Women with courage to change their lives against all odds.
When one takes time to look and observe, they can find the most amazing things in places one least expects. Such was the case when I traveled to work in leadership development with four groups in North West rural Kenya. This is the story of one of those groups.
They were 20 women with no hope. Most were terribly abused, had multiple children, and had husbands who were either killed in recent violence or who simply abandoned them. They were alone, had no skills, and literally had nothing. They each in their own way decided to do something that would allow them to survive… they began to make an illegal alcohol or “brew” as it is called in Kenya. There was never much money left over each month after the bribes were paid to get local law enforcement to look the other way, but they could at least buy some milk and food for themselves and their children.
Then came the post-election violence in 2007-08. In a matter of weeks over 1,000 people were brutally murdered. So many others were raped, had an arm cut off, or were otherwise maimed. Over 200,000 families lost their homes to angry mobs and police who became out of control. Kenya is still recovering from those terrible weeks. Yet for these women a awful truth was revealed. Many… far too many… of the youth and men who did the violence were drunk due to drinking the “brew” the women had sold to them. They slowly began to realize they were partly to blame for the violence and deaths.
Because they did not wish to harm anyone ever again, they decided to stop brewing. It took one women to bravely say she was through and in time the others followed. Yet in their decision not to harm others it came at a great cost to them as they once again faced survival with their small children with no income. Many turned to prostitution. They were surviving but life had little meaning and they simply endured each day.
Then one day a young 24 year old man came and spoke to them. And though I do not know what was said, they along with his help, decided to form a group and go to work on some land that the young man had somehow received permission for them to use. They had no skills for planting and growing food to sell, but they learned and they created over time a life that allowed them to feed their children and have a roof over their head once again. Their lives began to have meaning again even though their income was still just above surviving.
Today they are still hard at it and they know their next step. They are learning how to care for and work with dairy cows. They know that the milk sold each day in the markets from just 8 cows would actually allow them to send their children to school, pay the school fees and uniforms and provide the potential for their getting out from under the grasp of poverty.
So they are learning new skills and now only need the cows of which they do not have the money to buy. What is making it harder for the women to purchase the cows is what little savings they have is rapidly being used up to meet the rising inflation costs of fuel and food the world oil crisis has created. These price increases have been devastating to the poor.
I would be honored if any and/or all of you would donate something, anything, for these women to buy their first two cows. Each cow costs approximately $471 US. That would be a great start and as their herd grows and their experience is honed, they will find a way to buy the rest. They already have created so much from nothing and I truly believe there is nothing these 20 women cannot do. Of course if enough money comes in to buy more than two cows we would gladly do so.
There is nothing magic in how to donate. You will need to make your check out to Leader Development Group. Send your check to Leader Development Group, 501 Hazelwood Drive, Lincoln Nebraska 68510. Put in the notation: Cows. Those at the office will receive the check, deposit it into the proper account and notify me. I will then shift the funds from dollars into Kenyan Shillings via ATM here in Nairobi and directly wire the funds to the the young man who would purchase the cows for the women. You will receive recognition of receipt of your donation and a picture of the women with their cows when they are finally purchased.
That’s it. You should know that this will simply be a contribution from your heart and that there will be no tax deduction available as my company is a for profit business. Those that know of what I am doing in Kenya know that my small company has put all of its assets into developing an authentic leadership program for women and youth in Kenya, the slum of Kibera and later into all of East Africa. My funds are totally committed but there are times when something comes across my path that simply needs to be done. This is one of those and I am asking for people to help make this happen.
In the end, those who do not know me will simply have to take a leap of faith and trust that I will do as I say. For those that know me you already know I will. For me let me just say that it is in the taking of that leap of faith that miracles happen. So please consider taking that leap and I will make sure your leap will give your heart great joy for what your donation will do for 20 single women, their children, and their future.
When we add together each small step taken in helping the poor of the world escape poverty, we over time will change our world.
You can read more about the leadership program by going to the blog archives is you wish…
Blessing to you all… David
