Birthdays and a passing
Pauline Nyambura’s birthday party was on the 5th of May, 2010. The party was held on a Tuesday night and the children were very excited as usual at the mention of a party. Pauline (Nyambu) as her nickname goes was dressed up and to her everyone seemed to be dragging their feet either to prepare the food, snacks, balloons, etc. She was so eager to cut her cake and the other children were envious of her. She looked so pretty in her orange dress; normally Nyambu is a well known tom boy!
When everything was laid in place every one gathered and singing and dancing for the Lord ensued, then the delicious food was shared and finally she blew the candles.
The magic candles relit every time she blew them off!
While everyone wished her happy birthday, she cut the cake with the help of her dear mum Ann. Then the snacks were shared among the children, joyful noises came from the house that night. It was really a magical moment for Nyambu.
On the night of June the 13th, Josephine Kaveza, was rushed to the hospital as she was in labour. On the 14th of June at around 12.00 noon, little angel, Stephanie Musimbi was born to the 3:16 family. She was welcomed by some of our mission team members from the USA, who were also with her in the delivery room. That evening they were brought home the doctor having confirmed that they were ok.
On Wednesday night, the matron realized that the baby was not breathing normally, she was rushed to the General Hospital where she was checked and some drugs were prescribed and the mother too was examined since she was in great pain. The drugs were bought and they were taken back home. The drugs were administered immediately and the baby slept. At around 3.00 am, when the matron checked on them, she had passed away.
There was confusion, fear and loud screams from the house that night. Everyone went on their knees in prayer and tears. We could not get anyone on phone then. In the early morning we called Evangelist Ngugi from PCEA Nakuru West, Suburb church, who came to our rescue. He immediately gathered a committee which organized for the burial, a service, buying of casket, flowers, transportation, etc. Some of our girls were picked from school to attend the burial. All this was done in a period of one and a half hours. By 11.00 am the burial was on going and it was a beautiful service for the 2 days old Stephanie. At around 1.30pm, she was laid to rest at the cemetery. The mother was left in great pain, she cried for days! She is recuperating progressively. Everyone was so supportive towards her.
On the 19th of June, 2010, Sean Njuguna and Virginia Wangare were celebrating their 4th and 7th birthdays respectively. There was a big party for them that weekend, so many
people attended the party. Preparation started in the morning, all the kids wore their Sunday best and were excited to see the event unfold. The goat was slaughtered and food prepared and cleaning
of the house. The guests started arriving at 2.00pm. The children sang and danced as everyone else joined in. The food and snacks were shared. Candles were blown and cakes were cut as songs and words of encouragement lingered on and on.
It was Virginia’s 1st birthday party and it was special!
School time
The 26th of June, 2010, came and the boarding school girls at the Jitegemea Schools were eagerly waiting to be visited. We woke up very early to prepare their favorite delicacies; chapati, fried chicken, stew, etc. Everyone got ready and we left in the Directors vehicle which had to take two trips. They were excited to be with the whole family once again. We sat and prayed and we shared the food and drinks while catching up. The picnic was perfect though there will never be enough time to chat. Time came for academic follow up; class by class, one teacher to the other, they commented on the positive progress of the girls. From the previous exam compared to the current one (mid term), four of them had greatly improved but two had dropped in marks. They were advised accordingly by the teachers and we also chipped in our suggestions. The progress made by the two class seven girls is impressive, Margaret Njeri is highly motivated by our new girl Joyce Mwikali, the competition is totally positive as they continue working hand in hand.
Mission Trip
The mission trip from the USA to Kenya was a success at 3:16, for the week that the team spent here was a blessing to women and their children especially little Stephanie and the mother who gave birth as they held her hand, strengthening her. The little time was so much fun.
New Friends
Nellius Wairimu, who was from Elburgon, had come in as a volunteer but she was depressed because of the terrible things that the stepfather was taking her through. She was allowed to stay at the centre as she heals. Staying with the women there as she continued to volunteer, really helped her to realize that her problems were only minute. She came out of her depression and stepped up to making the other women’s pain bearable. She has gained enough strength and realized she can make it at this point without concentrating on the father. It was time for her to go back home and set out in search of a job so that she can strengthen and empower her mother and her other seven younger siblings. We released her confident that she is ready to move on.
Jane Murugi, 15 years old, is an orphan who lived with the grandmother who stopped Jane from going to school 2 years ago. Later on she sent her out in search of a job claiming that she was old
enough to fend for them. She was lucky to get a job as a house help in Nairobi. She went there and worked for 6 months even though her employer was not paying her regularly as agreed, she persevered. One day she was all alone in the house as her employer had travelled, a male visitor came in the house and locked himself in. He raped her and left the house in a hurry. When the employer came back in the evening she told her what had happened. She was threatened that if she told anyone, she would suffer the consequences. From the description, the woman knew who the visitor was and started urging Jane that he is a good man and would marry her if she agreed. She was scared and did not know who to talk to. When this woman realized that she was showing signs of pregnancy, she sent her away.
