Graduation

On the twenty first twelve of the WEEP women graduated. WEEP (Women's Equality Empowerment Project) is designed to empower HIV positive women to support themselves and their families. It is an orphan prevention program.
HEART has several WEEP centers throughout Kenya, most of them are in and around Nairobi and there is one in Mombasa. The women come to work at the centers during the day, they do not live there. When they first come to the center HEART helps them get on their feet, they pay their back rent, feed them, and pay their children's school fees. Soon after wards the women learn to sew. Some centers specialize in sewing mosquito nets, others in school uniforms. Eventually the women support themselves through the income they earn from the pieces they sew. HEART buys the uniforms for its Kids for School Program and a donor from Massachusetts buys the nets to donate throughout Africa (to help prevent malaria).
The graduation was a major event for the women. They were so proud. Most of them have never had a graduation or a ceremony of any kind in their honor. And it was a proper graduation ceremony. We put up big white tents on the lawn, the women received diplomas with seals, and the head of USAID in Kenya gave a speech. (US AID, through PETFAR funds a large chunk of the WEEP program).
I missed most of the speeches, I looked after the children. It was really important for the children to be there, to see their moms as successful, important, and healthy women. Although the children did not sit through all of the speeches, they saw their mother's process in and receive their diplomas. We had a bouncy castle, games, and snacks for the children. The local rotor actors came to help with the children. I love the rotor actors! It was wonderful to hang out with a group of Kenyans who are my age and in my stage of life. And we could not have managed the children without them. They knew all the best Kenyan games, we played tribal chanting games, football (soccer), jump rope, and of course, we bounced.
The graduation is a significant transition for the women. They have to either find jobs or start their own businesses to support themselves, they can no longer count on income from the center.
Every woman intends to start her own business, jobs are very difficult to find. In order to help them start their new lives HEART is providing each women with capital to start a business. I helped some of the women put together business plans for their new ventures, I hope they work out. There is always a danger that the woman will just spend the money, especially since HEART is giving the money in the form of a gift rather than a loan. It is always difficult to instill a measure of financial savvy especially if someone has lived hand to mouth their whole lives. When they have money they spend it, when they don't, they don't. It is difficult to impress upon them the idea of investing. (Although a handful of the women are natural businesswomen and have already started investing the income they earned through the WEEP program). We take for granted the basic life skills that we learn from our parents, if you don't observe certain practices as a child it is hard to learn them as an adult.
Overall the graduation was a success. The ceremony went well and the women are well launched into their new lives. Of course there is risk that their new ventures won't work out, but they are healthy and inspiring women. They are survivors.
I just got back from safari, I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Best,
Margaret