A Real Christmas Story - when good prevails

Anne is a mother of 4 young children who, through no fault of her own, has found herself in an uninhabitable home on marshy land. She feeds her family by doing very menial jobs for others such as weeding their crops for very limited wages. This situation could not go on for much longer but then good local Miriu people got together and a plan was hatched.

The church group, 'Acts of Mercy', highlighted the family's problems and started to talk to others. Small Steps Forward received a generous donation off a couple who have supported the group steadfastly and another local benefactor donated good landspace for the new house. Timbers for house and roof supports were donated but they were some distance from where the new house was to be built.

So even when the donated money was spent on mabati tin sheets for water-proof roofing, a lot still needed to be done. The sheets and the timbers were carried over a km to the land with 5 volunteers doing the bulk of the work at the site.

This is where Maxwell was invaluable. He personally carried 17 of the 29 poles all the way. Maxwell along with his whole family have serious health needs and he struggles to feed himself and his children but on several occasions he has received food bags from SSF so when this heavy work needed to be done, he volunteered so that the builders had the timbers when they needed them. Maxwell is known for his strength and his friendliness. He is very popular with many locals. It is easy to see why.

So today (Mon 27th Dec 2021) thebuilding began and rapid progress was made

A lot more still needsto be done and the family will sleep in a make shift tent tonight but they now have a house to move in to ...this will just be a matter of days. However the generosity of the local community did not stop there, Tom Bilo's sister heard of the family's plight and sent them a 'Christian Bag':

This contains clothes and blankets. Tom Bilo is not just a teacher...he is an excellent farmer and his last crop produced a surplus. So Anne's family will also not be short of maize for the staple food of Ugali for several weeks at least.

This is why SSF has such a strong affinity for the local Miriu Community. So many good people who do not have a lot and yet come together to help those that desperately need help. To all those involved in this project you have our total respect.