JULY 2024 NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends,Hi, I’m Sarah Symons, Director of Her Future Coalition, a US nonprofit, and proud partner of Life Bloom Services International. Last week, I had an incredible opportunity: to visit Life Bloom projects in Kenya, and to attend the graduation ceremony for 41 Community Counselors trained by Life Bloom. This event was also a celebration of Life Bloom’s 20 years of work in Kenya.
The event was glorious!
The 38 women and 3 men who graduated that day have completed 6 months of intensive
training to become Community Counselors. Many of them are themselves survivors of sexual or gender-based violence. A few are living with disabilities, including two women who are blind. Others are community based leaders or positive health champions. Almost all come from marginalized communities and have grown up in poverty. They have experienced oppression and exclusion their whole lives, but they are not defined by their struggles or backgrounds. Instead, they are prepared – and excited – to uplift and empower others.Over the next 5 years, these counselors will serve approximately 14,400 people. One
Community Counselors project in 2007-8 trained 62 women, and in 3 years time those
Counselors documented 4660 clients!When Life Bloom first set out to develop a curriculum for community counselors, the idea was met with resistance from the professional bodies: “How do you train women who have not been to school? There was no appropriate curriculum and this idea isn’t professional”, Catherine was told. But she and her team prevailed, designing a curriculum in real time, based on the needs of the first trainees, who shared the background and challenges of their future clients. That pool of 62 counselors trained in 2007 is still hard at work, currently overstretched.
Mueni (not her real name), aged 44, joined Life Bloom in 2018 while still a sexually exploited woman on the streets. She was trained to make group savings and raise funds to overcome the barriers of poverty. In 2022, she was selected for a Community Counselors training course. As a counselor/mentor for women and girls, Mueni, who is HIV positive, is a power champion for adherence to antiretroviral drugs. Though her education level is basic elementary, she is a qualified Community Health Promoter (CHP). No longer ashamed of what is behind her, Mueni has raised and educated her child, and is supporting her ailing mother. With her savings, she purchased a parcel of land and is constructing her house, a project she is very proud of. She uses her story to empower other women, inspiring them to transcend their past and build self-sufficient lives. Mueni is the true face of Life Bloom.
One of the speakers at the graduation was the priest of the church where the event was hosted. “What people need most is for someone to listen, your PRESENCE,” he said. “You don’t need to fix people. Just being with people when they are in crisis, letting them lay down their burden, listening without judgment, and giving people space to share their deepest pain, is the most healing thing you can do”. Grace, one of the graduates who is visually impaired, said in her very moving speech,I may be blind, but now my life is full of light. I can no longer be silent.After saying that, Grace burst into song, and we all burst into tears of joy and inspiration.
Life Bloom needs your help to train the next batch of Community Counselors. It costs $335 to provide the full 6 month training to one woman, including an internship in the field, leadership coaching sessions and ongoing supervision and support. Each Community Counselor serves an average of 71 people per year.Donate Now to fuel the work of an inspiring survivor-leader such as Mueni, or a fearless advocate such as Grace, changing her life forever, and enabling her to give help and hope to 70+ people each year.

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