Hello friends!!
I know you have been wondering what has been happening with Malaika Mums project. I will highlight some few things of what has been happening and keep you updated.
For those who may not know, the Malaika Mums project started on May 2008, with a group of ten women whose kids have mental &physical disabilities. We started with four small domestic machines. At first I wasn’t sure about teaching these women who are older than I am and women who had zero experience with sewing machines. I had to divide them in two groups so that I could manage to train them. I taught some from 9:00am to 1:00pm and the rest from 2:00pm to5:00 pm.
During the training , I had difficult time because when I trained the mums how to insert the needle they would insert it the wrong way, they also could not keep the machine stable or roll consistently to help with the motion of the machines. I felt heart broken and disappointed as I realized that it was going to be very difficult to do anything with these women. I convinced myself and the women that “where there is a will there is away” But as we continued to struggle and still at our infant stage we had visitors from Kansas State who trained the Mums how to make pillow cases and before the end of the day the Mums were very happy and excited to see what they had learnt and made within a day. From then on things have been different.
After 4 months the then Kenya Director Alison Costain started the bags project and bought us enough fabric to enable us to start with this great project with a hope of making a difference with the environment. The goal was to encourage people to use canvas bags and reduce the use of plastic bags. It was hard to make perfect bags as the woman were still learning and at one point we had to undo seventy six bags. Some of the women were about to quit as they thought they would never make it. It has taken lots of encouragement for these women to believe in themselves. Coming from a culture where women are looked down upon, their self esteem is next to zero. More than just making bags and learning how to do sewing, we kept on encouraging each other that we are worth something and that we can make a difference. Now we do not have to undo any of the bags. We are getting better every day, each woman taking her position and perfecting their area.
We are so thankful to all the visitors who have been coming to train these women. They have been coming out slowly and they are now able to express themselves better than they did before. Some can even dare say who they are in English, though they don’t have adequate education to build their confidence but yet they enjoy trying new things without fear of intimidation. To all who have had an opportunity to visit the Malaika Mums, I would like you to know that your presence and encouragement takes these women to a higher level.
During the visits this year, we have learned quite a bit from the visitors. Not only did we learn about self esteem and great ways to relate with our husbands but we also did the diva walk with Dr. Barrie to give the women a feeling of self loving and acceptance. Thanks to Dr. Barrie and team, I still hold myself high and do my divas walk despite the circumstances. When things get rough, we remind ourselves that we are divas and can still make it. Dorothy Ombajo who is a local attorney crowned the day and did a great job enlightening the women about their basic human rights. We had a great summer with the visitors.
With the visitors from Kansas State we also paid a visit to Amani ya juu (Peace from heaven) in Nairobi with Denise, Alice, Elaine, Blake, Jeremiah and our executive director Zane. The mums learnt a lot and they were motivated by the women of Amani ya juu hearing how their organization started. Since that visit, the mums have a positive attitude towards sewing. They have added a lot of interest since they believed that from the little they have now, they can make wonders and we can become a big organization in Kenya in making different kinds and types of things.
This August we also had privilege to visit each of our mums home for a documentary with Aaron Bratcher, David Simpson and Zane, only to learn that these women are surrounded with lot of problems. Not only are they poor and fighting the shame of bearing a disabled child from the family and the community in general but they also have to experience domestic violence, lots ridicule and rejection. I was surprised with these stories as these women always show up in the morning with smiling faces with no signs at all of all they have to endure in their homes.
The women are working hard to make ends meet for their families. We are depending of the canvas bags right now and it’s our sincere hope and prayer to God that we are going to get more orders and this will change their lives as well as improving our environment within Maai-Mahiu and abroad as we hold hands together to discourage the use of polythene bags. As of now God has started answering our prayers because we are no w making an order of 200 bags for Tribe Hotel in Nairobi. Let’s hope more will come
Follow up on our next blog to know what is happening in our economic project that hopes to improve the lives of these mums and many others in the community.
Liz Josiah
Malaika Mums program manager
No comments:
Post a Comment