Guardians of Hope

Guardians of Hope

Guardians of Hope meeting in Ichichi

parish this past Monday

In August 2010, Erica and I will be joining Canadian Baptist Ministries/The Sharing Way's HIV/AIDS ministries as the African coordinators of Guardians of Hope (GOH). We will be filling the gap left by Patty Card who is retiring from this role and returning to Canada this spring. Patty's passion for seeing change for vulnerable women and children has lead GOH to be an effective program of transformation in Angola, Rwanda and Kenya over the past six years.

We will continue serving in an oversight capacity with the Iftin Women's Empowerment program in Eastleigh as we work together in the leadership of GOH. We are very excited to see how lessons learned from both Iftin and the GOH may compliment each program as the two overlap in many ways with a focus on mobilizing vulnerable people to overcome poverty and experience the abundant life of faith.

Erica with Patty Card and the ACC&S

Guardians of Hope group in Embu

Over the past two months, we have enjoyed several opportunities to meet with Patty and to visit GOH projects for monitoring and evaluation of the program. It has been an incredible encouragement to see the impact that GOH interventions are having in the lives of families affected by HIV/AIDS.

Living Positive!

Aaron and Patty with Guardian of Hope Lydia Waruinu who cares for three children in Kangema. With the help of the GOH, Lydia is putting her children through school, is harvesting maize from gifts of seed, and has raised her dairy cow which has now had a calf. Her cow produces 4 litres of milk each day for her family. "I thank God," Lydia told us in Kikuyu. "I could not be where I am if it were not for my church and the guardians."