A letter from Mike and Nancy Haninger in Congo
June 16, 2009
Dear Friends,
Usually the news stories told from Congo are very tragic, filled with all too real accounts of extreme suffering through violence, hunger, disease, rape, oppression and poverty. These stories are absolutely true, and each day as missionaries serving in Congo we come face to face with all of these difficult issues. There are many days when we feel completely at a loss when called upon to provide desperately needed answers and solutions to the many serious problems that confront the Congolese individually and collectively. However, deep in our hearts and minds exists a profound, abiding awareness and confidence that God is always here with all of us, guiding and directing our united course and actions. Our role is to be attentive to and respectful of this divine guidance, which in our experience, has always resulted in wonderful outcomes.
Kenda and baby Ntumba busy at work.
So, today we want to share with you one story of hope, love and very “happy endings.” It’s one example where we feel we have been divinely led to serve with our dear Congolese partners in directions that far exceeded our small and limited human plans. It’s an example of God seeing the need and responding with great love in order to ease the suffering of the oppressed and vulnerable. That response resulted in the opening of the single moms’ sewing school.
Since our arrival in Tshikaji in 2001, we had been acutely aware of the serious oppression of women and girls that exists in this culture. Women’s lives are often controlled by men, and sexual and domestic violence are commonplace. When sexual violence results in a pregnancy outside of marriage, the girl is often accused of improper behavior and rejected by her family and community, leaving her and her baby unwanted, unloved and without hope. Some village girls have never attended school due to lack of family support and poverty, leaving them extremely vulnerable and without any good plan for their existence. Our dream was to start a microenterprise project to provide these lovely girls with a valuable trade as well as hope for the future. But where would we find the funds, materials and the people to start such a school? In the summer of 2007, Nancy miraculously received an unexpected phone call from a kind Presbyterian donor who shared this dream and offered to provide the necessary funding. Within a few months, all the plans were set in motion, dedicated teachers were located, sewing machines and materials were purchased, desks and tables were built, and in December 2007 the single moms’ sewing school opened!
With her profits, Milolo helps pay tuition fees of her brothers and sisters.
One year later, 19 beautiful young women participated in the school’s first graduation ceremony, each receiving her own sewing machine and a kit of supplies to start her own business. Today the graduates are all doing well. Through the sale of the clothing they produce, they contribute significantly to their own family support. They are making enough to buy food, provide health care, purchase and raise chickens and goats, and (in typical Congolese style) are helping pay school fees for their siblings. Some of the graduates have opened “boutiques” in the city of Kananga and are doing extremely well, and four village graduates have joined together to start a small business. But more importantly, these young mothers today live lives transformed from shame, despair and rejection to dignity and respect, knowing that they are loved by God and many in the Presbyterian Church.
Year two of the school is in full swing, with 30 new students who will graduate in February 2010. Thanks be to God!
God bless you all,
Mike and Nancy
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 39
P.S. If you are interested in helping support this program, please send donations to ECO #320402 with the designation "Sewing School" to:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15624-3700
Or give online.
