These two have a hard story. We had told our pastor that we wanted to know of any orphans or widows in our church, so that we could assess their needs and determine how Maisha Kamili can help them.
He wanted us to define the terms "orphan" and "widow." Santa and Joshua are not orphans. Their mother is not technically a widow. Based on technicalities, they don't really "qualify" as kids that we would normally support. We've made an exception, and I'll tell you why.
Pastor Masha told us their mother Joyce "may as well" be widowed. A few years ago, Santa and Joshua's father began practicing witchcraft. He wanted to sacrifice one of them, but Joyce ran away with the kids. They lived homeless in the countryside for a while before coming to Mombasa.
Joyce's brother lives here, but he would not let the family stay with him unless Joyce converted to Islam. As a Christian, she could not. They had to live on the streets. Pastor Masha found them a single room to rent, and Revival Baptist Church is helping them continue to pay the rent. Joyce finds what work she can in order to make money for necessities. Santa is 11, but only in 2nd grade. Joshua is 7 and in pre-K (called KG2 here). They fell behind in school while they were living in the countryside.
Joshua goes to the kindergarten at RBC. Santa is in public school. Public primary school is supposedly free, but there are still fees, plus school supplies and uniforms. School fees, uniforms, school supplies, shoes, and play clothes for these two will cost about $20/month. It's not much to us, but Joyce has been spending most of what she earns just keeping them in school. When we started supporting them, Joshua had actually just been suspended because they owed the school about $3.50.
Praise the Lord for leading Maisha Kamili partners to cover their needs! If we take care of Santa and Joshua's school fees and clothes, Joyce can use what she earns to feed the family.
He wanted us to define the terms "orphan" and "widow." Santa and Joshua are not orphans. Their mother is not technically a widow. Based on technicalities, they don't really "qualify" as kids that we would normally support. We've made an exception, and I'll tell you why.
Pastor Masha told us their mother Joyce "may as well" be widowed. A few years ago, Santa and Joshua's father began practicing witchcraft. He wanted to sacrifice one of them, but Joyce ran away with the kids. They lived homeless in the countryside for a while before coming to Mombasa.
Joyce's brother lives here, but he would not let the family stay with him unless Joyce converted to Islam. As a Christian, she could not. They had to live on the streets. Pastor Masha found them a single room to rent, and Revival Baptist Church is helping them continue to pay the rent. Joyce finds what work she can in order to make money for necessities. Santa is 11, but only in 2nd grade. Joshua is 7 and in pre-K (called KG2 here). They fell behind in school while they were living in the countryside.
Joshua goes to the kindergarten at RBC. Santa is in public school. Public primary school is supposedly free, but there are still fees, plus school supplies and uniforms. School fees, uniforms, school supplies, shoes, and play clothes for these two will cost about $20/month. It's not much to us, but Joyce has been spending most of what she earns just keeping them in school. When we started supporting them, Joshua had actually just been suspended because they owed the school about $3.50.
Praise the Lord for leading Maisha Kamili partners to cover their needs! If we take care of Santa and Joshua's school fees and clothes, Joyce can use what she earns to feed the family.