[caption id="attachment_2953" align="aligncenter" width="565"]

Edita (2nd from left) poses with other staff members[/caption]

When Handel wrote the “Hallelujah Chorus,” his health and his fortunes had reached an all-time low. His right side had become paralyzed, and all his money was gone. He was heavily in debt and threatened with imprisonment....And it was then he composed his greatest work—Messiah. (Peter Marshall, Sr.)

(continued from February 11, 2016)

In 2008, while living in a room with 11 people and enduring the pangs of want, Edita was able to attend one term of freshman year at a local public high school. Her teachers were very surprised when she ended the school term at the top of her class. At this time, TULIP (Tumaini Ladies Integrational Programme) and Mercy Mahiaini, came into Edita’s life. TULIP, a ministry of Nairobi Chapel, serves to empower teenage girls from the poverty-stricken slums by providing equal access to education and resources. Edita was recruited into TULIP, which included financial help to attend the local high school and participation in TULIP's programming.The years took a toll on young Edita, and she had bottled up a decade of heartache – never talking about her pain to anyone. She rarely found time alone, but when she did, the tears would come. After joining TULIP, Edita was placed in a support group made up of other girls being assisted by TULIP, but when it was her turn to share, Edita would make an excuse and leave the circle.Mercy Mahiaini, the group facilitator, searched for a way to help Edita express her feelings. One week she asked Edita to remain for the entire group time. She gave her a piece of paper and asked her to write down how she felt and pass it around the circle. For four weeks, Edita wrote, “I AM OK!” On the fifth week, as Edita entered the room, she handed Mercy a letter on which she had written her life's story. Moved by what she read, Mercy solicited support to help Edita - the response was overwhelming. Edita moved to a boarding school outside the slum and Mercy became her legal guardian. The long journey of healing began.After high school, Mercy helped Edita enroll at Bunks and Biddle's Teachers College where she earned a diploma in Teaching: Early Childhood Development. She graduated in late 2014 and joined the faculty at Mawewa School. Edita's mentor passed recently, and she says she is forever grateful for how Mercy encouraged, supported, and sacrificed for her through the years. Edita is now caring for her younger sister and niece, making sure that they too will have the advantages of an education and a loving mentor.Edita endured more adversity than there is room to share in this blog. In God, she emerged triumphant from overwhelming and tragic circumstances. We commend and honor her for giving back to the next generation of children growing up in abject poverty in the slums of Nairobi. We are proud to have her in our eduKenya and Mawewa School family!Might you be willing to help our children receive life-transforming opportunities? We greatly need funding to build a boarding school so that, like Edita, our teenagers may attend high school outside the slum. If so, please visit our website, and give generously out of your great abundance. Thank you from all of us at eduKenya!