We are LIFTing up a single Mom – Lilia – to 5 (4 children and her grandchild) in Umoja, an urban neighborhood in Nairobi. Lilia is the sole provider for this large extended family.
The family fled an unstable situation for Nairobi’s slums, where Lilia started a small business selling vegetables. They fortunately escaped the slums, as well, though at the cost of the older children dropping out of school to help support the family.
Now the family is supported by Lilia’s kiosk, connected to their home in Umoja. In addition to running her small business, Lilia must attend to all household chores and care for her youngest child, 3-year-old Edwin, while the older children are in school or look for day labor in Nairobi.
14-year-old son Stanley, the middle child, receives LIFT funds to pay his school fees. Lilia reports that this assistance has been their “joy,” since scarce funds now can be diverted to cover rent and food for her large family.
Stanley’s favorite subjects in school are Kiswahili and English. He enjoys school, but not when it rains, because the playground becomes too muddy to go outside. When he grows up, he wants to be a motorcars engineer. At home, Stanley helps his Mom fetch water and wash dishes. He also wants to help his Mom to have her own home, one day, so that she can stop spending so much of her hard-earned income on rent. Stanley wonders how kids in America grow so fast!
Won’t you help a hard-working family like Lilia’s, who have sacrificed so much to stay together and support each other? Poverty is the leading cause of orphanhood in Kenya. LIFT is our family unification program providing food, education, and health care so that families living in poverty might stay united.
Learn more or donate at: https://lightuphope.org/about/lift-family-unification/