Day 3: Ngong WEEP Center

  Today we went to the Ngong WEEP Center, about 1 hr drive.  As our bus drove up, the ladies came out singing to us, it was beautiful.  We came to Ngong today because these ladies were being presented with new sewing machines and they wanted us to pray over them.  The entire day was an emotional blessing to say the least.  These ladies shared some raw emotions and were ridiculously authentic.  Some of these ladies are PROP ladies or in phase 1 of the Heart program.  Which means they are sick with HIV/AIDS and they are getting the medicines needed to feel better.  However, they may not be well enough to get to the center yet.  Heart comes to support these ladies by paying their rent, providing food for their families, taking care of their children and paying for their schooling and paying for all of their medical needs.  As these PROP ladies get better, they come to the center to learn a skill like sewing clothes, sewing mosquito nets and candle making.  After the skill is mastered and their health is stabilized they graduate from the program.  This is where they start their own business.  So...here are some crazy figures...To put a lady through the entire program for 18 months is $950.  To start a business: $150, a new sewing machine: $150, buy a house: $500.  Yes, re-read if you need to.  It's mind blowing.  I'm pretty sure we all make a trip to costco or target for the price of a sewing machine or for a women to start a business.  Really nothing if you break it down per month on $950 to support a lady through the program.  These women at Ngong have taken money they received from their graduation last year and invested the money back into the community.  They have started their own bank, if you will, and the community is borrowing their money at 30% interest!  The banks in town are at 28% interest.  Needless to say, these women started with $150 and have doubled their money in 3 months!  I'm not great at numbers, but even I know that's a serious return!!  So proud of these ladies.  They once were shunned by the community and now they are looked at as leaders.  :)

This is Naomi, a mom of 2 children
who I had the privilege of praying
over and her machine. 

This was taped on the WEEP center wall... Think it might have a place in my house too. 

  We went to 3 of the ladies homes today.  First was Frieda.  She and her 2 boys live in her home.  Her home is close to 10X10 in size, has corrugated metal walls, and a wood door that hardly opens.  She was able to fit two double beds in the house and two small chairs.  She is in phase 1 of Heart.  In fact, she is too sick to make it to the center.  She was extremely thankful we came, but after we sat down, she started to weep.  When she caught her breath, she said she couldn't believe someone would come visit her and that she was embarrassed because she wasn't feeling well.  She shared her story of how she came from a family of wealth.  In fact they live in Nairobi now and are extremely successful.  However, they found out her status and disowned her.  She was left to die.  As she shared her story, tears ran down her face, her 10 yr old son walked in and sat next to his mom.  I couldn't hold back my tears so I sniffled and didn't bother to wipe my tears as I held her hand.  It broke my heart.  I was thinking how unfair life had gone so far for Frieda.  Why was she chosen for these struggles?  She's a mom like me, wanting to provide, love and enjoy her son.  But here she's dizzy, coughing and unable to get up.  Her son sits next to her worried, unsure of his future and looking for stability.  Ugh.  No one should go through this.  We all laid hands on Frieda and prayed for her health, her strength, her peace and her boys.  Very difficult to walk away from her.  A hug and a "I'll be praying for you" comment didn't seem to come close to helping her or her son.

Frieda, her son and all of us who prayed for her.  :)

Frieda's kitchen

Frieda's counter.  Love the Bible with stuffed animal on top.  

  We walked through the Ngong slums to the Dorcus' house.  She is a graduate from last year who is doing very well in her sewing business.  In fact she took the money we gave her last year and bought her old house, rents it out and bought this new house.  It has 3 10X10 rooms!  Has a little fenced in yard too!  She is very well off in the slums.  Walking to her house was sad.  Here I had left Frieda with worry.  Wondering how she will have the energy to feed her boys tonight.  Scared her boys will be worried about their mom tonight as they listen to her cough.  I saw kids playing with wires in their mouths.  A baby with no shoes walking around in the dirt and playing with rusted metal.  Glass was everywhere and tears ran down my face thinking of my babies walking in this, playing in this filth and this being the best their life will be.  Ugh...Don't we all just want kids who do well??  Makes me wonder what the definition of success is.  Is it having all the nice things, saying the right things,  looking the right way etc.?  or is it to reach out and help the widows and orphans who are crying out for help?  If my kids walked through any slum would I want them to reach out and help?  What kind of example am I if I can't do what I would long for them to do?  What Christ asks us to do.

  Ok, gotta get my thoughts together ...Dorcus.  She is a mom of 7.  Yep, 7!  She is super woman for sure.  She has had cancer, AIDS and just after a few months of her husband passing away, her twin boys passed away.  She has lost her voice box and talks though a machine.  She has been robbed and worked  hard enough to replace all that she has lost.  She has become a mentor for the younger ladies at Heart.  She was proud to have us at her home and she grinned from ear to ear.  Still hearing all of her heartache, I couldn't believe she was smiling so big, so full of life and so full of hope.  You see, last year, I remember praying for her before she went into a pretty risky surgery.  Tears ran down my cheeks as I heard her story.  God is obviously not down with her yet!  So incredibly proud of her.  How can you not get discouraged with all of that heartache?  What keeps you pressing forward?  Fighting?  Hope for a better life and a belief that with God she could put one foot in front of the other.  So she lived one day at a time.  Incredibly inspirational.

  What an amazing day!!  The women touched my heart.  They certainly shined through their troubles, worries and fought to be who God created them to be.  Will I have this strength?  I may not have the same worries.  I may not be as sick.  But we are both moms hoping to raise kids who love and know God.  I pray I can shine as much as these women shine for Christ in the midst of struggle, sadness and worry.  Made me think of how many times I've been discouraged or sad.  Did I look up to gain strength? or look down and loose the strength that I had?  Dorcus continues to look up to the brightly lit light.  This light that she knows and believes will give her strength.  Even if the light is dimly lit, it's still lit and requires me to look past the clouds.  Good thing I serve a God who always leaves the light on.  :)  A little motel six for ya.  :))  

  Here are some pic's from the slums...