Mambo. Today, I would like to write something different and something that will not happen too often. Today I want to highlight a special friend of mine. Her name: Emily Awino Odhiambo. Since the first day that I got to Kenya, Emily and her mom Agnes have been serving me and my room-mates by cleaning the apartment, washing our dishes, washing our clothes, and working so hard and diligently.
Emily is the first of seven siblings. She started school when she was twelve years old because her dad could not pay for her school fees. It wasn't until her mom started working that she was able to attend school. After she started attending school, her dad started abusing his children and wife. He stopped providing for them and left his wife to be the sole provider for the family. Emily would go through stages where she would go to school and then have to leave in order to help her mom provide for the family.
In 2005, Emily finished primary school with a "C" grade and in 2006 she was enrolled in High School in the Kibera slum, one of the largest slums in Africa. High School was no different from primary school as Emily's dad continued to beat her mom and the school would shut down because the teachers would go on strike.
Emily has become a leader not just in her family, but also in her church. She has been a Sunday School teacher the last five years. She loves working with the kids because it eases her pain and gives her an escape.
Emily has since had trouble finishing her classes because of challenges with her family, but God has sent some amazing "angels" and friends to help her along the way. Karen and Lydia helped Emily get through as much school as they could financially assist her as well as providing a job for Agnes. Through their connections, Agnes was able to get more jobs by cleaning peoples houses and doing household chores. However, these connections have gone and jobs have yet again become scarce.
Emily was recently given an opportunity to go back and finish her schooling. Her desire is to go back so that she can become "a somebody in society." Emily's mom is her hero as she has continued to provide for her and the family. Emily wants to make her mother proud and despite her being twenty-three years old, her dream is to finish high school. Her trust and and faith is in God and if it is His will then she will go back to Form 3.
Emily's tuition is 26,000 Shillings per term, which is around $313. Her school has offered to pay half of her tuition, which leaves her 13,000 Shillings away from completing her dream. Please be in prayer for this family as they have struggled through so many things and have been a huge blessing in my life. I thank God for their ministry as they serve my house and pray that someway these financial burdens can be lifted and help make these dreams become a reality.
Thank you all for your prayers and I look forward to sharing with you more about how God answers this prayer and many more to come. Cheers.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Is Mothers Day Really This Week?
Well for the last two weeks, I thought Mothers Day was last week, the first of May. But apparently my mothers day doesn't match with the actual day. It's to bad because today is a really sad day as Chelsea lost their hopes of winning a trophy this season, and Nairobi City Stars had a chance to move up to the tenth place, but instead lost to the last place team. It just wasn't a good football day.
But besides all of that, since I last posted an article about how I was doing, I have managed to get "African Tick Bite Fever" along with working crazy weeks, have very little rest time. Yes, the tick bite thing has been an ongoing question of how can you acquire such a fever and all I have to say is that one night I went back to sleeping in my bedroom and I wake up itching and red marks all over my body. So I went to a clinic and that's how they diagnosed me and told me to go bomb my mattress and wooden bunk bed. I still have yet to do those things.
The Petra Boys Academy is off to the races. We are actually getting a lot of publicity lately and people continue asking us what our program is. God is so good in the sense that we were able to put together a whole youth system and start it this month with all of these journalists and potential sponsors now getting interested in what we are doing. This month, International Christian Center, the church we're partnered with, has opened several job opportunities for our boys to make some money and so we don't have to keep paying their fare to and from training.
So that is what I have been working on and why I haven't been able to post something in a while. I will say that this Tuesday marks mine and Olivia's one year anniversary and we are so excited about that because it means that we are one day closer to seeing each other and also another month into this relationship. My sister also graduated from Covenant College yesterday and even though I wasn't able to attend, I still felt like I was part of the celebration. I am so proud of my sis and cannot wait to see where she will be by the time I come home for Christmas. Man how time flies.
Well that's what I've got for now. I'll try to do a better job at updating this. Keep on pressing on to the win the prize and seriously, never give up. If there's anything I'm taking away from this experience its that. No matter how hard the job might be, how hard long distance is, how hard life is with tick bite fever, whatever, never give up cause He's given you everything you need to get through it. Love you all.
But besides all of that, since I last posted an article about how I was doing, I have managed to get "African Tick Bite Fever" along with working crazy weeks, have very little rest time. Yes, the tick bite thing has been an ongoing question of how can you acquire such a fever and all I have to say is that one night I went back to sleeping in my bedroom and I wake up itching and red marks all over my body. So I went to a clinic and that's how they diagnosed me and told me to go bomb my mattress and wooden bunk bed. I still have yet to do those things.
The Petra Boys Academy is off to the races. We are actually getting a lot of publicity lately and people continue asking us what our program is. God is so good in the sense that we were able to put together a whole youth system and start it this month with all of these journalists and potential sponsors now getting interested in what we are doing. This month, International Christian Center, the church we're partnered with, has opened several job opportunities for our boys to make some money and so we don't have to keep paying their fare to and from training.
So that is what I have been working on and why I haven't been able to post something in a while. I will say that this Tuesday marks mine and Olivia's one year anniversary and we are so excited about that because it means that we are one day closer to seeing each other and also another month into this relationship. My sister also graduated from Covenant College yesterday and even though I wasn't able to attend, I still felt like I was part of the celebration. I am so proud of my sis and cannot wait to see where she will be by the time I come home for Christmas. Man how time flies.
Well that's what I've got for now. I'll try to do a better job at updating this. Keep on pressing on to the win the prize and seriously, never give up. If there's anything I'm taking away from this experience its that. No matter how hard the job might be, how hard long distance is, how hard life is with tick bite fever, whatever, never give up cause He's given you everything you need to get through it. Love you all.
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