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Quick Access to Water Improves Lives
Last fall fourteen-year-old Zipporah, whose father died of AIDS, walked two miles before school every day to bring fresh water to her mother and five younger siblings. In rural Kenya, the chore of toting water usually falls to the girls in each family.
The daily trip for water took from one and a half to three hours depending on the season. During the dry season, some wells dry up, and girls from far and wide converge on the few remaining wells with water. Lines and wait times are long!
Today Zipporah walks fewer than 160 feet for water thanks to SOTENI's Water and Sanitation Project. Through a joint initiative with the Kenyan government to improve access to clean water, SOTENI Village of Hope-Mbakalo oversaw the drilling of several hand pump wells near her village. Zipporah spends her precious, reclaimed hours each day studying, visiting friends or helping her sick mother care for her brothers and sisters. |
Education and Empowerment Equals Success
Mercy is a young widow who less than a year ago had no money to pay school fees or buy clothes for her three children. She grew and sold produce from her small shamba (farm), but didn't make enough to buy anything other than the most basic necessities for her family. Feeling desperate, Mercy tried to augment her income by cooking and selling "illegal brew." But it was risky.
Then her life changed! From December 2008 through July 2009, Mercy participated in SOTENI's Women's Empowerment Project in SOTENI Village of Hope-Mituntu. The workshops and the comradery and support from other women in the program gave Mercy the knowledge, business skills and confidence she needed to expand her thinking and her farm.
Mercy first invested in fertilizer and seeds to make farm yields and profits higher. Motivated by this initial success, she next bought cosmetology supplies and opened a hair salon in her home. Most recently, she hired another person to work with her.
Today, Mercy's children are in school, well-clothed and well-fed thanks to a SOTENI program that changed their mother's life and their lives for the better. |
Why I Give to SOTENI
Randie Marsh asked me to share why my husband and I sponsor an AIDS orphan, and why I donate funds and my time as a volunteer to SOTENI. There isn't one answer. There are three.
First, I give because SOTENI is both worthy and needy. When people give money to SOTENI, the results are direct and immediate -- an AIDS orphan gets money for school, a Village of Hope coordinator gets paid, a solar panel is purchased for the dispensary and ABDs have medicine for their patients. It's that simple! I know my dollars go directly to the people.
Another reason I give to SOTENI is philosophical. I believe people in wealthy developed nations are called by the human family to share their bounty with persons in developing nations who are poor. Kenyans certainly qualify. They deserve respect and opportunity. For me, such giving is a matter of social justice.
The third reason I give to SOTENI is because I believe God puts things in our paths for a "spirit-led" reason. Nearly three years ago, I retired from my job and desired to volunteer with an organization focused on international development--work close to my heart. I learned about SOTENI out of the blue, in a side-bar conversation with a stranger I met at a business meeting. Coincidence? I think not. Heaven sent? Most likely!
We all have reasons we give! I hope my story encourages you to give to SOTENI so that development can continue to flourish in their four Villages of Hope in 2010. Your gift will be a wellspring of hope for the Kenyan people SOTENI serves. Please give generously today!
Susan Anthony, Volunteer and Donor |
