Mary and her husband Martin have 6 children, including triplets and twins.
Over the last few years, Mary’s husband has been battling an alcohol addiction. Most of the work and earning income has become Mary’s full responsibility.
She greatly struggled to pay for school for her oldest son, Robert, while doing side work each day for different employers in the area. Her second child Esther also has been able to attend school, though sometimes infrequently because of their family income. She earned the money partly with casual work, and partly with the profits from the project.
Mary joined the CPS partnership with Microfinancing Partners in Africa and from her microfinance project, has received enough money to send her triplets to school.
With money from the income-generating project through CPS, Mary has built a simple but strong chicken house which now has 10 chicks. These chicks are providing eggs for their family.
She hopes to expand to have more chickens (hopefully up to 50) and more eggs so she can also sell the eggs to her neighbors.
Her dream is to continue to educate her youngest daughter Neema, and after that build a shop where she can sell many household goods.
Talking to her about her struggles (doing all this alone, without any support from her husband) we are certainly impressed with her courage and deep faith. Even where she finds challenges, Mary still keeps her faith; “God is always there. You can approach God at any time and he will help you. I’m very grateful for this project and for all His help.”