Project Stories

Dignity in the passionate pursuit of learning new skills.

It’s all too often that we hear stories of people who are burnt out by their work. It’s not always even a story really, but it happens in our daily conversations with others! Maybe this is how you feel in your own job. Going to work seems like an inconvenience. You aren’t finding fulfillment in your work. It leaves you feeling exhausted, stressed, and so, so bored.

Well, this may be how many of us in the United States feel about our daily office jobs. But for Anita in Kethohalli village in southern India, her feelings towards work are much different.

Anita has a daughter, Sanjana, who is in seventh grade, and a son, Sudeep, who is in second grade. They all live together in Anita’s brother’s home. The home is a single room with a small kitchen. Anita’s brother’s family lives on the ground level of the room, while Anita, Sanjana, and Sudeep stay in a short mezzanine level right above. They climb a ladder to get up to the heightened level. Everyone shuffles around each other to navigate through the small home.

Anita had married a man named Ravi, but he abandoned her and their kids after a few years. Suddenly she became a single mom who had to provide for her two kids with no source of income. This was tolling on Anita. She cared for her children, but couldn’t provide any physical care for them. She had only completed schooling through tenth grade, and she had no job skills.

Anita’s friend Swetha recognized her situation and wanted to help. Swetha excitedly told her about The Hope Venture’s Vocational Training Center in Sugganahalli. She could complete a free eight month tailoring course! She could learn how to sew, and to design clothes for people to wear.

This sounded great to Anita. What an opportunity to get useful skills for a job! Except there was one problem: the tailoring course was held in the village of Sugganahalli, which was easily over an hour commute each day. Anita was determined to get the skills training, though. She found a bus route that could get her there and faithfully commuted each way through the hectic transportation system in Bangalore.

Anita was excited and determined to complete the training. Her devotion to commuting to the training center each day – despite the long journey – shows her passion and desire for learning and providing for her family.

Now she has a job doing tailoring work. She feels dignified as a woman, and proud of her craft. She is able to provide for her and her kids as a single mom. Anita can be excited to go to work each day. She doesn’t dread putting in the hours, creating new garments and things for people to wear, because the opportunity she has to go to work provides hope for the future for her family.

Finding home and belonging by meeting physical needs.

Kannur is a city in Southern India that is home to one of the largest quarries – a large open-pit mine. The mining work provides many people with employment opportunities. This attracts families to move into the city – making it their new home – hoping to get into the mines to work. 

One family that calls Kannur “home” is Meghala’s family. Meghala is currently in 8th grade and has a mom, dad, and two older brothers. Her dad was a quarry worker. He worked as a driver, transporting materials from the quarry. This work was difficult but Meghala’s dad did bring in some earnings from it. 

However, Meghala’s dad used a large portion of his income each day to fuel his drinking habits. His alcoholism ate away at the income for the family, making it tough to make ends meet for the rest of the family. Meghala did not like her father’s drinking habits, especially as it jeopardized her abilities to eat regular, sustaining meals or to attend school.

Eventually, the quarry that Meghala’s father worked for was shut down due to pollution policies, leaving the family without a source of income at all. Meghala’s mother then picked up a few jobs working as a house maid, just hoping to make ends meet.

Finding stability seemed like a lost dream from Meghala.

Then she began attending The Hope Venture’s Feeding Center in Kannur. Through this center, Meghala could get fed one nutritious meal every day. She also took a computer course which gave her basic computer education. Using this base of knowledge, she could expand her academic potential by taking courses on computers, learning independently, taking courses that couldn’t otherwise be taught in the physical classroom.

Now Meghala has at least one sustainable and reliable meal each day, which gives her strength as she continues to grow. It also helps her to focus on other things, like her education, instead of an empty stomach. Meghala also is being built up and encouraged by the staff at the Feeding Center, and Meghala is growing in her confidence in herself and her abilities as she learns new skills.

Yes, Meghala’s physical needs were met, but it goes much further than that. In a mining town in Southern India, Meghala was able to find her home. Not only the place where she lives, but she found a place that she belongs. The Feeding Center showed her she belongs. That she is worth investing in. That she has dignity.

The overflow of joy onto others around him.

For Shadrack, family is really important. Shadrack grew up with three sisters and five brothers in the village of Oletukat just outside of Narok, Kenya. Shadrack’s father passed away when Shadrack was only three years old, leaving all nine kids under the care of a single mother. His mother doesn’t work, and they just have a few goats to rely on for milk production.

