Rebuild Kenyan Women's Homes & Lives

This campaign to build houses for widows all began with a feisty and fun-loving woman called Antonine. 

Just a few years ago, Antonine was destitute, living under a tree on a small parcel of land in southwest Kenya, not far from the shores of Lake Victoria.  Her house once stood there. It was flattened by her late husband's relatives shortly after he died of an AIDS-related illness.  Still homeless and landless more than 10  years later, she was on the verge of taking her own life.  

If it weren't for a courageous nonprofit called KELIN that's helped hundreds of HIV-positive widows mediate land disputes with their in-laws after their husbands die of AIDS, she might not be here today.

Antonine was one of the worst cases they had ever seen.  They successfully negotiated on her behalf and her in-laws eventually agreed to let her back on the land -- land that was rightfully hers to begin with. But she did not have the means to rebuild her house that they'd torn down so many years before. 

So in the summer of 2016, after hearing Antonine's story, we pitched in to raise the funds so KELIN staff could build her a house (and Gina who has worked with KELIN through her job, got her hands dirty building the walls).

Gina Alvarado with Antonine Akumu Oruwe in front of her new home the day it was built in July 2016.

Today, Antonine has a sturdy house with a corrugated iron roof, a bright green field heavy with healthy ears of corn, several small chicken coops, a goat -- and importantly -- a new lease on life.   

Antonine with her new  (pregnant) goat, May 8, 2017.

For an HIV-positive widow in Kenya, a house is so much more than a roof over her head. Antonine is living proof of that.  

Inspired by Antonine's transformation, we decided to do whatever we could to build houses for more widows like her. There are dozens who still need homes.
 
Like Antonine, their husbands died of AIDS and their relatives blamed the widows (this region is one of the worst-hit by HIV and AIDS in the world, and it is leaving a devastating wake of landless widows in its path). They were all forced off the land and their homes demolished to make sure they wouldn't come back. Also like Antonine, they are now at peace with their in-laws because of KELIN's inervention. 

Thanks to 46 generous donors, we raised enough money to build houses for five more widows whose land rights KELIN successfully defended. In May 2017, Gina and Jennifer traveled to Kenya to participate in and observe the construction:

Risper Otieno (in purple headscarf) with KELIN staff, Gina and Jennifer after the construction of her new house on May 6, 2017. The whole community took part in the daylong construction and marked the occasion with a celbratory feast. 

Liliane Agutu with her young daughter in front of her new house, built on May 5, 2017. 

Milka Aoko with her children in front of her partially constructed (now completed) new house on May 7, 2017. 

Beatrice Aumu, a widow and mother of five, in front of her partially-constructed (now completed) new house on May 8, 2017.  

Dorothy Adhiambo in front of the dark, sweltering one room market stall she had been living in with her 3 children for several years, on May 8, 2017. After meeting her the day this photograph was taken, and seeing the seriousness of her condition, Jennifer and Gina arranged for KELIN to build a house for her with the remaining funds raised. It was completed on June 25 and we hear she is happy, healthy and safe.  


There are dozens more women and children who still need homes. Here are just a few of them that Jennifer met on May 8 & 9:

Abisagi is currently living in a small kitchen belonging to her in-laws (separate from the main house) with several children and one grandchild, pictured here.  The smoke is extremely bad for their health, but they have no other choice; the in-laws have allowed them back on the land thanks to KELIN but she can't afford to build a house.  

Alice is staying in her in-laws house while they are away.  When they return, she and her four children will be homeless once again if they don't find the money to build a house of their own soon. 


Mary pictured in front of the one-room kitchen she is living in. It is too small to accomodate her three adolescent children.  She has been in very poor health because of the living conditions and doesn't know how much longer she will be able to stay in the in-laws kitchen.  She is in desperate need of a house. 

----

We've both seen firsthand what a dramatic difference it can make on widows' lives  when they have the right, and the financial means, to live on their own land.  Gutsy, tenacious women like Antonine have been forgotten for far too long.

KELIN has helped them fight for their land, for their rights, and for justice.  Please help us finish the job -- help us build them homes. 

Each house costs a little more than $1,000 and will include a latrine and basic household items like a mattress. Your donations will come through us and we will in turn work closely with KELIN who will coordinate the construction of the widows' homes, as they did for Antonine, Risper, Liliane, Milka, Beatrice and Dorothy.  

Antonine and the other five women finally have a sense of security and dignity. Please help us protect and empower Abisagi, Alice, Mary, and dozens more like them, too.