May in Eastleigh

Erica and Hawa showing some of the latest creations

from the Eastleigh Jewelry Project

May has been a very busy month in Eastleigh on all fronts. In the Jewelry Project, Erica and James have been working with the ladies to complete their first jewelry line. They are hoping to have their first sale as part of an exhibition in Nairobi early in June. We are praying that it will be a good success for the women.

Teacher Nelius during one of the

Somali Women's English literacy classes

While Zahra has been away for development training, Nelius has been doing a fantastic job continuing on with the ESL classes. We have twenty students in the new beginner class and we have benefited from a wonderful volunteer, Aisha, helping out from the advanced class.

Khadija and some of her new friends

during the primary school recess

The child sponsorship program has had great success with assisting over twenty new refugee children this month in entering the primary school. Thanks to the generous support of Canadian churches and individuals, we've been able to provide new uniforms for all of the new arrivals. One of our youngest ESL students, Khadija, has completed the advanced English class and is now enrolled in the primary school where she has become something of a "big sister" to her classmates in standard three. We hope that she, along with other members of Iftin, will be a help in organizing other Somali children into a youth club at the community centre.

The newest batch of ceramic water filters ready to go!

We want to send a BIG thanks out to the members of First Baptist Church, Charlottetown, who raised enough money to purchase over fifty ceramic water filters for distribution in Eastleigh. Thirty of these filters will be going out on June 8th to provide clean drinking water to vulnerable households. We also want to thank everyone who has made contributions to "The Sharing Way Eastleigh Project". Your generous support is making an important impact in the lives of many displaced people.

IN PRAYER

* Please remember the Somali children, like Khadija, who have begun school for the first time. Many of these students are young girls who have never been enrolled in school before. We pray for patience as they and their teachers work to overcome not only language barriers, but also building basic learning strategies and habits that many of us take for granted.

* Pray for our Somali friend ZamZam (name changed), as she is struggling with eye problems resulting from untreated diabetes. She will be going to see a specialist soon, but her poor nutrition has made her very weak.