Esther Abei
Beadwork
She built a bead business from her first table banking loan, and repaid it.
“I no longer sell alcohol. Now I can dream and hope again.”
Esther's family moved from Lodwar and settled in the Kipsongo slum, where her mother started selling illicit alcohol. From a young age Esther was made to help with the business, and like her mother she began drinking to numb her pain. Without the chance to go to school, her world was limited to the difficult and dangerous trade she had been raised in.
She was eventually arrested and spent six months in jail, a period that left her hopeless. After her release all she wanted was to change her life, but she had no idea how. She married and had two children, then separated from her husband and struggled to provide for them, often going to the dumpster to find food.
When friends told her about Baskets and Beads she did not hesitate. She was one of the first women to benefit from the group's table banking program, taking a loan to start her own bead-making business. She can now provide for her children and build a better life for them. Her dream is to give them the life she never had, and to find a safe, stable place for her family to live.
In Esther’s words
“For Baskets and Beads to expand so we can have regular orders.”
Stand behind Esther
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.
