Seneyo's Sewing Machine

Seneyo's Sewing Machine ~



Seneyo is a very quiet and shy widow. In our group of 30 Maasai widows, she was the only one who couldn't think of a way to generate income for her and her children. She was eager, to be sure, but totally lacking in the confidence to try something new. Each month, as she participated in the trainings and fellowship with the other widows, she grew in her new faith. She began to share testimony that she was beginning to experience HOPE for the first time. Each month, she asked God to take her small faith and her small hope and transform her. Joseph and I prayed for an idea.

Then, a group of women in Indiana, contacted me. They are a group of sewing ladies, who wanted to bless a widow in some way. The idea was born! Seneyo lives in a village with no sewing machine. In fact, in the closest market village of Mairowa, there is only one sewing machine. Joseph and I knew that if Seneyo had a machine, she could have a profitable, small sewing business. In the villages, their shukas and school uniforms are in constant need of repair. So, the group of women in America gave the resources to purchase the machine, other supporters of the program donated thread, and we had a wife of one of our church planters donate sewing lessons.

So on September 8th, we presented Seneyo with her sewing machine. (By the way, it works by foot pedal, no electricity needed!) She was trying so hard not to cry....crying is not something Maasai do, certainly not in public. The other widows broke out in song and prayer.

Sweet Seneyo on the left in blue...allowing herself tears of thankfulness.

The rest of the celebration....

Rebeka's Plow ~

Rebeka Ngushai is one of the widows in the Tanzania Widow Project. Each of the thirty Maasai widows in the program worked with myself and Joseph Ng'ida, my ministry partner, to identify an income generating activity. Rebeka has a small plot of land called a shamba. Early on, she told us that she wanted to grow vegetables. As there are very few people growing vegetables in her village, we knew that Rebeka could not only feed her family, but make a profit selling the vegetables. Finally, this would allow her to send her children to school.

Rebeka completed the Farming God's Way course and is learning micro-enterprise concepts. Next step - receiving her plow! This plow, which is pulled by cattle, will allow her to plant her entire shamba.

On the day we presented Rebeka with her plow, she was completely surprised. When I made the announcement and Joseph pushed the plow out, she just grabbed onto the handle, I think to keep from falling down! She was literally speechless. What was amazing was the celebration. The other widows burst out in song, dance, laughter and praise. They were celebrating the blessing their dear friend received and thanking God for the transformation that is taking place amongst them. It is an honor to witness such love and genuine JOY.

Kereya ~ Before and After Books

Kereya is a 15 year old Maasai boy living in the village of Enkeua. He is an orphan. He is also very smart and has a talent for building things. He dreams of becoming an engineer. The next step for him to achieve his goal is to go to secondary school, which is the equivalent of US high school. However, to do so in Tanzania, you have to pass the Standard 7 exam. Very few Maasai kids are able to pass this exam. The main reason is because they don't have books. The books needed to prepare for the exam is a set of English, Science and Math books. Other reasons include lack of teachers in the bush and the fact that the exam is given in Swahili and English, when the language of these kids is Maasai.

The first picture you see of Kereya was taken at our orphan gathering in February. He was pouring out his feelings to my ministry partner, Joseph. Kereya was sharing his dreams of an education and his absolute lack of hope to pass the exam without the books. When Joseph shared with me what was going on with Kereya, I knew we had to get him those books. Although we can't meet every need of every orphan in the villages, I knew that I was supposed to meet this need. I've known Kereya for almost a year, and know him to be a hard-working boy who is always willing to serve the younger orphans.

So the next weekend, my husband helped me search Arusha for the books. You see, it isn't just the lack of money for kids like Kereya. The books simply aren't available in the villages. So in Arusha, we found the set of books. I should have been relieved at how easy it was for us to find them, and the fact that they were so inexpensive. However, I actually was just frustrated. Frustrated that a kid with such a desire to learn would fail because of lack of materials; frustrated that the books aren't available to kids in the bush; and frustrated that the amount of money is so small, probably the amount of money American kids spend on sodas each week.

The next week, I went out with Oleg and Heidi to the bush. I had arranged for Kereya to meet me in Mairowa. Mairowa is only a 2 hour drive for me, but a 5 hour one way walk for Kereya. And, despite the long walk, a few other boys from his village came with him to celebrate the occasion! You will notice that he is dressed differently in the second photo. When I asked why he wasn't dressed in his traditional shuka, he said that he borrowed these clothes, because he "wanted to look smart when receiving his new books."

Information coming soon about how to sponsor an orphan like Kereya!

Widow & Orphan Days...

The 1st Saturday of each month is Widow & Orphan Day. On those days, on our project land in the village of Mairowa, 30 widows and 130 orphans gather. Together with my ministry partner, Joseph Ng'ida, we feed, encourage, teach and sing praises with these precious women and children. We also bless them with maize, beans and ugi to take home. Ugi is a nutritionally rich flour especially designed for those with malnutrition.

Please enjoy these photos of the children enjoying their meal. This month we were able to serve their favorite ~ goat meat!

Widow Program

The CMF church plants and our CHE (Community Health Evangelism) groups in the rural Matale and Ngare Naibor regions expressed their concern to CMF of the many widows in the villages in dire need of aid. These new churches are too young to financially support the widows, but yet mature enough to know they have a duty to care for these women. A survey was conducted last year and 30 women were chosen as the most destitute. The criteria they used for a destitute widow was loss of husband, and owning 'no cow or even a goat.'

So for the past six months, I have been working to build relationships with these 30 women. Together with CMF's Maasai CHE leader, Joseph Ngida, we decided that the best way to help these women, would be a combination of food assistance, training, spiritual guidance and encouragement from their village church, and a savings program.

So how does the program work? Once a month, the widows will gather on our project land in the village area of Mairowa, where they will receive food, nutritional supplements and other supplies. They will receive Biblical teaching and also a time of fellowship with one another. I still have a lot to learn about Maasai culture, however, I know enough now to tell you how difficult life is as a widow for the Maasai woman. More than the obvious financial difficulties, she is left voiceless in the community. She is also left without protection against various other cultural problems. This time of fellowship is really helpful for the widows to share sorrows and encourage one another.

More than that, this program is a sponsorship. We are praying that each widow will be chosen by a sponsor who is willing to 'adopt' her for a period of one year. The total sponsorship per widow is $300. One third will be used to feed the widow and her children for the year. One third will be used for training. The final third, or $100, will be used by the widow at the completion of her year of training, to begin a self-supporting activity. What types of training and activities? Sewing, beading, farming, and raising goats are just a few of the micro-enterprise types of income generating to be taught.

The women are so excited and HOPEFUL to be in this program. Please join me in praying for the women! Please contact me through email if you know of a family, Sunday School class, or other group of people desiring to sponsor a widow and change her life and her children's lives in 2012!

tzheather@gmail.com

Meet Selei

Let me introduce you to one of the widows in our program. Her name is Selei. She was the 4th wife of her husband. When her husband died, as the youngest wife, she was left with nothing. She now has no husband, no cow or goat, and no land to farm. She has no way to generate income to feed her four precious young children.

However, she has two things now that she didn't have before she became a widow. Thanks to the outreach of the Oloserian church plant, she now has FAITH in Christ. And now, chosen to be one of the first widows in our new Widow Program, she has HOPE. I have slowly been building a relationship with Selei and have gained her TRUST.

We were recently able to help her with medicine for her youngest child, and she was so very grateful. I look forward to the day when I can tell Selei that someone has chosen to sponsor her!

*Please see Widow Program post for details of widow sponsorship!