Self Help Groups

Pharis Nyaga with the Somali women of Iftin

Today was the first in a series of workshops for the women of Iftin on building self help groups. Pharis Nyaga is the operations manager for the Eastleigh Community Centre's self help group and community based training programs. He is presently working with over sixty women's self help groups throughout the Eastlands region of Nairobi.

Our hope is that the women of Iftin will pave the way for other Somali women of Eastleigh to become part of a movement that has traditionally empowered women of various Kenyan ethnic groups. Self help groups, like The Sharing Way's "Guardians of Hope", empower women socially, economically, and politically to overcome extreme poverty and to bless their communities -- whether it be helping orphans and vulnerable children or people struggling with disabilities or disease.

Over the next few weeks, Iftin will continue to learn about Self Help Groups and have the opportunity to form groups together that will provide support, training opportunities, a financial savings program, and micro enterprise development support.

Today's gathering was very positive as about 30 women participated in the training and indicated high interest in continuing with the program and inviting friends to join.

In Prayer:

* We pray that the women of Iftin will be protected from forces in their community that would seek to discourage and hinder their full participation in the women's empowerment initiatives of the centre.

* We pray for emerging leaders within the group. May they grow in faith and integrity as they influence other Somali women living in Eastleigh.

* Please continue to uphold Erica and her mom in your prayers. Erica is currently somewhere over the Atlantic ocean en route to Toronto for a connecting flight to Saint John.

Lift Your Voice!

IFTIN shines as they sing their own songs

written in their mother tongue of Somali.

We paraded into Nairobi's Naya Stadium with over 2000 people for the September 8th, International Literacy Day celebration.

A presenters tent with various groups and agencies working to enhance adult education in Kenya were part of the day. It is estimated that 774 million adults lack basic literacy around the world, 64% are women (EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2008). According to Kenya's 2007 National Adult literacy Survey, 7,800,000 adults can not read or write. Working together, organizations like Eastleigh Community Centre are striving to promote and provide free opportunities for adults to achieve quality education that will lead to "peace and prosperity" for the nation.

Our group was among dozens of choirs, dancers, actors and marching bands that took part in the celebration. These children stood on tip toe to get a good look at the sparkling white uniformed marching bands.

The Iftin group preforming their songs before the panel of judges, including Kenya's Minister of Education, at the International Literacy Day celebration in Nairobi. They were great!

Celebrating Somali Style

Some of the ladies preparing steamy Somali Chai for Friday's celebration with our ESL classes in Eastleigh.

Some of the ladies waiting for the tea to brew and for the party to start.

On Friday, we enjoyed a wonderful party with about sixty women from our ESL classes and Self-Help group at the Eastleigh Community Centre. It was a great chance for the ladies to quite literally "let their hair down" and have some fun together. Many of the ladies dressed to the nines with scarves, flowing dresses, and jewelry.

We've discovered that Somali women love to dance. They played both traditional and contemporary Somalli music, and performed several individual and group dances, tying scarves around their waists as they danced.

They also like to create a tight circle and call one another into the centre where one or two women will show their moves. With great cheering, Erica and Zahra (above) answered the students calls to dance in the circle. It was a lot of fun!!

What's a Somali party without henna? One of our students, Bisharo, brought her henna supplies and decorated several of the women and girls at the party. She uses both black and red henna to create incredibly detailed designs over hands, feet, arms and legs. Some of the women even had henna painted on their necks like a necklace. The dye ussually lasts for several months.

Erica joined our students and had both

of her hands decorated with henna.

Iftin

The ladies of our ESL classes and women's self-help group have given themselves a name -- Iftin. It is one of several Somali words for "light". The women have chosen it out of a desire to be light for their community.

Presently, we are holding three classes each weekday morning from 9 am to 12:30 pm. The women have shown a dramatic improvement not only with their English, but in their attitudes toward each other and with us. We see English as a critical foundation for the women to improve their lives and the lives of their families. And yet, we see this teaching component as only the entry point of a much more integrated approach to serving the refugee community living within Eastleigh. Along with the classroom learning, we are involved in household visits with our friend Zahra: together we are building deeper relationships and working with the women to assess and mobilize the community to find sustainable ways of overcoming extreme poverty. Through cooperative learning, the ESL classes are strengthening group dynamics among the women and preparing them for future opportunities of working together in community awareness projects, micro-enterprise development and community advocacy. It is an exciting time to be serving with such an inspiring group of women.

Zahra and Aaron with some of the women from our 10 am ESL class.

On September 8th, the ladies of Iftin will be representing the Eastleigh Community Centre at an International Literacy Celebration in Nairobi. They have organized themselves into a choir and two of the women, Bisharo Ilmi and Jamilo Moxamed Yasin, have composed three songs which the choir will preform in a national choral competition that day. We wanted to share with you one of the songs written about our class:

Iftin (Light)

written by Jamilo Moxamed Yasin

(ESL student)

Arday baan ahayoo
We are students
Ubixii wadankaan ahayoo
We are the flowers of the country
Waxan uordayaa uordayaa
We are running running
Iftin uaadnaa
going to Iftin (the light)
Inaan aqoonkarar sadoo
to add knowledge (experience)
Dalkena anfacee
and be useful for the country
Dadaak kii lanimidee
I came here to work hard
alahayow noo gargaar
God may you help us.
aamiin aamiin aamiin
Amen Amen Amen

Erica and Zahra preparing for a new day of

classes with the women of Iftin.

