All proceeds from the sale of the Kisumu shirt will go towards LIA’s work in the Nyalenda slum.
HIV/AIDS is devastating families, communities, and entire cities, leaving orphans and vulnerable children in its wake. In these regions throughout Kenya, Life In Abundance International (LIA) is partnering with local churches to empower the left behind.
LIA has approached this situation with a pioneering method that is both sustainable and holistic, meeting the needs of the children in the short-term and empowering their caregivers (relatives, neighbors, etc.) to care for the child over the long term. In conjunction with partner churches, LIA meets the immediate physical and spiritual needs of these children and, over the course of three years, serve to empower their care givers.
Kevin’s story: While most 17 year old boys in America are worried about who they are taking to prom and where they will be going to college, Kevin Juma (pictured below) is working hard to help take care of his siblings. His family of eight were living in a one room shack when LIA made it’s second home visit.
Their parents died eight years ago. His older sisters (both in their 20′s) were away working as housekeepers, trying to make money for the family. Both sisters have children of their own now, so sending money for the others is hard. Life is not easy for his family. The little ones are always in need of food, clothing and supplies for school.
Kevin is very thankful for the LIA church partner and the ministry they do for the family, helping make ends meet and providing food for the family. The church is transforming their lives through food support.
He said he’d like people to pray that he feels better. He was sick when we were talking to him. Kevin asked that people pray that doors would open for his sisters to make a good living. He said he also prays that the other orphans in the area will have a normal life and that the church will continue its good ministry.
This is just one story of one family in the Nyalenda slum of Kisumu, Kenya and there are over 200,000 people in this slum with similar stories.
“Whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me.”(Matthew 25:34-40)
Friends of Spendyourself are currently visiting the Nyalenda slum and will be providing an update on LIA’s work when they return.
Photography by Jessica Nichols of J*Grace Photography
To read more about LIA and the work being done in Kenya, please see the following blogs:
We’d like to give everyone a look at our first shirt series as well as our logo tees.
This first series, entitled ‘Omed’, will be used to raise funds to complete a school for refugees living outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.
More to come soon, but we would love to hear your input.
We are so glad you’ve found your way over to the official Spendyourself blog.
We are an apparel company with a heart for social justice and a vision to drive positive change in the world, but we can’t do it without you. We are inviting you along on this journey to spend yourself.
The vision of this movement is two-fold. First off, we want to give a voice to the voiceless and oppressed all across the globe. In addition to this, the proceeds will go directly to fund specific projects that fight these injustices in a sustainable fashion. We depend on people just like yourselves to tell these stories the clothing embodies to drive change in a way that we might otherwise not be able to.
We also want to give all of you a voice from the very beginning. If you have a certain cause that you are passionate about, we would love to hear about it. In addition to this, we are always looking for graphic designers that have a heart for impacting the world in a positive way with their gifts.
Over the next several weeks we will be launching both the first series of t-shirts and the official Spendyourself website! Be watching for these and we hope you’ll invite your friends to jump on board this project and begin to spend themselves on behalf of the poor and oppressed.
-The Spendyourself Team
p.s. And because every post is better with a picture, here is a little teaser picture of what the first round of t-shirts are going to support. Stay tuned for the full story!
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