Our Seed of Hope vocational training centre in Nairobi works alongside talented, hard-working students like Linet enabling them to acquire the life and business skills that form the foundations of building a rewarding future.
Linet’s story is one of resilience, determination and inspiration. She is a young mother of twins who, after graduating from Seed of Hope Nairobi in 2018, has found her feet in a well-paid job that aligns with her career ambitions and provides for her family.
In her early life, Linet had many harrowing challenges to overcome. Orphaned at a young age and sexually abused, she fell pregnant with twins. Her children were left in the care of their great grandmother so that Linet could source unskilled employment in Nairobi and complete her high school education.
Due to a lack of finances the prospect of a college education was not an option. However, when working at a restaurant Linet heard about the free vocational training courses available at the Seed of Hope centre and she jumped at the opportunity to pursue her passion of fashion design.
We’re delighted to say that Linet was a fast learner and excelled in her fashion and design classes, gaining confidence, and graduated with top marks in December 2018. She was chosen amongst a small cohort of classmates to learn how to upcycle jeans and shopping bags into school bags – a fantastic skill and source of income, which she supplemented with a part-time job to support her two children and sister through school. Whilst at Seed of Hope she was given counselling and support to help her deal with the traumas she has experienced growing up, and to give her practical advice and support for raising her twins as a single mother.
Learning how to design, create and market clothes has enabled Linet to secure a sales job in a high-end boutique, as well as set-up a separate business for her personal clients. She has now moved into a comfortable house with her twins (a boy, Lucky and a girl, Laura), who are enrolled in good school which she is able to afford. In the future Linet would like to open her own boutique and has already saved enough to buy her own electric sewing machine and equipment, and is building up her own client base.
Linet’s message to you…
“I will forever be grateful to Seed of Hope for the opportunity to train in fashion design. I would not be where I am today if I had not acquired these skills. The Seed of Hope teachers counselled and encouraged me to work even harder so as to achieve my dream of being a great designer in Kenya.”
With your kind donations, Seed of Hope can provide invaluable professional and personal development to students like Linet. The counselling, mentorship and Amuka programme (personal development plan) at the centre has helped her overcome the strains of young motherhood and has nurtured an entrepreneurial flair for fashion design.
Thanks to your generosity we can continue to work with young people, who will learn practical skills leading to a stable career that will provide for their families, and in turn, build a new life of hope and security.
With thanks to volunteer copywriter Lucy Farrell, who kindly gave her time to tell Linet’s story.
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