Stories of Real Women with Real Lives

In a room full of women during one of Rejesha's outreach nights, Angela would easily go unnoticed. She came regularly to eat with us but, for the first few weeks, she slipped in and out and did not engage in conversations. One evening, I struck up a conversation with Angela and I could tell that she was hesitant to say much as she didn’t feel she could trust us but she kept on coming. 

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Unfortunately, after Covid-19 hit Nairobi, we didn’t see much of Angela, however, she was among the few women who had left their contact details with one of our volunteers. In May 2020, Angela was among the first women to receive a food package that was delivered to her home in Dandora. She found it unbelievable that a group of people, that she barely knew, would care so much about her. Angela later told me that it was at that point she realised that we were genuine and felt she could drop her guard with us. We kept in touch with Angela regularly throughout 2020 and we noticed that even though she was struggling to make ends meet, she was open to different ideas including casual cleaning jobs in people’s homes.

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Angela is a mother of one daughter now a teenager in Form 3 in high school. Worried that her fast-maturing daughter would figure out what her mother does for a living, Angela decided to send her daughter across the city to live with a relative. I asked her if anyone in her family knew what she does for money;

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“Of course not, no one in my family knows what I do for a living. If they did, I don’t even know what I would do. I lived in constant fear that my daughter would soon come to know what I do. I would leave the house late in the afternoon dressed in normal clothes and I would have my work clothes in a bag to change into when I arrived in town. My family members believe I work in a nightclub and that is why I have to work at night. When my daughter was living with me, I made sure I hid my work clothes and shoes.”
 
Angela has been running her second-hand clothing business specialising in men’s wear since March 2021. She is a natural at customer service. Her customers have noticed that she is skilled at finding them just what they've asked for. She taught herself how to navigate through the Gikomba market (second-hand clothing market) looking for new items to supplement her stock. We sometimes ask her to give useful tips to other women who are starting up on their micro-entrepreneurship journey.  

 

Today, Angela is a confident mother and a proud business owner. When her daughter now comes to visit during the school half-term, Angela is now able to spend quality time with her during the normal hours of the day.

 

Though the trauma from the streets is long-lasting, Angela’s life is transforming. Her relationship with her daughter is being restored and a passion for business has been kindled. Our future hopes for Angela are to equip her with business training where she learns how to manage and grow her business skillfully. She is keen to share what she has learned with other future Rejesha business women
 

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