Helping the "mama" girls...

(posted from Facebook on behalf of Stephanie)

Anna (blue shirt) is the Mama to Minnie and Mercy (purple shirt) is the Mama to Joy and Gracious.

Anna & Joy  Hoping for a better life for themselves and their babies. 

To be honest I'm not sure how we ended up bringing them to Mercy Home. Both times we went to the hospital to pick up malnourished babies and we also brought their Mama's home too. The only reason I can come up with is that we couldn't also leave them in the same situation that had their children malnourished. Their village is riddled with extreme poverty. Kenyan poverty is way different than American poverty. Let me share some of the things I saw while in their village. At Anna's home there was no food, when her sister came home for lunch she learned there was no lunch for her there. As we were leaving, our social worker asked me to give the girl 20 shillings (20 cents) so she could get some lunch on her way back to school. At Mercy's home there was no real toilet...there was a hole in the ground, but no walls so basically there is no privacy. When looking for Mercy's school documents it was discovered that they were ruined when their home flooded during a heavy rain. Also we could tell there was little food in the home because the small children that were home for lunch only had a small amount of beans. Also the family dog (not a pet like we have in America, just a dog for security) was literally starving to death, it was so sad, but when there is little food for the family, there is no food for the animals.

So here we are with 2 teen Mamas who really want to return to school and now with their girls being cared for it is possible. Anna wants to be a doctor and Mercy wants to be a nurse. The only thing keeping them from going to school is money. Each girl needs about $600 per year ($405 to the school, the rest for required items pictures below) to attend and board at Bungoma Baptist Girls' High School. Both of these girls are committed to working hard and we are committed to helping them as much as we can. Why boarding and why an all girls school? Because they are behind and they need to focus only on school. Both girls have been pressured into situations that have lead to them being young Mamas and boarding at an all girls school helps control the environment a lot. During breaks the girls will return here so they can visit their babies.

Can you help us to help them get back to school? If they are able to finish high school and then attend college they will be able to have a good future and break the poverty cycle they come from. Thank you for all of your prayers and support in bringing their little girls home. Those girls (and we too) have been so blessed by the love you have been pouring out on them. They don't understand it yet, but I promise they will know that y'all love and care for them!

#aboutfacemissions #mercychildrenshome #changingtheirstory #kenya#nonprofit #james127 #thankyou #orphans #bungoma #theleastofthese#prayersplease 

100 Kenyan Shillings as priced above is approximately equal to 1 US dollar.