The Student Becomes the Teacher

As Neema continues to grow, we desire to raise up leaders who will be influential in mentoring, training, and encouraging the next generation of the young women who will follow them in the Neema Program. Ruth and Esnus are among those we have seen rise to this challenge. Both are Neema 2018 graduates, both mothers, both hardworking & determined women. Once Neema students they are now Neema staff. Working as Teaching Assistants and overseeing the day to day activities in the Neema Shop, both now spend their days investing in the lives of young women who are sitting where they once sat.

In 2016, upon completing her first year at Neema, Esnus shared that her dream was to one day become a dressmaking instructor. She spent two years in the classroom at Neema followed by a one year apprenticeship in a busy local shop, before graduating last December. Esnus shines in her role as a Teacher’s Assistant. After spending one week dedicated to teaching in the Dressmaking 1 classroom she shared, “The week has gone so well and I feel grateful being at the school attending to first years. The students are working hard.” When not in the classroom, you will find Esnus assisting in the day to day oversight of the Neema Shop. She is using the skills she learned at her previous job to teach customer service and quality work to the young women now completing their apprenticeship in the Neema Shop. While details of the Neema Program might change, the core mission has remained consistent. As a result, Esnus is able to speak into all areas of these girls’ lives, from practical tailoring skills to their home lives and spiritual lives.

Ruth’s primary role is overseeing day to day activities in the Neema Shop and assisting students in their learning. The firstborn of six children, her family’s finances were too tight for her to attend high school. Ruth desires to bring her family out of poverty. She says, “Together with my family, Neema helped me renew my vision and I found the place where God was.” Watch her story to hear how in Ruth’s life, “God is the God of second chances”! Her dream is to educate her younger siblings, own her own workshop as an independent woman, and stand firm in the Word of God.

Ruth and Esnus are shining in their new roles! Once struggling to see hope for their future, they are now taking steps toward their dreams. We are proud to see them growing in their independence as they use their earning to provide for the needs of their children and family as well as their own needs. We look forward to sharing video updates from Ruth and Esnus later this year.

Ruth (left) and Esnus (right)