates.
Meet Julia, one of our recent graduates. Julia's young life has been very challenging, to say the least, with very little hope for her future until she was admitted into Kijiji Missions' one-year program. With the disruption of Covid Julia actually stayed with us for 18 months. Julia was born HIV Positive, is deaf, and mute. Her mother was a victim of the traditional custom of marrying off very young girls at age 12 or 13 yrs too much older men in exchange for a dowry of a dozen or so cattle. Julia's mother died in childbirth, leaving her to be raised by an elderly father and extended family. Her father is now in his 80s, is in poor health, and is in no position to assist her. In fact, his solution for Julia's future after graduation was to arrange a marriage to a much older man, repeating the cycle of abuse.
Julia's greatest strength is being able to sew pre-cut items with speed and accurate attention to detail. After graduation, she was offered a job and accommodation at a project we are closely associated with, Daraja 360.
As we all went our separate ways after graduation in December to enjoy a well-earned Christmas break, the first since the beginning of Covid, we were quite nervous and worried that Julia would not be permitted to report to her new job in January. Much to everyone's relief, Julia reported to her new employer, has settled in very well, and is already earning bonuses on her production.
We are all so very thankful to you for your support. Without you, girls like Julia would not have the future that women all over the world deserve.
Asante Sana.
Warmest blessings,
Antoinette Hoareau
Project Administration Manager
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Through sponsorship, you can change the destiny of a girl like Julia by providing her with the skill needed to become a well-trained young woman. Our program not only teaches tailoring. We incorporate beginning computer training, bookkeeping, business, and money management, along with healthy lifestyle skills, opening the door to education so that she may realize her full potential and fulfill her dreams.
This is the first graduation in two years that we have been able to share and celebrate the girl's achievements with their family and friends.
Julia's cousin was able to be with her on her special day.
Links:
As we get ready to welcome the New Year, we wanted to thank you for helping us achieve so much through the power of education this year.
Earlier this month we held what has to go down in history as our smallest graduation ceremony ever. Due to the Covid pandemic, we have had to admit our students one at a time and place them in two-week quarantine in our volunteer house. Consequently, Martha, our headteacher felt that these three students, who all arrived in January 2021, were the only ones fully qualified to graduate.
However, there were two very wonderful things about this special, small graduation. For the first time in two years, family and friends were invited to join us to celebrate their daughter's special day as all of our students are fully vaccinated. Secondly, after a well-earned Christmas break, all three graduates have jobs waiting for them in January with one of our partner projects.
Congratulations ladies.
I don't need to tell you that 2021 has been yet another year full of hurdles — the pandemic has continued to challenge people and communities around the world, driving an even bigger gap between already existing inequalities and hardship.
I do have some great news to share though. A good friend and long-time supporter of the Springs of Hope Foundation has offered to match all donations, up to $5,000.00 between now and December 30th.
Please help us take full advantage of these matching funds by
On behalf of our entire family at the Springs of Hope Foundation, we wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year. May 2022 be filled with many blessings.
Warmest regards,
Jennifer Hughes
Links:
Dear *|FNAME|*,
It's been just over two weeks since we held our Giving Tuesday fundraiser with GlobalGiving. Again this year we not only focused on our vocational training program for young women, but we also included our food hamper program for the elderly, disabled, and single mothers. I'm so grateful to you for making it so successful. Not only did we raise enough money to support our vocational training program moving forward into 2022, but we also raised enough to keep the food hamper program going throughout the holiday season, tripling the number of hampers we have distributed weekly over the past four weeks.
Imagine you're elderly, handicapped, or a single parent caring for your disabled child, ...with little or no government assistance! That's the predicament the recipients of our food hamper program have lived with for the past 20 months since Covid first arrived in Kenya. Normally they rely on the kindness of neighbors or their adult children. However, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the neighbors are also out of work and not receiving an income. They too are struggling to feed their families daily. In many situations, adult children have had to move back to their rural villages due to business closures. For the past month, we have felt financially comfortable preparing and distributing three times our usual weekly food hampers because of the confidence we have knowing that we have you as a monthly donor.
Please share the word among your friends that this week (December 13th to 17th), GlobalGiving will match all new monthly donations at 200%.
100% of the donation that Springs of Hope Foundation receives will go directly toward our food distribution program.
We have never needed your help more than at the present time.
Thank you so much.
Warmest blessings,
Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom
Founder/CEO
Springs of Hope Foundation
* P.S. If you sign up for a new recurring donation from December 13-17th, GlobalGiving will match your first donation at 200% after 4 monthly donations.
Links:
Jane grew up in a family of seventeen kids (yes 17). Her father had two wives. Her mum, the 2nd wife had 9 kids. Her stepmother had 8.
She started school when she was 6, however, her mother, who struggled to feed her family by working as a casual farm laborer for less than $2.00 a day when work was available during planting and harvest season, struggled to pay Jane's school fees as her father gave no support. Jane feels as though she was raised by a single parent. For her mother, affording food was not easy and she remembers her and her siblings going without a meal often during her childhood.
While still in primary school Jane became pregnant. Fearing that her dad would kill her and beat her mother, she ran away. Jane stayed with her aunt until she gave birth. After her son was born her aunt revealed her secret to her father, as the family didn't know if she was alive or dead. A year later she returned to her village and convinced her mother to take care of her son while she went back to school. In African society, when a girl gives birth out of wedlock, that's the end of her education. Usually, she's forced to marry a much older man. Fortunately for Jane, her father was out of the district at the time of her return to her village. Her dad certainly didn’t understand her desire to continue her education. He started beating her mother, saying that she was making a business (prostitution) out of his daughter. Her mother faced difficulties, but stood firmly with her daughter, insisting that she at least complete her primary school education.
In 2013 Jane sat for her final primary school exams. She then worked as a house girl for 6 months to save enough money to pay for school fees and books for Form One. Life was not easy as a young mother and first-year high school student. She would go to school, and in the evening go to a farm to plant vegetables to support her family. During the holidays she worked as a house girl to earn fees for the next term.
In 2014 she went to Nairobi to live with her uncle, who promised to pay her school fees. During the day she went to school. However, in the evening she functioned as a house girl, working late into the evening as her uncle's unpaid help.
By the 2016 third term, her uncle felt that she should stay at home without going to school and be his full-time house girl, believing that it was a waste of money education a single mother. She started looking for laundry jobs, found a woman who would pay her $1.40 a day, worked for 6 weeks, and saved the 5,000K/-, $50.00 to pay her school fees.
Her first job after high school graduation was in Nairobi as a house girl. Needing to earn more money to send home, her 2nd job was as a waitress. However, after 3 months of receiving no salary, she had to resign. She then found a job as a waitress in a small restaurant. She was able to earn enough money to rent a small iron sheet house in the sprawling slum area of Nairobi for $5.00 US. a month and become independent. Not unlike many bright, hardworking young women such as Jane, this was beginning to appear to be the future of struggle, poverty, and hardship that would be Jane's life.
In July 2019 Jane was accepted into our free, one-year vocational training course at Kijiji Mission.
Jane recalls the life-changing day she received the phone call informing her that she had been accepted into our program.
"I can't wait to experience every amazing opportunity this
life-changing course has to offer me. This is a dream come true!"
Some of Jane's assignments.
We're so proud of you Jane for your hard work, determination, and commitment to your personal success,
and your love, and dedication to your family.
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:
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