In early March, Glory arrived at a Zoe Empowers information meeting in the rural village of Ntuti, Kenya. Wearing ripped jeans, tinted red from dust, and a stocking hat to cover hair she couldn’t afford to maintain, Glory was timid and joyless as she explained her situation to Zoe Empowers staff members.
The nineteen year old had been thrust into the role of parent and caretaker of her four younger siblings after their biological parents abandoned them. The family was accepted into the Zoe Empowers Kenya program and placed in the Precious Ntuti Empowerment Group in March 2021. (An elderly grandmother has sadly passed on since joining the group.)
A few weeks later, Glory started her first business, a grocery kiosk stocked with flour, sugar, shortcakes, potatoes and other grocery items. She is proud to report that her earnings have afforded the family at least one meal per day, as opposed to before Zoe when they struggled to eat on a daily basis.
This spring, Glory also planted her first kitchen garden at home utilizing the seeds and tools provided by Zoe. She has planted maize, beans, kale, and onions. Through Glory’s merry-go-round banking group, a system in which all members contribute a nominal sum each week and take turns distributing small grants to its members, Glory was able to buy three chickens, which she intends to rear for eggs and meat for her family.
Glory is optimistic that, between her business profits, the garden and chickens, her family will be eating three meals a day very soon. The family still resides in their one-room home, but Glory has implemented many of the health and hygiene lessons learned from Zoe to keep it clean and safe for her and her siblings, including clearing brush and creating a proper handwashing station with soap.
After just five months in the empowerment program, Glory’s demeanor and outlook on life has already shifted. She smiles more frequently and feels hopeful when she envisions her future. She dreams about turning her grocery kiosk into a full-scale shop, and running the business with her brother, Dancun, who is currently living away from home to find work. She believes she will earn enough to also send her other siblings back to school.
This is just the beginning of the changes that Glory and her family will experience because they were given the opportunity of empowerment. Hundreds of thousands of orphans just like Glory and her family are still waiting for their chance.