Shadrack and his siblings often go out to find work for the day, hoping to earn enough to get some food. Each night, they come back home, excited to share with one another everything that they earned for the day. His family comes together, singing and full of joy for what they have.

In the midst of this, Shadrack’s family struggled to pay the fees needed to keep him in school. Thankfully Shadrack was able to get connected to our partner, Nasha, and we were able to get him sponsored. Through this he was able to leave behind the stress of school fees and focus on his studies, helping him excel in his classes and graduate high school.

However, even with the accomplishment of a high school diploma, Shadrack couldn’t fulfill his dreams of a professional career. More education would be necessary. Shadrack knew from his high school experience that he had a natural talent in mathematics, and would like to use it in a future career. Yet getting a job in this field would require an expensive education, one that seemed out of reach for Shadrack.

But after Shadrack graduated high school, our partner Nasha told him about our College Scholarship fund. He applied and was accepted. Now he could pursue higher education by attending college. Shadrack got accepted to Mount Kenya University in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, and is currently working towards earning his Bachelor of Science in Statistics degree. He hopes to go into a career in data analytics.

Shadrack found joy in getting an education. But Shadrack’s joy flows beyond his own education. Shadrack has been helped through the means of education and wants to use his opportunities to help others in return, specifically other kids who are going through tough situations like he was. He is getting involved in community service projects, and each day, he is working towards earning his college degree so he can come back to his family and help provide for his mother and siblings.

Shadrack sees all of the people he helps as his family. With the importance of family rooted deep inside him, he is passionate about caring for all people and helping them succeed as well, whether it actually be his immediate family, or just people he is helping in his community through volunteering with service projects. These are all people Shadrack wants to share joy and hope with.

The growth of dreams for the future.

Miria is a dreamer. Her eyes sparkle and her face lights up as she smiles. Her dreams are like the excitement that emerges when a seed first surfaces as a sprout from under the soil. There was darkness for a long time – the soil laid dim and dormant. Suddenly, a sprout of life appeared fiercely out of the soil. The plant is petite and fragile at this point, but the possibilities are endless when thinking about all the fruit it could produce.

You see, Miria’s dreams are certainly like the new sprout – full of opportunity. But her life didn’t always look so hopeful. Miria had a season that looked like the darkness of the soil, unsure if anything would rise up out of it. 

When Miria was 15, her church choir was invited to sing at a youth conference. One evening she wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed behind to rest. In this time, Miria was raped and threatened of harm if she told anyone about what happened. A month later when Miria suspected she was pregnant, she told her sister what happened. Miria’s father wanted her to get an abortion… but Miria refused. Miria was chased from home. 

Looking at a future with no more education and slim chances of finding work to support her child, Miria’s course for accomplishing her dreams in life was thrown off.

But then Miria’s aunt was able to help Miria get connected to our partner, Vivian, who runs Wakisa Ministries, a pregnancy center in Uganda. Through her connection to Wakisa, The Hope Venture was able to get funding for Miria to attend Agromax, a 6 month agricultural training program. There she was able to gain the knowledge and skills needed to practice agriculture on her own. This will hopefully provide a stable source of income or food for Miria as she begins her life as a mother.

Miria is incredibly excited about all that she has learned through the Agromax training program. There were a ton of practical agricultural techniques that she learned, such as managing a greenhouse and how to control the plants inside it, how to steam soil and the importance of steaming soil before using it in her greenhouse, mixing chemicals to use for spraying weeds, and so many more nuggets of knowledge. Miria knows the skills she has learned are crucial for taking steps towards achieving her dreams.

Like the hope of a new sprout emerging from soil, Miria also has dreams that have emerged from her experience at Agromax.

Miria dreams of getting a degree.

She dreams of getting a job, which would help her provide stability in the future.

She dreams of being a teacher for future trainees at Agromax, teaching them the agricultural techniques she has learned so that they can be set up for a stable future too.

She dreams of starting up a big farm using the skills she learned at Agromax.

She dreams of becoming an engineer for the irrigation systems to advance agriculture even further in her community. 

Miria also dreams of being a testimony in her community – a testimony of the hope that she now has after completing the Agromax program.

Up to this point, Miria already has practical steps to start reaching her dreams. We know by the time we see the sprout – the glimmer of hope – roots have already been growing down into the soil, establishing a firm foundation for the plant. Miria’s foundation has been set through her time at Agromax. Before long, the sprout will be producing fruit.

How the sponsorship of one student lifts up many.

