Archive for March 8, 2010
A prayer for International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day. We celebrate the accomplishments of all women and look with hope toward a future of equality and empowerment. On this occasion, it is fitting to share the story of Veronica Telar, a special woman, mother and leader in CFCA.
Veron is the CFCA project coordinator in Manila, Philippines. Her son was born with cerebral palsy. She said that on the day of his birth she became a working mother, a nurse, a therapist and a dietician. Three years ago, Veron’s husband left her and their son. Fortunately, her family is a source of support as she raises him alone.
“In this most challenging and difficult life, I keep my faith to the Lord, and I keep my son in my heart to cover my pain and distress,” Veron said. “At age 6, my son is not walking and talking yet, but he is absolutely giving joy and inspiration to me, to my family and, hopefully, to everyone who knows him well.”
Veron’s family is caring for her son while she walks with Bob and Walk2gether through Central America. Her reason for wanting to participate is simple: “I am walking for my son, and for every child and person who cannot walk yet.”
Please pray:
Lord, bless women everywhere. We pray especially for all those mothers, grandmothers and sisters who work to care for family members in need while forging their own paths in life. May their loving hearts and nurturing spirits be blessed with strength and joy. We ask this in your holy name. Amen.
Blessings,
CFCA Prayer Team
This is from our weekly ePrayer. Sign up to receive Prayer Partners in your inbox.
March 8, 2010 at 3:16 pm Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) Leave a comment
Kenya mothers group makes shoes
By Janet Tinsley, project director, Africa region
On a sunny day in the informal settlement of Kibera in Nairobi, the Vision Mothers group members file into a small courtyard in front of one of their member’s homes for their monthly meeting. The 30 women and one man, all wearing the same cloth wrapped around their waists, heads or shoulders, find seats on benches in the shady areas of the courtyard and open the meeting.
About two years ago, the Nairobi project team introduced the idea of mothers groups to the mothers of the Kibera subproject and asked them to begin forming groups and register with the local government. The project staff intentionally left these responsibilities in the hands of the mothers, insisting that they choose for themselves which group they would join, raise the funds for registration (around $20), and complete the registration process before asking the project for further support.
At the Nairobi project, the mothers group model operates from the basic belief that mothers are capable, resourceful people.
“We realized that whenever we called a parent meeting, it was the mothers who showed up,” Peter Ndungo, Nairobi project coordinator, said. “In our culture, the mothers are the ones [who are] most concerned with the well-being of children, so it made the most sense to work with them.”
At today’s meeting, the topic for discussion was finding a space to rent for their shoemaking business. Earlier this year, the group started learning to make and sell shoes as a way to add to their group loan fund.
The Vision Mothers came up with the unique idea for the shoemaking business through trial and error. Their original idea was to start a trash removal service in their community, but they soon realized that there were already many other groups doing this.
“We didn’t want conflict with the other groups, so we decided to change our business idea,” the group chairperson explains.
Shoemaking, a craft that is typically dominated by men in Kenya, is a nontraditional endeavor for the women. Nonetheless, the Vision Mothers saw shoemaking as an opportunity to make good profits and provide a much needed commodity for their community, but CFCA families are only some of the many customers they hope to serve in Kibera.
Some tools of the shoemaking trade
With the sale of their first batch of shoes, the group made a profit of about $130, and in the future, they hope to use the profits to start a resource and training center that would include a meeting hall and computer training for the members and the community.
Today is International Women’s Day! Read (and watch!) more inspiring stories about the women of CFCA:
Strength and power
An opportunity for women(Part 1)
Support in a time of need (Part 2)
Mothers share their talents to improve their community (Part 3)
Creating role models close to home (Part 4)
March 8, 2010 at 2:52 pm Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) Leave a comment
