Jenny’s Sponsorship Story

→“Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.” St. Teresa of Avila wrote this 500 years ago, and I think it’s true today.

The Assumption Sisters of Eldoret are marching to this credo but they must have our help. They know the needs of Kenyan children and through Nyaatha Ray of Hope, we can be part of their work.

Since 2004 my husband and I have sponsored two students, first Elicah and then John. Sponsoring them has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Not to be trite, but there are so few ways to truly make a difference in someone’s life, and I know we did with Elicah and John. With sponsorship they were both able to get the education they wanted and needed. Initially, the Assumption Sisters gave them both a hand up, and we were there to help with the next step. Both of these young people worked hard, and their resilience, determination and perseverance fueled their success.

In 2004 I visited the Assumption Sisters with my sister, Susan Rickert. Sister Leonida introduced me to Elicah, a young woman who was cooking for the Sisters in a small village in western Kenya. Elicah had completed secondary school, but as Sister Leonida explained, was “quite stranded.” She had the grades necessary for university but no way to finance further education. Although I wasn’t working at the time, I felt called to commit to helping Elicah and six months later had a job and the means to pay her academic fees. Friends and family chipped in. Elicah was a powerhouse. You can read Elicah’s story in the Advent/Christmas 2019 Nyaatha newsletter. Elicah earned her Bachelor’s in 2008. In 2010 I returned to Kenya with a small mission group from my church. (photo left). We visited Elicah who was working on her Master’s. The young woman I had met seven years before working for the Assumption Sisters was now a radiant, confident student. She completed her Master’s in Physics in 2013.

In 2015 Elicah began her doctorate in Physics at Kenyatta University. Along the way, “Team Elicah” evolved with family members and friends paying her academic fees. On June 17, 2020 she wrote me that she had successfully defended her thesis (virtually). She is working on her revisions and hopes to graduate in December. “Dr. Wabululu” will be the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in Computational Physics from a Kenyan university. Her dream is to supervise and mentor students in this field, especially women who are willing to pursue this male dominated field of science. Elicah is married to a teacher and they have two young daughters and are fostering another girl. She recently wrote “We also support Preston, a total orphan who had passed to join a national school but could not afford it. With little we have, we have managed to pay school fees for him.”

On the same trip in 2010 when I was reunited with Elicah, I visited KWETU Home of Peace in Nairobi headed by Sister Angela. I briefly met John, a “transformed street boy” who was thriving at KWETU. John was “Head Boy” at All Saints Primary School, Madaraka, a position requiring extraordinary leadership skills. I could tell that John was an exceptional young man. When John was ready for secondary school in 2012, a group of us paid for his fees at Aquinas High School. He did well and earned the marks needed for university. In 2016 when John graduated from Aquinas High School, he wrote us “I am going out to face the world and make it better where I can.”

In 2016 John entered Kenyatta University in Nairobi (where Elicah was) and began working towards a degree in Community Resource Management and Extension. John is a senior today, but Covid-19 has shuttered Kenyatta University, and he has returned to KWETU as a caregiver, helping the boys in their rehabilitation and giving them psychological and spiritual guidance. John hopes to finish school this fall, sit for final examinations and graduate in December. He wants to work within a corporate social responsibility department in a company or in a social development office in a government organization and after working for a while, pursue a graduate degree. On June 24,2020, we had a video chat with John on Whatsapp. Our smiles nearly broke the phone. It was such a joy to talk with him and see his handsome, beaming, face. He even gave us a quick tour of KWETU on the phone! Read John’s story in his own words on The Children of the Streets page.

If you visited us in Roanoke, Virginia in our kitchen you would see a framed picture of four people: our godchildren Edward and Anna and our Kenyan students, John and Elicah. While preparing meals, I think of John and Elicah and shoot up a little prayer. In the family room we have a large photo of Elicah in her cap and gown at graduation. On another wall there is a beautiful picture of a lioness and her cubs that John sent us. Sponsoring these amazing young people has opened our hearts, enriched our lives and widened our perspective. We could not have done this without Sister Leonida and Sister Angela introducing us to Elicah and John, and I will be forever grateful to them. Nyaatha Ray of Hope makes sponsorship easy and in the words of St. Teresa, we can be God’s hands and feet.

Jenny Fife

Greetings from Elicah

A recent email sent from Elicah to Jenny- June 2020.

 Jenny,

 I thank God we are fine and can communicate. I have tried to answer the questions but you can always customize to suit the readers.

Currently there are  only two ladies in Kenya with  PhDs in Computational Physics  but they got them from  foreign universities ( South Africa) Ideally I  am  the third one  and  the first one to obtain PhD from the Kenyan University in this field without having foreign assistance in terms of research. (Partial research done from outside Kenya).  (As you can see in the Whatsapp messages 'Janet" says that I have taken up the lead).

I am set to graduate in December if all goes well. I am working on the examiners corrections and submit the final copy of the thesis by September.

My dream is to supervise and mentor students in this field particularly women, who are willing and dreaming to pursue this male dominated field of science. I would also like to get and collaborate with other professionals in this field so that I acquire more experience and opportunities internationally for the betterment of physics in Kenya and Africa, to bring back confidence in our local universities. I dream of a good job, for a better future of my family and others who look up to me.

 Vincent is a teacher in one of the Kenyan secondary schools and I have two daughters -Talitha, eleven years old, and Talia, eight years old. They are all still in primary schools. I also stay with Centrine, whom i have stayed with since 2014, She is now fifteen year and had just joined form one. I decided to take care of her since she comes from a humble beginning and she could not balance between her schooling and home chores. She is my responsibility and she has since become part of the family. We also support Preston, a total orphan, who had passed to join a national school but could not afford it. With little we have, we have managed to pay school fees for him in one of national secondary school. Your sacrifices in life on my behalf have taught me a lesson that with the little I have can put a smile on somebody's face and make his life better. He has a year to complete his secondary school.

Currently I am working at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa as a part-time lecture in the natural science department. I was to sign a three years contract with the University but this has not happened since the fall of the pandemic.

I give my appreciations to Team Elicah pivoted by Jenny for this far.

Attached are some pictures, feel free to share the ones that are appealing to you.

 Regards to the Team,

 Elicah