The financial pressure is fierce for families in Ewaso Ngiro, Kenya. Many families struggle to get enough funding for all their necessities. This often puts education on the back burner. This was certainly the case in Frederick’s story.

In order to attend school in Kenya, you have to be able to pay the fees required by the school each year. Prior to his student sponsorship, Frederick was being kicked out of school because he did not have enough money to pay the school fees. This was a struggle that lasted for three years. Frederick even had to repeat class six after not being able to pay the fees required to take final exams, which would have allowed him to progress to the next year of schooling.

In an attempt to raise money for his family and for his school fees, Frederick helped raise and sell cattle. Frederick looked after five cows in order to help support his mom and dad, as well as his five siblings. Raising cattle was one way Frederick could help ease some of the financial tension. However, the pressure to get enough money to cover all the needs of the family was crippling.

But then everything changed for Frederick when he got connected to our partner organization, Nasha, and received a high school sponsorship.

Frederick said it felt very good to know he was a recipient of a sponsorship, because he could now be in school– without the financial stress. Fully immersed in his education, Frederick was able to leave behind all the frustration and worry of being uneducated due to school fees.

Frederick enjoys attending school at Olkiriane where he is currently in Form 4 (or 12th grade), and about to graduate. Frederick’s favorite subjects are history and Christian religious education. Not only does Frederick enjoy his classes at school, but he enjoys playing on the school football team outside of class time.

In addition, the student sponsorship has also encouraged Frederick in his faith in God. Previously, Frederick attended church with his family, but he never felt like God was with him. Through the sponsorship, Frederick also had the opportunity to go to a camp for the students in the summer. At camp, Frederick was able to clearly see that God really is always with him and provides for him. Frederick was able to learn about Abraham in the Bible, his journey into the land of Canaan, and the faith it took for Abraham to move there. From this story, Frederick learned about faith and trust in God, and how stepping out in faith can lead to God using you in unimaginable ways. Frederick says that now, his faith in God is real and firm. 

After graduation, Frederick hopes to attend university so he can pursue his dream of studying medicine to become a doctor. This dream seems more within reach to Frederick now than ever, all thanks to his student sponsorship.

Frederick says The Hope Venture is helping people reach their goals. Frederick’s own life was drastically impacted by the student sponsorship through The Hope Venture. As younger students began to be sponsored at Frederick’s school, he was excited about encouraging them in their studies. Later on, the younger students passed their exams and were able to move forward in their schooling. The accomplishment of the younger students left Frederick feeling proud and optimistic, and he was excited to be able to see even more lives change.

The impact of a student sponsorship goes beyond just one child’s life. Like in Frederick’s story, one sponsorship through the partnership of Nasha and The Hope Venture can impact others far beyond the recipient of the sponsorship themselves. Families and other students are able to be encouraged, just like Frederick encouraged the younger students with their exams. Not all things in Frederick’s life are fixed after the student sponsorship, but with the hope Frederick has found and the financial burden of school fees lifted from his family’s shoulders, the future looks brighter for Frederick and his family.

Each step brings a piece of hope.

In the southwestern corner of Kenya is a little town called Oletukat. In fact, to call it a town might be a stretch. It is more like a group of scattered homes and shops along the bumpiest of dirt roads. Oletukat is home to a people group called the Maasai: a Kenyan tribe known for their bright shukas (cloaks), intricate jewelry, and livestock. These are people who depend on the land for their resources. Their homes are built from the dirt, their livestock graze on the grass, and many try to grow food to feed themselves. Yet, for Oletukat’s entire history, it has never had access to water.

For as long as people have lived here, they have walked five kilometers away to a river to gather water and carry it back to their homes one jerry can at a time. This water was all they had for bathing, cleaning, cooking, gardening, and drinking. One can a day. And it was filthy. The river carries a heavy load of mud and other sediment, making it completely brown. Animals share the riverbank and their waste mixes into it. To make things even worse, the towns along the river dump their own waste into it upstream from Oletukat. Because of this, diseases like typhoid, dysentery, and cholera have run rampant in this community and the surrounding area. In fact, we have learned that nearly 6,000 people in this area faced the same situation. And this little region, with all its struggles, is home to a little girl named Jolyne.

Jolyne is the youngest of ten kids. She’s nine years old. Growing up, her mom would join the women of Oletukat and the surrounding area in the walk for water. Lining up by the dirty riverbank with her jerry can early in the morning, filling it with dirty water, putting it on her back, and carrying it back uphill five kilometers home. She would divvy out the five gallons she had for her and her family to drink. She’d use a little bit of it to cook with. Then they would have to choose whether to let some of the family bathe, or wash clothes. With ten older siblings, it’s likely Jolyne didn’t get much of the water. There was only enough for her to wash herself once a week. Letting the dirt just build up on her skin each day. This was life for her. And her future seemed to be the same story as her mother’s. The daily walk for water consumed life, and the hope of something different — school, a job, a new life — seemed impossible.

