Iddah’s Joy, 5 Years Later
Iddah with her two children, Paul and Esther
When you meet Iddah, you can’t help but smile. Always busy, a working mother of two, she still radiates a calm confidence and a deep sense of peace.
After her father died, Iddah was sent to live with her grandmother. She longed to stay in school but could rarely afford the fees. “I went to almost six schools,” she remembers. “I used to be chased from school because I hadn’t paid.”
At Neema, Iddah had the opportunity to heal, learn, and change the end of her story.
“We thought we were only learning to make clothes, but we learned [so much more]—catering, making bags, how to pray. Today I’m a prayerful person. When we got stressed, we could go to counseling. Someone would talk to you and you would be okay. We learned how to live with others peacefully.”-Iddah, Class of 2020
Iddah (and her two children) graduated from Neema in 2020. Five years later, the change in her life is still unmistakable and the ripple effects continue to grow. Thanks to the national certificate Iddah earned at Neema, she has employment with a large local company; she also sews for clients to help her family thrive. Iddah is providing a stable, hope-filled, faithful life for her two school-aged children and others in her community. Her daughter Esther wants to be a doctor, and thanks to Iddah’s hard work and ethics, her dream might come true!
Watch Iddah share her story with her daughter Esther:
We’re so thankful for every supporter who makes stories like Iddah’s possible.
As Neema’s Class of 2025 prepares to graduate this December, we’re celebrating their hard work by ensuring that each young woman has the tools to launch her future — a sewing machine and a starter kit. This Giving Tuesday, you can help empower their next chapter of their life.
Join us now in equipping the next generation of women to create, lead, and thrive. Our Giving Tuesday campaign is now open!
Iddah at her work station