CHANGING the TRAJECTORY of LIFE

Hearing about people that have been sponsored through AAI graduating or starting businesses or getting jobs, is just such a thrill.

When  I went to Africa first, in 2005 I met the Luyonza boys. John was really wanting to go to university. His father had passed, and John and Jean Leak had assured the dad that they would do everything they could to help the family, which they did in various ways. So, Gary and I decided to sponsor John. 

He went to university and graduated in 2008. In 2009 he got a job with a micro financing company 140 km from the big city, and he travelled around to their branches changing their systems from manual to digital, until 2015 when he got a job with a Credit referencing company and became the account manager. Later he married, and just this February they had a beautiful baby girl. John says that he has two blocks of land, and he hopes to build on them this year. So that's very exciting for him to be able to have a home.

Then there was his brother Joshua, who was volunteering for a youth leadership development programme called Cornerstone, he wanted to go University too, so my brother and his wife sponsored him. Joshua showed so much promise that Cornerstone offered him after he graduated, a sponsorship to go to Albania do a business and economics course.

 He finished that and went back to Uganda and worked for a period, and then as he was volunteering, Cornerstone once again offered him to go to study in Berlin with a degree in International Management, which he completed. During this time, he was volunteering his services in ministry at Saddleback Church, started by Rick Warren.  While there he met a German girl, and they got married. They also have a baby girl. So, Joshua found his way even though he had no father to help.

Then  there's Ashley, she's the granddaughter of Connie, and she has graduated and she's working as a receptionist in a hotel in Bahrain now. Why  Bahrain? Jobs are difficult to get in Kenya, so she’d decided to work there.

A few years after my first trip, Tulsi Hellen was born, another of  Connie’s granddaughters. Gary & I sponsored her through her schooling. Once when I visited, she didn’t want to go home at night, she wanted to stay - ‘cause her sponsor was here’ and when I left that trip, she cried and cried, which is one of the downsides of visiting, but she's a beautiful young lady now just about to enter university. She tries so hard, because she wants to progress in life.

Then there's an orphan boy Reagan, who also has a sister. They both lived at Mercy after their parents passed and he was sponsored by Garys son David. David is on a pension, but the whole way through school, he sponsored Reagan.

Reagan hasn't been able to get a job in his trade, but he's created a job and is making the most amazing furniture. Lounge suites, cupboards, beds, and as you know if you've been to Kenya, they sell them from the side of the road, so they don't have all the overhead costs we have. Reagan's doing really great.

One of the things that Joshua Luyonza said was, ‘I hope and pray that more people come to see how their love and support, can transform, not just a life, but an entire generation.’  Now I want you to know, that your sponsorship, gives these kids, a future and a hope!

Helen Crothers: March 2024