Tightly packed together in a Kenyan taxi, Angeline, Brenda, Irine, Pamela, Hellen, Tessa, and I headed out for a morning of student home visits. Shoulder to shoulder, three to a row, we jostled down the road on the way to Angeline's home. 

It was one morning during our March trip to Neema, and I traveled with some of our Kenyan staff and Tessa, a photographer and board member, to the homes of a few of our students to visit with their parents and hear about the impact Neema is having on their family. Two of those students, Angeline and Brenda, are both third years who live near one another and grew up together.

With Angeline and Brenda coming from backgrounds of extreme poverty, I envisioned the type of environment we were headed to. Which is why I was somewhat surprised to see large, modern homes with gated driveways right off the same road as Angeline and Brenda’s homes. When we inquired about who lives in these homes, Brenda said its business people or government employees who have bought land there. 

Angeline and Brenda’s “neighborhood” is made up of a handful of small homes. At first glance, the shapes of the homes make them look normal. But as we got closer, it became apparent that all of them are “temporary homes,” made of dried mud with wooden doors and windows. We visited Angeline’s home first, which contained two rooms — a main living room and a bedroom — and a dirt floor. Irine shared that the area in which Angeline lives floods when it rains. In fact, one time when they came to visit, it was flooded, and there were parts of the mud house that were falling apart. It wasn’t noticeable when we were there, which Irine says, means they must have done repairs. 

Angeline’s mother, Alice, and three little brothers were there to greet us. In total, there are six people living in the house (seven when Angeline is home on break) — Alice, her husband (who wasn’t home) and Angeline’s four brothers (the oldest of whom was also out when we visited). 

Alice invited us into the home where we sat on wooden couches loosely covered with thin fabric and talked about the impact Neema has had on her family. Angeline’s parents are casual laborers who work for a day’s wage. Alice does farming when work is available, but because the rainy season is late again this year, and planting crops can’t begin until the steady rains come, she’s forced to sit at home doing nothing because there’s no work. 

Fortunately, the reason her husband wasn’t home was because he was able to get work on this particular day. Unfortunately, Alice shared that the most he’ll make for a day’s worth of work is 150 shillings. When converted to dollars, that’s only $1.50. Yes, $1.50 for a day’s worth of work. Having been involved with Neema for a number of years, I’ve known that the students we work with come from backgrounds of extreme poverty. But in this moment, it hit me hard that some of the families we’re working with are actually those found within the statistic, “10% of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day.”

Because of this, Angeline’s parents didn’t have the money needed for the required uniform and school supplies to send her onto high school after she finished 8th Grade. So Alice inquired about Neema from a neighbor whose daughters were attending, and Angeline began her first year in 2020. 

Since then, Alice has seen great changes in Angeline. For example, she shared that Angeline used to be rude to her after and wouldn’t give her any time to talk. But since Angeline joined Neema, she listens and obeys. 

Also, before coming to Neema, Angeline hung with friends that would just go roaming around the village, not helping at their homes. But now, Angeline is responsible, and when her mother goes out, she knows that Angeline will take care of the chores around the house. 

And Alice also says that Angeline is doing good with her tailoring. Angeline has brought home samples of her work, and Alice says the work is perfect. Based on these samples, Alice believes that Angeline will be able to earn her own money in the future as a tailor. 

Aside from that, Alice herself has benefitted from her daughter being in Neema family. She normally attends the parent meetings Neema holds for its student’s guardians, and she says it has helped her to know how to parent her children. She now knows that it’s good to give the children time to explain themselves — not just be an authoritarian — and to listen to them. And because of these meetings, she’s also growing spiritually.

As parents, Alice and her husband want to be able to support their daughter when she graduates. They’re currently looking for ways to be able to do that and asked for prayer for financial breakthrough so that would be possible. Overall though, Alice is happy and very thankful for Neema.