Micro Enterprise Development

Mano Salah a member of the

Golden Sisters Self Help Group

This past week, we met with members of three of the twelve Refugee Women's Self Help Groups within the Iftin Women's Empowerment project in Eastleigh: Golden Sisters SHG, Unity SHG and Peace SHG.

During our time together, it was moving to hear the stories of several of the women who had come to Kenya to escape the violence of Somalia. As we spoke of the conflict, Mano shared how one the flying bullets had taken her eye and nearly her her life. Whether visible or not, each of these women and their families carry the scars of discord that has resulted in twenty years of suffering and unrest within the Horn of Africa. "We are thankful for the peace of Kenya," shared one woman. "But we pray for the peace of Somalia. One day we must return home!"

The life of a refugee is an uneasy one. This week our friend Francis Nyok of Southern Sudan joined us in Eastleigh. He shared with the women of Iftin he experience as a refugee in Kenya, and the challenge of loss the identity and dignity that every refugee faces. The women appreciate his words of hope as he shared of his return to Sudan and the building of a new peace and restoration among his people.

Erica looking at the beautiful scarves

being sold by the "Golden Sisters"

Self Help Group in Eastleigh.

Mano and her friends are a part of the self help group project of Iftin. With the help of Canadian Baptist Ministries and the Eastleigh Community Centre, they have received training and support in building sustainable livelihoods.

In Prayer:

* Please continue to pray for the people of Somalia and the hundreds of thousands of people in the grip of famine within Northeastern Kenya.

* Please pray for us, as we work with our CBM team to respond to the present crisis. Today, CBM is distributing urgently needed food rations to nine villages in Kenya's Northeastern province. Over the next few weeks, we will be accessing the needed and putting together a staged plan for long term sustainable development in this region.

* Please remember Mano and her group, as they strive to provide a better future for their children and grandchildren.