Then, in 2015, things started to change. This is when our partner organization, Nasha, decided to begin the effort to bring clean water to Oletukat — to kids like Jolyne — and we decided to join them. We knew from the start that bringing water would be a challenge. In fact, large organizations like World Vision had tried to drill wells here and no water was found. So through a group of African consultants, we began the process of building a pipeline. Trenches were dug, pipes were laid, and the water from the river was starting to get closer. A huge pump was installed and a water tank was built in the center of town, and for the first time, Jolyne’s mom could walk down the street for water. But it was still dirty. We wanted better for her. So we began the construction of a multi-stage filtration system. After breakdowns, photos by: Josh Petersen & Ezra Bram 4 8 4 9 delays, dump trucks tipping over in the mess of mud that fills the road after a rain, and thousands of hours of labor, the filtration system was up and running. And this summer, we got to see water flow. And to be honest with you all, it’s still not what we hoped it would be. We hoped to turn on the tap and get a nice bottle of Dasani out of it, and unfortunately, it’s not that.

The filtration hasn’t fully worked, but it is a step forward. It has made a huge difference in the lives of those who live in Oletukat, including Jolyne’s life.

Now her mom can walk down the street and get ten jerry cans of water for her family. They are drinking, cooking, cleaning, and bathing every day. When we met Jolyne, her skin was clean. She could feel beautiful. And although the water isn’t perfect, the health clinic in Oletukat told us that cases of typhoid, dysentery, and cholera have dropped drastically. Life is changing for the people of Oletukat.

Jolyne is now in class one at Eltomtom Primary School. Her future can look different. She won’t be spending her days walking to lug water back for her family. She can study and dream of a new world.

It can be easy to look at this project and be disappointed that the water is not perfect yet. But as a small organization, we have seen that every little step we take can make a big difference for people. For Jolyne, her life has been changed forever. We will keep fighting to make sure we do everything we can to perfect our projects, but we want you to know that every little step, each piece added to the puzzle, brings people another piece of hope. It changes the narrative one more time. So thank you to all of you who have believed in us and those we work with around the world. We want you to know we are going to continue to use the funds you generously give to keep taking more steps to chip away at the pain of oppression, poverty, and hopelessness. That’s the adventure we’re on.

The opportunity to find peace.

The journey to support his family and the relief of a goat.

George had a big grin when I met him. He spoke remarkably good English, so we talked a lot as we walked. He wore a plaid shuka around his shoulders, standard for a Massai man here. He shared of his struggles, of his hopes, and of how he and his wife Emily got a goat for the first time this year.

George’s mom got cancer a few years back, a brain tumor, and then she passed away in 2019. The loneliness of that was as fresh as if it were yesterday. He missed his mom. It was written all over him. Perhaps it was because he loved her. Perhaps it was because it was just so scary to think about what would need to happen next. George has five younger siblings, the youngest of which was 3 when his mom died, and now he needed to care for all of them. The pressure to take care of these kids was a lot for a young 24-year-old man.

He started a boda boda business, which in Kenya means he was like a taxi driver on a motorcycle. People got rides on the back of his bike to go anywhere they wanted, but when the Coronavirus hit, people could no longer ride on the back of a motorcycle with a stranger. Very quickly there was no income. How would he survive? He had so many people to take care of. And to add to everything at the time, his wife was pregnant with their first baby (they now have a 6-month-old son).

He, like so many others, had to get creative about what to do. They live near a forested area (well, not the Amazon jungle type of forest, more like the barren brier-filled type of forest) so he began collecting wood and figured out how to sell it. He’s getting by, but when he got a goat from The Hope Venture, it was a huge relief. Every little bit helps and this goat would provide milk for the family. This was especially helpful for the new baby, as the milk provides good nutrition. I could see the hope it brought him.

The grave of his mom was nearby and we went out and prayed for George and his family.

He told me that maybe now God was bringing other blessings into his life. He was touched that someone he had never met from across the globe would provide a goat for him and his family. While nothing could replace the loss of his mom, he could see that there were other people, other acts of kindness, that were reminding him God was still there, still caring for him. It was in his eyes- hope. And it was beautiful.