AN UPDATE FROM ANTOINETTE, OUR KIJIJI MISSION ADMINISTRATION MANAGER IN KENYA. Hello Everyone,It’s hard to believe that we will be preparing for another graduation in just a few weeks. This is always an exciting time for me as together we explore the opportunities and paths each graduating student wants to take. Some may choose to stay with us for a little longer and work on a grant from Lantern Projects to make washable, reusable sanitary pads that will be given for free to girls within the community. Others will be working on the Bubble Gum Kids project, making doll clothes for a local entrepreneur who isRead More

Earlier this week we had a planned power outage in our small community in the Upper Peninsula of Northern Michigan. We were pre-warned and prepared, and those of us who choose to stay home for the day set up the trusty old generator. Ours is only small enough to run the pump to our well. Unless you need the power to run medical equipment, heating, or air conditioning, I’m sure that most of us agree that we can get by without electricity for a day. However, we can’t get by comfortably without water. We need water to cook, wash, flush, drink, etc. Think about theRead More

Last month, we were introduced to the Malaika Initiative for Children with Disabilities and Mama Grace, an amazing woman who runs a daycare facility for 30 children with disabilities. If you have ever been a caregiver for a family member, you know how physically and emotionally draining it can be.  It is only through love and God’s grace that these mothers are able to care for these children 24 hours a day.  All these beautiful children are supported by their mother and one, her grandmother.  One such mother has been caring for her disabled child for 21 years… 21 years day and night. Taking theirRead More

I look forward to the day when I can write a report stating that we no longer have families needing our help with our food hamper distribution and that we have finished working with those who have come to us in recent years and have been assisted…… I can dream.Initially, our food hamper program began as a short-term bandaid while we were all trying to grasp the impact of Covid 19 on the elderly, people living with disabilities, single females, and child-headed households. That was over two years ago!Sadly, Kenya is still in the midst of the worst prolonged drought in decades.  Rainfall is notRead More

The paradox that is the breathtaking beauty of Kenya and the extreme struggle the elderly, women, people living with disabilities, and displaced families due to internal waring have to face every day just to survive is startling.Last week’s food distribution was at an IDP (internally displaced persons) community known as Lake Solai. In Antoinette’s weekly report she writes. The journey from the Springs of Hope Foundation in Nakuru to Lake Solai, is approximately 50 km, about 2 hours drive. While admiring the beautiful landscapes and Lake Solai with the beautiful, famous pink flamingos of Nakuru, we finally arrived at Limuru Center in Solai, on theRead More

I was talking to a friend yesterday about how proud I was of the way our staff has handled this whole pandemic situation over the past two years while I have not been able to be there in person. Her response was…Wow, you must have trained them really well!And yes, we do have great systems in place to communicate daily, account for expenditures, plan our goals moving forward, etc. However, no amount of training can replace the love our staff and volunteers have for this project and the young women we are training to become confident, strong, well-qualified, self-sustaining women. Martha Martha has been withRead More

Last month we received an $800.00 emergency food relief grant from Spirit in Action. Talk about “just in the nick of time”. Crop destruction due to severe drought and locust invasions have devastated some regions of Northern Kenya, leaving millions in the region facing starvation. Twice in the past few weeks, we have been given the opportunity to assist the area residents with food hampers. This was only made possible because our good friend world champion Kenyan marathon runner Kirui Kirui, who is from the district, offered his sturdy, four-wheel-drive vehicle and through the district governor, arranged a security escort for Antoinette and the volunteerRead More

I’m so proud and humbled at the same time to have such a great team working for us in Kenya. Amazing women who go above and beyond whenever the need or call for assistance arises. Yesterday Antoinette, our administration manager, and Pastor Susan, our center, and our student’s spiritual leader, and counselor were picked up before daylight to accompany our friend and partner, Rani Ramchandani, past president of the Lions Club of Menangai on what they all knew was going to be a very long, arduous but rewarding day. The Lions Club of Menangai was delivering wheelchairs and mobility assistance devices to both mothers ofRead More

Ester 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 Ester’s school fees as her father gave no support. Ester 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 aRead More