We want to thank the many volunteers who have been helping us in renovating both this classroom and primary classrooms earlier this year -- We could not have done it all without you!!!!! In our ESL room alone, it took many hands to tear out the old rotten ceiling (thank you Andai, Ryan and Jason), construct a new ceiling on very crooked trusses (thank you Andai), and then there was the scrubbing and painting (thank you so much Jean Enns for all your help!). We also owe a BIG THANKS to the White Rock Team who provided the paint for the project.

Yesterday was the first day that the ladies were able to see the newly finished green room, and they love it. We are planning a class party for this Friday to celebrate together!

Beautiful Changes

We have witnessed some beautiful changes with the women in our ESL classes at the Eastleigh Community Centre. Not only are many of the women removing their face coverings during the classes, but they have become incredibly warm and close to both Erica and Zahra. This last week the ladies began to share many of their dreams and aspirations within the classroom. We were delighted to hear so many young girls looking ahead to some very non-traditional vocations and paths. One very tall woman stood before her class and shared that she wants to become a mechanic and to return to Somalia to start her own garage -- Erica and I looked at each other in shock and joy. One of our big hopes with these groups is that the ESL training will become a starting place to help them learn practical vocational skills and entrepreneurship training that will enable them to support their families.

Some of the ladies who stayed after class to have their photograph taken with Erica and Zahra.

Another purpose behind our work in the ESL program is to build friendships and bonds with vulnerable refugee women and their families. It has been incredible to see the change among the ladies, who only a little over a month ago were coming in off the streets of Eastleigh and meeting us for the first time. We are truly blessed with such bold and courageous woman. Although many are quite young, we also have many other students who are mothers and even grandmothers. We have discovered that many of the mature students are in fact neglected wives who were brought to Kenya by a husband who then abandoned them for other families living abroad or home, in Somalia. Each of these women, young and old alike, have lived through very hard circumstances. It is a privillege be able to serve them, even in a small way. We pray that these bonds of affection, respect, and trust will grow stronger over the years to come.

Erica with one of her ESL students, Oromia

Getting into the rhythm

A female student skipping during recess

at the Eastleigh Community Centre

Today was a great day in Eastleigh with the women's ESL class showing great improvement with their participation in the classes. They are obviously putting a lot of effort into studying their vocabulary and working through the take home lessons. They are definitely getting into the rhythm!

We are also finding the new projects and programs in Eastleigh a positive change. We are very excited to see what the Lord has in store for these women as they work together. One new development has been an interest from the Eastleigh Pottery ministry to have Erica work with a group of Somali women to design and create ceramic bead jewelry with the potters. Many Somali women are very skilled artists with henna which they use to create beautiful designs on their arms and legs. Erica has begun working on the ground-work for this as an income generating project for women in the group.

Jon Hodgeson left the city today by bus to join Yattani with the school in Dadaab. Jon will be teaching in Dadaab for the remainder of the month. He should be a big hit up there, not only because he comes armed with a stack of Alive and Kicking footballs, but because he is really interested in building good relationships with the students there. We pray that Jon will have a fun and fruitful experience serving in Dadaab.

In Prayer

Please remember us tomorrow morning as meet with the social worker for Ava's adoption. His report is required for the adoption to go through.

Pray with us for the health of our students in Eastleigh. It has been very cold and wet in Nairobi for the past several weeks and many of the students have been sick.

We also pray for our colleague Andai whose home was broken into while he has been working in Dadaab this month. A neighbour has been checking in on his house and it seems that many of his personal things have been stolen.

Please be in prayer for John and Eloise Bergen; the couple serving in Kenya's western city of Kitali with "Hope for the Nations" who were attacked in a home invasion last Thursday evening. Members of their family arrive today in Nairobi to visit the couple who are recovering from multiple injuries in hospital.

Click here to read more: News Report

Serving Somali Women

ECC director, Ehud Gachugu; Volunteer Community Facilitator and teaching assistant, Zahra Aziz, and Erica & Aaron Kenny.

Today marked the beginning of a new ESL (English as a Second Language)Program that we are launching with the Eastleigh Community Centre (ECC). The program comes out of need expressed by the Eastleigh Mother's Self Help Group that formed last month who saw their lack of English as a primary barrier to finding a livelihood and financial independence for their families. In partnership with ECC, we are moving forward with these vulnerable mothers to help them with achieving basic levels of literacy and fluency in English. The ECC has generously provided us with a classroom and has registered the women into their vocational program free of charge.

It is our shared dream that through their participation in the ESL classes and the ECC program, the members of the women's self help group will develop the vocational ability, micro enterprise skills, confidence, and support needed to provide for their families. It is an exciting time for Somali ministry as we journey forward with these women in faith.

Erica registering a Somali mother for the new

ESL classes at the Eastleigh Community Centre

In Prayer:

* Please remember the White Rock team as they continue to serve the Dadaab Community with our colleagues Yattani and Andai.

* Pray for Paul and Kelly Carline as they share this summer with Paul's family in New Brunswick, as Paul's father Peter Carline undergoes treatment for cancer.

* Please pray for our friend Yusuf as he and several of the Somali women who had been in Erica's Friday women's group have come together to form a community organization. Together they are working to combat clanism and the roots of conflict within the Somali community in Eastleigh. Please pray for them as they work for peace!