SUCCESS STORIES- A TIME TO CELEBRATE KILONZO

This was like a dream, but dreams come true.  10years on Grace caught up with Kilonzo a.k.a Simon Kuria – The boy has become a man.  He is now married and works as a matatu (a 14-seater mini bus used for public transport with a yellow stripe) driver in Nairobi.

As 2013 dawned, Grace was going through her phone directory and noticed Mama Kilonzo’s phone number and decided to call.  An excited lady, Lucy answered.  ‘Sister Grace, where have you been?  The boys, Kilonzo and his brother, Kimeu have been asking about you and mum’.  She shared with Grace how God had shown them his favour.  They now have their own home in Nyahururu to the West of Mt Kenya.  She shared that all her five children were doing well.  Later Grace contacted Kilonzo and invited him to join for her church service on March 17^th and later went to Grace’s house for lunch.

Our investment into this family has borne lasting fruits many years on.  Lucy is now doing business to support her family and putting money aside to send her daughter Angela to high school next when she completes primary school this year.  Peter Kimeu her eldest son is now a farmer and has his own land – he would like to complete high school somehow.

Lucy is widow whose life changed dramatically when her husband died.  No sooner than he was buried that things turned bad.  He was the sole bread winner and this meant that Lucy had to find a job leaving her children under the care of her in-laws.  The only job she could find was as a waiter in a bar/public drinking place and went home every Saturday night to take food to her children.  That’s how Kilonzo ran away from home one day to go look for his mum because there was no food in the house.  We don’t know how he ended up on the streets of Nairobi from Kaewa in Eastern province.

We rescued Kilonzo and he stayed with the Williams for a few weeks.  He is a very bright boy who took us to Machakos, 20 miles from Nairobi and connected us with his mum.  He didn’t want to go back to his grandparents without his mum.  Over a period of time, we convinced Lucy that her place was with her children.  In the meantime, we wrote and email asking for someone to sponsor Lucy to start a business and to be with her children.  One family responded and committed to giving £20 a month which went on for a year.  Lucy’s business was doing well but her relationship with her father-in-law was not good. Her mother-in-law had died suddenly the year before. 

Out of the blue, we got a phone from Lucy saying that she had moved her children back to her maternal family.  Her uncle had welcomed them with open arms and given them a piece of land.  They had started growing their own food and settling well in their new location.  Kilonzo and his brother Kimeu opted to remain in Nairobi and find ways of making a living.  Life was not easy and they often came to Tumaini office to updates us on their progress but their survived to tell their stories.  We reconnected with this family and their story is far from over.

What can we say to these things?  When we invest in people, we make an eternal investment that cannot be quantified.  That’s why we make it our business to see transformation of children, families and communities because everyone matters.  Investing £20 a month into a family, you impact the lives of 2-5 children, get the family back on its feet and in due course allow them to get on with their lives as responsible people in their communities – Changing their lives good with the love of Christ.