Maleya’s Hope for the Future

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 9:11

She is smiling, even though her body bears the scars of pain and suffering. Her shoulders are slightly slumped, evidence of the struggles she has endured, but her eyes can't hide the fact that she has found hope. Hope for the future, and hope for an education for her youngest child.

We’d like you to meet Maleya. She has had no formal education, is divorced, and the mother to five children-- four huge strikes against a hopeful future in a poor, urban slum-like Ngombe. Maleya has been making a subsistent living selling baked snacks on the street corners, where she earned the equivalent of about $28 US dollars a month.

Then, Maleya joined the Sew Powerful tailoring program and trained to be a seamstress at the sewing co-op in Ngombe. The Sew Powerful seamstresses learn to sew items such as school uniforms and learn to create the reusable feminine hygiene pads that are gifted to the girls in the school health classes. Because of this program, Maleya earned a living wage. Her youngest child enrolled in school. She was not only assured a regular monthly wage for her labor but was also able to support herself and her children as well as keep them in school. The skills she learned will be knowledge that she can always use. Her future is much brighter now.

Maleya heard about the Sew Powerful program when she received relief services from a Catholic Basic Care program. Maleya had been hospitalized following a heart-breaking incident in her home. Her husband regularly beat her, and one day, they were fighting near the gas stove, and Maleya was tragically burned on her left arm, neck, and shoulders. She spent two months in the hospital recovering. After she was healed, Maleya's parents asked her husband if he loved her, and his response told them and Maleya all they needed to know. She never went back.

Meet Maleya and hear her testimony:

Sew Powerful is a Christian ministry (Sew Powerful) that exists to employ and empower women like Maleya and minister to the needs of girls who are restricted from attending school because of the lack of access to feminine hygiene products. Sew Powerful depends on generous donations to keep women like Maleya employed and girls like her daughter in school. Won't you consider donating today to help others like Maleya find hope for the future? (Sew Powerful Donate)