Power Women Group, in Kibera

Once a week we have been going to Kibera, the 2nd largest slum in the world, located in Nairobi. There is a group of women that call themselves the “Power Women Group”. They are all HIV positive. Women are tested much more often for the disease in Kenya because the government requires them to when they get pregnant or have other medical treatment done. Therefore, many more women are positive, while many men might also be, but refuse to be tested.

Kenyans can receive FREE ARVs (Antiretroviral) medicine, which fights the illness, if they join a support group. The Power Women Group started from such a group. They decided to turn their group into a business, now making all kinds of crafts- earrings, purses, rugs, clothing, bracelets, beadwork and more. They have a storefront in Kibera.

Each week, our group of volunteers goes to their shop and teaches them a story from the Bible. They are believers and seeking to learn God’s word. A previous volunteer gave them all Bibles, and after discussion, realized the ladies didn’t know many of the basic biblical stories. So, we have been going through the stories with them.

This past week was special. We spent the whole day and took all the ladies to the park for a picnic. They don’t get to leave Kibera very often so they really enjoyed the day! We played all kinds of games, painted their fingernails and had lunch together. Between the 14 ladies that came, they had 59 children!

Here are the stories we have taught so far:

1 Kings 18- Elijah and the prophets of Baal, where the Lord teaches us that He will provide all our needs for His will to be done in our lives.

The book of Jonah- where we learn that you can’t hide from the Lord, he shows us mercy and he answers all prayers in His time.

The book of Esther- where God is faithful to his people and uses everyone for His will to be done.



Some of the ladies' artwork



Outside their shop

More of their crafts

They were playing 'keep the ball away from Rainer'

Having a picnic

We taught the women how to play limbo! It was so funny. They didn't understand how you 'get out' if you touch the pole, and everyone would just get back in line.

Rainer having a go at it

In the van in route