EXTRA!  EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

FOR THE FIRST TIME, LALMBA’S CHRISTMAS GIFT COMES DIRECTLY FROM A LALMBA PROJECT!

I love this striking photo with its collision of cultures, colors and patterns.  To me it symbolizes the Lalmba family: a motley mix of Africans and nationalities from around the globe.  It includes the wealthy, the impoverished, the tireless volunteer, the goodhearted supporter, the infant and the elderly.   Lalmba’s tapestry is not unlike these beautiful quilted table runners, made in Kenya by widowed tailors who received Lalmba microloans to start their businesses.  It all began when a supporter from Canada, Bev Hooper (fourth from right) visited some local tailors on a whim during a visit to Matoso.  Bev noticed a pile of fabric scraps on the floor of one of the tailor’s shop that were going to be thrown away. Bev thought of her best friend back home, Kathy Moore, who is an accomplished quilter, and bought the scraps as a gift for Kathy.  Kathy (middle) received those scraps with great delight and made the stunning quilted table runner that she is holding.  She then gifted her masterpiece to Lalmba, and asked that it grace the dining table of our kitchen in Matoso.  We were touched and honored.

As I spread the runner across our dining table in Kenya, I told our children’s director Jenipher (third from right) and children’s home director Linder (last on right) of its origins from the scrap pile on the tailor shop floor to Kathy’s sewing machine in Victoria, Canada.  Their eyes lit up, and we concocted a plan to bring some of the local tailors to our kitchen to see it. When they saw the table runner, they each took turns holding it and turning it over, mentally dissecting how it was made. I asked them if they could make something like this, and they all said, no problem, hakuna matata!  When I asked if they could each make 100 of them, their eyes got big.  Now that’s a big project!  Well, they succeeded, and these table runners mark a milestone for Lalmba, as they are the very first Christmas item that comes directly from people who were empowered by our services.  THIS IS SPECIAL!

The story is almost like the quilt, isn’t it?  Different people with diverse life stories and colors coming together into one cohesive pattern.  Now I want to introduce you to the special ladies who made these table runners. In each case their husbands died young, leaving them impoverished and unemployed, with hungry children at home in need of education. They each at one time or another approached Lalmba for help, for education support for their children and for health care. In 2014, when Lalmba started a new microloan program to help widowed mothers, each of these women received a small loan, started or expanded an independent tailoring business, and began to walk that glorious path towards independence … and they reached it!

Please let me introduce you to the women of the Empowered Seamstresses of Lalmba cooperative.  They chose their group’s name themselves, and each wrote us a brief life story to share with you.   Although they share a similar story, they are each unique and talented mothers who love their families, and are fighting to better their lives.

Lalmba’s 2019 Christmas item comes straight from the hands of these 5 women. Please know them by name.

Merry Christmas and God bless all of you!

Hellen Achieng Thomas

Hellen’s life started idyllically. She had an intact family, with a hard-working father who afforded her the privilege of an education.  In 1992 she beganå secondary school, with big dreams to be one of the first high school graduates in her family.

But her dreams were dashed just 2 years later when her father died.  School fees were suddenly unaffordable, and Hellen had to drop out. So Hellen did what many young women do here when education becomes an impossibility: she got married and started a family. It didn’t feel like a compromise; she felt happy and blessed, for they had 3 beautiful children and a happy marriage.

Sadly, in 2003, history repeated itself when Hellen’s husband passed away. Being so young, and without any viable way of making an income, she and her children struggled and went hungry.  After 2 years of trying and failing to make ends meet, she went looking for help, and found it in Lalmba’s children’s program.

With her children in school, healthy and nourished, Hellen found an apprentice opportunity, and learned the craft of tailoring. She took her newfound skills and dream of being self-employed and approached Lalmba again, this time about a microloan.  With her loan, she bought a machine and some fabrics, and set up shop in a rented building. She is a gifted seamstress, and we are honored to partner with her for this year’s Christmas gift.

