Mildred should be a woman you know! But, since she lives on the other side of the world, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever encounter her endearing smile, encouraging personality, and optimistic outlook on life regardless of the hardships she’s endured.
Mildred is a mama in Kenya – a country where the gap between the rich and poor exists at extreme levels. “Less than 0.1% of the population (8,300 people) own more wealth than the bottom 99.9% (more than 44 million people). The richest 10% of people in Kenya earned on average 23 times more than the poorest 10%” (Oxfam International). Mildred is among the poor 99.9%, but it’s certainly not because she avoids responsibility and hard work. Opportunity and funds for employment training are scarce, social programs don’t exist and women - especially single mothers; they are at the bottom of the economic food chain. Nevertheless, through AtL’s partnership with Covenant of Peace Resource Center in Kisumu, Mildred received her chance. Thank God!
Below, Mildred shares her story to create understanding of how our lives intersect within God’s kingdom to serve one another:
“My name is Mildred…. I am born again and love Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I am the first born in a family of six and became pregnant when I was in high school. Because of my mama’s love and support, I was able to go back to school, and I finished well. A couple years later, my dear mama died, and it fell on me to find a job to support my siblings and my child. There is not much employment available for a young girl with many responsibilities. Programs that might have helped are hard to find since funds for clients are stolen and the programs dry up. Sadly, I had nowhere to turn, and then I met a man. I thought I was in love, and he could be a support for my family. After I became pregnant with his child, I found that he was already married. I could not be a second wife. I found work as house help, but the pay was too low for me to manage the family’s bills, and the hours were so long I wasn’t able to see my children or siblings. When I heard about the DIGGS tailoring program, I did not hesitate to apply. I had always dreamt of making handcrafts and learning more about Jesus. The Lord has given me this place at the Resource Center in Covenant of Peace, so I have solid teaching, fellowship and a good sewing instructor. May God bless those who made this program available to me. May I be found faithful to use what I learn to help others, and earn enough money to care for my family.”
Your continued support can keep helping women like Mildred experience life-changing discipleship and skills training. Our goal is to raise matching funds to purchase sewing machines for start-up businesses with percentage pay-back into the project as women earn enough to share. Please see our GIVE button in Projects on our home page if you’d like to donate.
(Quote from Oxfam International)
The mamas’ enjoy each the fellowship that comes with DIGGS training.
