By Redempter | Communication Officer
Building a Legacy Begins Early
When Amal arrived at Nyumbani home, she was five years old but looked like she was about two. She was sick and could barely walk or stand.
Amal is now 21, thriving and healthy and recently admitted into an information technology program in college, a course of study that has become her “dream come true.” In between, she grew up in the Nyumbani, got an education first that began at Nyumbani and progressed into the public system and finished primary and secondary schools. She credits her family at Nyumbani not only with giving her health and discipline, but also teaching her to be “a woman of value and moral integrity,” she says.
COVID-19 got in the way of early entry into college, but a virtual class through Mentors Without Boards, “opened the whole world to me,” she says. Under the guidance of a mentor, she learned programming, key software programs and how to create applications and websites and realized her potential in the field. Now, she is ready to enter the two-year program, then graduate and give back to society, she says.
Amal says that the key people in her life had been Sister Mary, her mentor, her house moms Terry and Anne, her teachers and the friends of Nyumbani that contributed toward her education.
“My message to others who are growing up now is that it is never too early in your life to begin the journey of your legacy. Hard work pays and provides a better future,” she says.
News on Nyumbani received this letter from Amal that shows some of the values she’s picked up and outlines her hopes for the future of African women:
I base my life on a philosophy my late mother had—you don’t have to be a president to make a difference. If you can change the little corner that is your world, your life will have been worthwhile.
I am inspired by life, the potential within people and how different we are individually. As Kenyans, we need to embrace our blackness and stop trying to be white or Chinese or anything but what we are. By blackness, I do not mean the color of my skin: I mean that Africa was called the “black continent” during the period of colonization. As Kenyans, we are part of Africa, the black continent. We need to embrace that we have pluses and minuses, like any other continent.
Our setbacks are the same as other countries and continents including greed, oppression of the poor and not helping the marginalized.
Kenya has immense opportunity and so much potential. To actualize that potential, we must take responsibility towards creating a progressive nation. We need to create a solid value system.
Women have a great responsibility in this mission, first to ourselves, but also to our loved ones and our communities. I appreciate feminism, but I don’t believe women must be like men to succeed. I have no desire to carry ten-pound cement blocks to show off my strength or to be like a man in many other ways.
I would urge all young ladies and women to join hands to retain our femininity. I would urge young boys and men to respect those women because they are the mothers of the universe. But I also urge the ladies to give respect to the key strengths of the opposite gender. The fine line between us is the fight for gender equality and the balance needs to be clearly defined.
There are things women do better and there are things men do better. We need to work together using our strengths to create better tomorrows.
Given the road many people must travel today and the reality that all things are possible through Christ, who strengthens us, I believe we must realize that one cannot achieve anything without trying. We cannot change what happened yesterday and tomorrow is a distant unknown but the present is a gift from God.
I am proud to be an African lady!!!
By Mercy Wangai | Project Leader
By Redempter | project leader
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.