Jackline Awuor Ogor

Jackline’s story is an inspiring example of a widow determined to see her children escape the poverty into which they were born. After her husband died in 2006, Jackline was on the verge of withdrawing her 4 young children from school. She no longer had the means to pay their school fees, and food was getting scarce.

She heard about Lalmba’s RCAR program (Reaching Children at Risk), and taking a chance, she went to see the children’s director for assistance. Soon, Lalmba was providing school and health assistance for her 4 children.

The lifting of this worry gave Jackline time and courage to pursue a career as a tailor. She knew how to sew; her mother had taught her.  But a sewing machine and fabrics were out of financial reach.  Tailoring is a lucrative skill in this rural community. Getting a bank loan for sewing supplies wasn’t possible; she had no credit or guarantors.

But a Lalmba microloan was, and that’s how she started her business.   She specializes in men’s shirts and trousers.  She is the creative force in the group, often coming up with new ideas for items to sell.   “Do you think Lalmba’s supporters might like something like this?” she often asks.

Since taking her first loan, Jackline has received 2 more Lalmba loans, allowing her to expand her business by adding machines, and increasing her supply of fabrics. She rents a storefront in the center of her village now, and she independently sends all of her children to secondary school and college.

Mary Atieno Odera

Tailoring for Mary was a career plan long before she finished her secondary schooling. Upon graduation in 1991, Mary enrolled in a vocational college to study her trade. She excelled, and easily found steady employment afterward. As a young adult, she met her husband, Bernard Odera, and they happily married on June 25, 1995. 3 beautiful children later, Mary felt satisfied with life. She learned how to be industrious and capable from her father, the same work ethic she is teaching to her children today.

It was a shock for everyone when her husband fell sick from AIDS and quickly died on April 25, 2002. She “felt the contentment of my world collapse, and a wake of anguish and fear followed”. Bernard unknowingly contracted HIV before they were married. Soon thereafter, Mary and her youngest son also tested positive.

And then she lost her job, due to fear that her status would scare away customers. Mary was afraid, but resolute; her children needed her. She found her way to the Matoso clinic, and soon learned about Lalmba’s children’s program and microloans. Access to these services gave her the ability to rebuild their lives.

Today, Mary’s pride has returned, for she is the mother of a college graduate, and 2 other scholars who are beating the odds.

Jane Oriko Ayugi

Jane is rightly the matriarch of this group; it all really begins with her. She came to Lalmba not by need. Her family is well and healthy, “thanks be to Almighty God.” Jane says she is blessed, and has a desire to share her skills with those who are in need.

In 2004, Jane was already an established seamstress in Matoso. She had a shop in town, and was well known and trusted in the community.  Jane and Lalmba formed a partnership that year, and she was hired full time as a counselor and mentor for Lalmba children.  Today she shares her craft and loving guidance to all of them, also teaching teen girls how to sew reusable sanitary pads. Jane is an essential part of Lalmba’s success.

You know what else is amazing? It was in Jane’s shop where Bev saw that pile of fabric scraps, and bought them as a gift for Kathy. Before this project, Jane said she would sweep the day’s scraps into a corner and set them on fire. NOT ANY MORE!

Night Awino Adeko

Night’s mother died when she was in the first grade, and a few years later her father passed on. At age 11, Night became a total orphan, living with already overburdened neighbors. Through word of mouth, her guardian heard about Lalmba’s services and enrolled her in the RCAR program, and Night has been part of the Lalmba family ever since. She finished her education with high marks, and then advanced with a scholarship to get a technical degree in garment making.

Night says, “By now I have my own shop which I manage. It is called Night’s Tailoring Shop at Matoso Centre. Look it up. It is on Google Maps. Now, we are the Empowered Seamstresses of Lalmba group. We are making useful crafts with unused pieces, waste pieces of fabrics, so that we can grow our businesses and better support our families. We hope people like our work so that we can bring other widows to our group.”