Nearly three years ago, on a warm July afternoon in Kenya, Winfred grabbed a jerry-can and walked toward the river. The task of gathering water was standard for the seventeen-year-old, who had acquired the role of primary caretaker for her four younger siblings. Their mother had become an alcoholic following the death of their father, impairing her parenting abilities and creating substantial tension with her eldest child.
However, on this particular afternoon, Winfred didn’t plan to return with a full jerry-can. In fact, she didn’t plan to return at all. She had gone to the river intending to drown herself. In her mind, death was the only way to erase the pain and suffering she felt. Her world, her responsibilities, her life as an orphan in the cycle of poverty had become too much to bear.
But then something unexpected happened. On the way to the river, Winfred crossed paths with a former teacher. The teacher asked how she was doing, why she and her siblings were no longer in school. When Winfred explained the circumstance, the teacher mentioned Zoe Empowers, citing the program was soon coming to their village and was designed for children in situations like Winfred’s.
“I got so excited because God answered my prayers through my teacher,” she recalled. The following week Winfred was accepted into the Zoe Empowers Kenya program and joined the Joy Tuuru empowerment group.
Group members were trained on the various aspects of entrepreneurship, including record keeping, customer service, differentiating profit and loss, and writing a business proposal. Winfred dreamed of opening a tailor shop, but she didn’t have previous experience as a seamstress. While she attended vocational training, she started another small business making samosas. She sold samosas in the mornings and evenings, before and after tailoring classes, to earn money for her family.
The samosa-making business led to Winfred opening a convenience store stocked with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and packaged foods. Both businesses generated enough income for her to open a third business as a tailor. In less than three years in the Zoe Empowers program, Winfred has opened three businesses, which remain in operation today, thanks to help from her siblings.
The business proceeds have fully funded Winfred’s and her siblings’ school fees, health insurance, major housing repairs, and the purchase of livestock, which the family rears and sells for a profit. The family no longer suffers from health ailments, like diarrhea and lice, after learning the basics of personal health and hygiene from Zoe. Winfred aspires to go to college soon and has become a confident advocate of education in her community.
There is nothing about Winfred’s life that resembles her life three years ago. The life that she considered ending. Today, her energy is magnetic, bubbling with curiosity and warmth. She is a vibrant young woman who knows her worth. She is a mother and role model to her siblings. She knows the work, the lessons, the values she has accumulated are not only for her benefit but for the benefit of generations to come.
Winfred believes she is a living testimony. Proof of God’s power to move people from nothing to something for his glory.
Empower more young women, mothers, caretakers, orphans like Winfred by becoming a Zoe Empowers partner, starting at only $9 per month.
How many children like Winfred and her siblings can you give lasting sustainable change?