She went back to the grandmother and narrated the story; the grandma was furious and told her that she cannot accept her back unless she came back without the pregnancy. She even suggested that it was least risky if she aborted in her 7th month. Even worse she told her that she will not be the first to do that since she had aborted two pregnancies. She threw Jane’s clothes outside and drove her away. She walked for miles looking a job or someone who could help her, evening came and she was still walking without food or water. She was at the verge of breaking and contemplating suicide. The last homestead she entered, the woman felt pity on her, gave her food and water. Since her house was full, she looked for a place in a neighbor’s house for her to sleep.
The next day she narrated her story and they decided to help. They got her a job but when the pregnancy was almost due, she came back. She gave birth at the good Samaritans place, who bought her everything she required. When the woman tried to take her and the baby back to the grandma’s, they were all thrown out like dogs, saying that Jane refused to take her advise now she never wanted to see her again.
The woman sought so many places for help until she met someone from PCEA Nakuru West, Suburb church, who told her about Nakuru 3:16. Since w e took Jane like two weeks now, she seemed not to like the baby much, dint even flinch when her baby cried. She is learning a lot from the other mothers, she even spending time now staring at her baby, Joshua Jonathan who is 6 weeks old.
Gladys Njeri, 14 years old, comes from a family of four, 2 brothers and 1 sister. Their father passed away and their mother went into serious depression, actually mad. She goes round picking up garbage while talking to herself. The community around has been helpful in their well being. Her
sister and one of her brothers were taken in by children’s home and she was left at home with the mother and the eldest brother. She was going to a nearby school, Our Lady of Mercy Primary School. Her counseling and guidance teacher noticed that she had missed school a couple of times. She was a bit distant when she came back. It became regular for her to miss school. One day she confided that the brother had been visiting her room every night trying to rape her. After a few days when we were called in, she was not in school but in the office of the District Education Officer who she confided in that her brother had been raping her on a regular basis and she had fled from home. They kept her in a Good Samaritan’s house for a few days until we took her in.
She has been at the centre for only a week, she came with no clothes to change in and bear foot. We have gathered a few for her and she is excited about her new home. Lately she has been very moody due to her periods which she could not control and the matron has been teaching her to use sanitary towels. The embarrassment and consciousness are killing her since she has no friends her age around, who are going through the same issues as she is. All in all we are giving her enough school work before she faces her interview while we continue building relationships.
Cynthia Muthoni, 24 years old, is from Thika Town. When her mother died, the dad was left with her and her younger sister. The dad tried his best to take care of them but he wasn’t able to keep up with the girls as they grew into young women. He was old and struggling with his shoe shinning business. Most of the time, he was out fending for them. The girls started going to the streets to help their look for a livelihood as they felt they were becoming a burden to the dad. After one year, they both had gotten children and seriously addicted to glue. Cynthia has a 14 months old baby, David. The dad was very worried about the daughters and he often sought help from the District Children’s Officer and the social worker around Thika. They were stuck since they did not know any home that rehabilitated girls in the country. They met Rev. Nehemiah Kamau, former Rev. of PCEA Nakuru West Suburb Church, who informed and connected them to us.
We went and met Cynthia and she was really in bad shape, very weak and high with the baby dangling from her back with barely any clothes on him and it was freezing. When she was brought
at the centre all the girls thought that she was mad. She was extremely dirty, smelly, bare foot, and shaking like a leaf from not sniffing glue the whole day. The other women were scared of her at first. Immediately they washed her baby and gave her clean clothes and to the mother they put water and she bathed and given clean clothes, what a transformation in minutes. We saw a big change at that time. She slept most of the time after that and we took her for check up. She and the baby are on medication for malaria and chest infection. She is also on special diet while we stop the breast feeding as it is making her weaker and an excuse not to feed the baby. For the few days, she is recovering and learning the hard way on cleanliness.
This girl has a very strong will to change, one time we teased her that we had some glue hidden away and would let her sniff a little, she said firmly that no matter how much she suffers, she is willing to turn around her life completely. That was very encouraging; furthermore I have never heard someone pray as well as she does. She is actively participating in devotions unlike the other new women. As we were sharing on ways we could show others that we loved them, she said that if someone took a look at her in the streets, in the terrible state she was in and loved her unconditionally and want to give her a second chance, then she owed love to herself and believed that God exists and works through people. She said that she will always be thankful and pray for them. Cynthia has great potential and a great future ahead of her and her son. She will inspire and empower many if well equipped.
Cynthia, David and her Dad.