Rehoboth
The name Rehoboth chosen by the group of women who live in the Deepsea village comes from the biblical scripture: Genesis 22:26. "He moved on from there and dug another well and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land."
The vision for the group to come together and have a workspace was placed on the hearts of Pastor John Kabochi Maina and his wife, Beatrice. John pastors a small but faithful congregation located a small village of 10,000 people in the Highridge district of Nairobi call Deepsea.
By our standards, that village would be considered a slum and possibly worst. To them it is home with small businesses that offer carpentary, sewing, kiosk of snacks and drinks, churches, and even a bar or two. It is small compared to the Kibera Slum located in Nairobi with a million plus population.
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The women are often seen carrying 30 to 40 pound water containers on their backs to cook with, clean their families clothes, as well as other usages that require water. No electricity, running water, flush toliets!
In fact, you step over open run offs that sewage drains in down to a waterway which runs through the city. The village dwellings are constructed of whatever is available with cardboard sides, some wood and corrogated tin roofs if you are fortunate enough to score it. I share this so you will know where these women come from. DeepSea is the name of the slum as it was started by refugees down the hill close to the local waterway. As the village grew up the hill, the women felt with this new opportunity, they were rising from the "deepsea" of despair. They have not given up hope even in such adverse conditions.
John and Beatrice's shared vision of hope was to provide a workspace for the women to come and create their handiwork. The work from their hands would be sold and the money would help educate, clothe and feed their loved ones. The opportunity for this women's group to form came to pass in 2007 with the help of a generous sponsor from Kids for the Kingdom to assist with the start up cost. www.kidsforthekingdom.org. They opened their doors in April of 2007 and have begun to build a solid, sustainable living from the work of their hands with business in Nairobi and here in America.
Preparing the sisal (natural material used to weave the work) for dying and then to be woven into the baskets.
Please call for more information on how to purchase their work or plan a basket party to support the women and their families.
The Masks
Elizabeth
Rhoda
The women shared their image with Rebecca to create life sculptures of their stunning faces. More of these images can be seen on the African Gallery page at
www.rebeccalovesculpture.com. A portion of each sale goes to the women's project
Out of the Box
. . . and then, they get creative themselves on their own life masks!
On the October 2010 trip, Rebecca brought several blank masks pulled from the molds of each of the women who had volunteered to have this work done of their own image by my hands. They were encouraged to be creative on their own mask without any impute from the artist. Here are the results of their work. Fabulous!!! The background which holds the masks and some of the decorative additions are made from sisal and woven as they do in their baskets.
Monicah's Life Mask
Jane Mueni proud of her creation
Rhoda Nduluku's mask
