Mission Partner: YAWOSUP

Mission Partner: Yala Widows and Orphans Support Project (YAWOSUP)

YAWOSUP is headed up by Edward Wata and operates in rural Western Kenya, focused on community development work to improve education, health, farming and housing for local residents, both young and old.

Covid-19 continues to create new challenges for YAWOSUP to deliver this support to the local community, especially with the rate of new cases and deaths rising sharply in recent weeks, prompting the Kenyan Government to impose further restrictions in the local area. Churches have been closed, but schools remain open after an extended closure in 2020.

YAWOSUP supports more than 300 widows, organised into several registered local groups. Practical help includes:-

  • Rebuilding over recent years of at least 15 houses for widows, left abandoned through bereavement

  • Provision of advice on farming and the supply of seed and fertiliser to help them improve the yield from their small subsistence

farming activity, to feed their families

  • Training and financial support to help the widows maximise the sale of any surplus crops to meet the cost of other essential needs – including school fees for their children

YAWOSUP continues to support orphans and OVCs (Other Vulnerable Children) with the:-

  • Sponsorship of secondary school students to enable them to continue their education

  • Provision of good quality local education at Barbara Leighton Academy – a nursery and primary school, established in 2013, currently with 87 pupils

  • Rehema Trust – a UK registered charity – continues to support the school and its development

  • In response to the extended school closure in 2020, YAWOSUP established new Youth Activities, including an income generating tree nursery, to provide structure and purpose in their lives

Please pray and give thanks for

  • The continued expansion of Barbara Leighton Academy – including the recent construction of an additional classroom – so that more young lives can be changed

  • The commitment of the YAWOSUP team to equip the widows to support themselves and each other

  • The generosity of church members and donors through World Mission Team and Rehema Trust respectively to enable YAWOSUP to make a difference to the lives of so many

  • The commitment of Edward Wata, his staff and volunteers to respond to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis

  • Pray for Protection and good health for Edward, his family and all his co-workers

  • Wisdom for the Kenyan government as they respond to the worsening Covid-19 crisis and the response of world leaders to achieving an equitable distribution of vaccines etc

  • All those in Kenya, whose vital farming activities are already being adversely affected by Climate Change

For more information, please contact Malcolm Leighton 01372 815082

malcolm.leighton@ntlworld.com www.rehematrust.com

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