A Fruitful Business in a Nairobi Slum

With your help, a business startup grant and a school are bringing Miriam and her family out of deep poverty

While most of us go through life with no sense of what it’s like to go hungry, Miriam wonders every day how she will provide food for herself and her five grandchildren.

Miriam’s husband died several years ago, leaving her with three daughters to raise by herself.  Those daughters in turn abandoned their own children because they couldn’t afford to feed them. Living in the Mathare Valley near Nairobi, Kenya is a daily struggle of survival for all.

Residents of Mathare Valley drawing unsafe water.

During colonial times, Mathare was a quarry where stones were cut for use in construction. Now, the “valley” is a dangerous slum housing the poorest of the poor. Non-existent sanitation and overcrowding are just two of the many miseries Miriam faces daily. Her 160-square-foot “home” contains everything they own and provides a shelter where her family can sleep. The closest toilet is 1,000 feet away and trying to get there during the night can be life-threatening. Of course, she has no running water or electricity.

Miriam’s granddaughter standing at the entrance to their “home.”

Miriam with three of the five grandchildren she cares for. She rents this 160-square-foot room for $25 a month for the six of them.

Before your gifts provided a small business grant for Miriam, she would keep the grandchildren home from school to sell candy on the streets, hoping that they could earn enough profit to buy food for the day. But staff at the school—managed by our ministry partner, Cindi’s Hope—noticed the children’s absence and inquired about the situation. That’s how we became aware of Miriam’s plight.

Your gifts made it possible for Miriam to obtain a small business development grant, which she used to start a vegetable stand in her community. She now sells necessary staples, such as tomatoes and onions, to her neighbors. Miriam is very grateful and excited about this opportunity!

Thank you for enabling Miriam to rise above the stifling poverty all around her. You have given her hope for the future.

Employees of the school helped Miriam purchase food to sell at her stand and set up a mobile stall fitted with an umbrella.

Dossie Briggs

Director, Widows and Abandoned Women Ministry