Nakuru Safehouse for Kenya Women and Children

I love hearing good news stories from our graduates whenever I'm here. The girls love to stop by to say hi, share their success stories with us, and inspire the current group of girls to work hard and set goals to achieve their dreams. Purity, (name changed) who graduated in December 2023, is one of those girls. Purity was born deaf. Any form of disability is usually shunned upon in East Africa, and the family will hide their disabled child from society. Her natural father abandoned the family soon after she was born. Her mother remarried a man who was extremely violent, forcing her to run away, leaving Purity to be raised by her elderly grandmother. Purity was one of the very fortunate girls. From primary school, she attended the renowned Ngala School for the Deaf in Nakuru City as a boarding student, graduating in 2022.

Along with three other girls from Ngala, Purity joined Kijiji Mission in 2023, graduating in Dec. Now with a well-rounded education and marketable vocational skills, her mostly absent father and family members wanted her to return to their interior rural land as Purity would bring the family a high bride dowry, and yes, that does involve the exchange of a few cattle, FGM and marriage to a much older man. A destiny we were all desperate to avoid. Despite the daunting employment prospects for the hearing impaired, Purity was unwavering in her determination to succeed. We were able to find her a six-month attachment at a school uniform manufacturing project, honing her skills by making uniforms for free. She continued to reside with us throughout this period, commuting to the project daily. During this time, she met a boy at Church who was also hearing impaired. Purity came by the other week to tell us that she’s getting married in November. The boy’s family loves Purity and is excited to welcome her into their large family. They had sent their son to barber college and now plan to set the two up in a joint barbershop and fashion design business. We are thankful to God that she has landed into the caring hands of loving in-laws who are looking forward to the wedding and welcoming their new daughter into their family and willing to give them total support in their business success. Every year, we are able to include hearing-impaired girls referred to us by Ngala School of the Deaf. This is only possible because of our wonderful head teacher, Marther, who is fully versant in Kenyan sign language. I'm not aware of any other vocational training school in Kenya that offers such intensive vocational training for the deaf.

All of our girls learn so much during the 12 months they live with us at Kijiji Mission. Of course, they learn a trade, tailoring. However, they also learn beginning computers, business and money management, household management, health, and hygiene, including reproductive health, just to name a few of the valuable services we provide. Since our humble beginnings in 2008, the Springs of Hope Foundation has made great strides forward in Kenya. We are so very grateful for the continued support of our donors. Without you, none of this would be possible.

Asante Sana.

Thank You.

Warmest blessings,

Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom

Founder/CEO

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