No matter what you think about Covid19, or the confusing news feeds, or the barrage of theories, or the endless predictions…
This is a sweet story of mamas helping mamas by sharing basic common-sense information on how to use a face mask when caring for elderly and sick in their communities, and how to keep hands clean when water is a precious commodity.
Many women in rural Kenya are not on the list of well-cared-for people, especially widows with children. The complex struggles afflicting their lives defies simple explanations; just know when you open a fridge of food - they don’t. When you place loose change on your dresser - they have neither. When you run to the grocery - they can’t. When you need to visit a qualified doctor- they must wait in line. Gathering water and making it potable for their family to use? Well, that becomes a full morning’s work.
What they do have is each other. A joy of friendship. Not being forgotten.
Carolyne barrowed a treadle sewing machine and collected scraps of kitenge from local tailors. She got a pattern from Becky Thompson (seamstress extraordinaire) and worked into the nights. Among the Leastordered Swahili books, communicating healthy hygiene habits, and wrote a tract about caring for others. Then Carolyne went to rustic villages and distributed a service of love, so those mamas could do the same.
These women are not poor because of laziness. They never offer excuses of victimization, although horrible abuses abound. God’s strength and honor clothe them as they encourage one another.
Photos taken by the mamas with a $22 generic cell phone on 50 cents of airtime.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing women out there!
