Kenya Mission Team A, Day 5
“I am so happy. Thank you so much. I have never felt so, so happy.” – Phoebe, Zone 2 
We spent today focused on the youth in Zone 2, a region about 30 minutes from the center of Naivasha. We were met by Margaret, Joseph and David, the awesome mentors for Zone 2. Their groups had so much to share. The Fashion & Design Youth showed off custom dresses and curtains from their new businesses. Hairdressing & Salon graduates were excited to provide tours of their new shops. We heard about new motorbike repair businesses, new electrical repair and plumbing repair businesses and several new hospitality graduates eager to open their own cafes.
We captured as many stories as we could on video and took many pictures. One member of our team, Loran, got to meet her prayer partner, Francis. It was awesome to witness their joy. There was singing, dancing, hugging, smiling and love shared all around.
Mixed among the Cycle 3 graduating youth were a few prospective Cycle 4 newcomers. Meeting them made it easy to contrast the challenges of youth not in the program with youth in the program. Inua transforms lives, this we can be sure.
We got an in-depth walking tour of the neighbor and visited with a few of the youth’s businesses including the Florida Salon & Cosmetic, owned and operated by Rose, a Cycle 3 graduate. We popped in on Paul as he was working on a painting job and stopped by Phoebe’s Café where we all enjoyed her freshly baked mandazi (a sweet fried bread). We later enjoyed a delicious lunch at Lily’s Café, an Inua graduate from Cycle 2 who will also be catering Friday’s graduation reception. We are filled with joy and happiness to see so many youth who have transformed into healthy, happy young adults able to provide for themselves and others.
We filled the late afternoon with meetings with Inua’s Kenya Staff about an expansion to the agribusiness program and graduation preparations.