Dinah
Beadwork
One of the founding five, and the keeper of the group's memory.
“We are not where we want to be, but we are not where we were before.”
Dinah grew up in Lodwar, but the harsh desert climate pushed the family to Kitale and the Kipsongo slum, where most of their relatives were living. Life in the slum was hard and her parents hustled to make ends meet. She married early, and married life with children was very difficult. She started going to the streets to beg, and when that did not work she joined other women looking for food in the dumpster and collecting scrap metal to sell. As each of her children reached five years old, they joined her.
In her heart she dreamt of a better life for her children, but she did not know how to give it to them. Some of them were fortunate enough to go to school through children's homes. She joined Baskets and Beads when it first started, one of the first five women. They had big dreams and no idea how to reach them, but they believed. They put in the work and prayed, and more women joined.
The group has grown past twenty women now, and the progress is visible: they make and sell their beads, their children are in school, and they can afford to go to the hospital for treatment. Her dream is to move out of the Kipsongo slum and have a safe place for her children.
In Dinah’s words
“To have my own house where it is safe and far from the slum.”
Stand behind Dinah
Gifts go into the group’s shared table banking pool and the programs that support every woman in the circle: materials, literacy, medical help, and school fees for their children.
