Sustain 500 families affected by Covid-19 in Kenya

"My name is Irene, I am 19 years old. I live in Kibera slum with my 2 year old daughter. When my parents passed on 6 year ago, I had no where to go expect travel to the city (Naiorbi) to live with my relatives. Unfortunately things did not turn out the way I had hoped they will. 

I got pregnant at 16 years, I had to drop out of school and get married. This was mainly because I would stay out of school for several months becuase I did not have school fees and other essentials. In order to provide for my child and ensure that I continue supporting my family, I had to look for a job. Unfortunately the only job available was casual work (house keeping) which does not pay well in Kenya. This was the only job I could do due to my low education level.

In late 2019, my "husband" became violent and I had to live. Unfortunately in 2020, I also lost my job due to covid-19. I had nowhere to go, fortunately I close friend of mine took me in and introduced me to Garden of Hope Foundation"  

 Irene had developed several symptom of mental health when we first met her. The pressure of providing for her daughter and her own epxenses was affecting her mental health. Through the  covid-19 program, Irene has been able to start a business and she is currently generating a weekly profit of Ksh 2,000. Irene can provide for her daughter and she is looking forward to paying school fees for the first time.

Irene is one of the 50 young mothers who have been supported so far by the program. This is because of your generous donations. 

"Hello,

2020 was a tough year me as a student. In March, I had to stop going to school becuase of Covid-19. I had only 1 year left before I graduate from high school. I was confused and anxious, studying at home proved difficult especially in situations where I could not understand different concepts. 

In June the same year, my parents lost their sources of  income. I had to step in and start supporting my parents, I dropped my studies at and started hawking bananas. My parents would on the other hand do some casual work. I come from a family of 6. I am the second born, the first born has her own family. In a day, we would make $ 3. 

I was introduced to Garden of Hope Foundation through the mentorship sessions they run in our school. Seeing that life was difficult. I turned to one place I knew I would get hope, this was GoHF. After sharing my situation with the team from Garden of Hope Foundation, they invited me to join their Covid-19 tuition program. This program was being offered to all the students who could not afford to study at home. Garden of Hope Foundation also provided my family with start-up capital to start a small business. 

In January 2021, Garden of Hope Foundation paid my school fees for the term. Though, my mum has secured another job, Dad is still running the business started by Garden of Hope Foundation." 

Thank you for your support. 

Vivian

Vivian and her family benefited from our Covid-19 fund

"The impact of Covid-19 hit home when I was given my letter of redudancy in May 2020. As a mother of five children, this felt like a thunder had hit me. My job brought to me fiancial security, though I did not make much, I was able to pay rent,  provide  food for my children and eventually support them through school. I am widow, so I depend only on one source of income.

I did not know what to tell my children that evening, for one week I left home very early in the morning and came back in the eveninig just like everything was normal.  At night, I would ask myself so many questions. What would happen to my 5 children? what would the landlord tell me this month? where will my food come from?. Scchool closing made it more difficult, often I would depend on school to at least provide lunch for the children, but now all the schools are clossed. 

When I shared my predicament with a friend, she asked me how much I had saved. I told her that I only had Ksh 2,000 / $ 20. She challenged me to start a small business with the money, but I did not have any business skills, neither did I believe that $ 20 could help me start a business. She refered to Garden of Hope Foundation, luckily they were runnig the economic empowerment program targetting people who had been affected by Covid-19. 

Through the training, I was able to start my business of selling soap, fruits and vegatables. I started my businees in June and It has been running for 3 months. The business is able to pay my rent, put food on the table and provide meals. I would like to keep the business even after I get a fulltime  job" 

Thank you for your generous gift. 

Regards

Mama Rose.