The simple life PRELUDE
Children are God’s blessings and gifts. I praise God for you, you adult children, and the grandkids. In life, I treasure the opportunities to express myself.
I listen intently to your life journey experiences, which transpots me back to my own, but in a different generation.
I was a tiny entrepreneur child when I was eight to eleven years old. I picked at least a small can of one pound of dry castor oil seeds from our garden at Msungu’s shamba, sold it for ten cents, and purchased myself a piece of sugarcane from the market. My mother used to buy me two white candies called peremendes.
It was a magical moment. I could see my mother earning money to support her children. I adored sugary items, which, unlike today, were scarce. I enjoyed accompanying my mother to the market in Rift Valley Kenya called Warubaga (Elburgon), and walking to and from the market gave me more time outside the house.
When the Mau Mau War broke out, my parents were taken away from us five children at a time when we needed them and detained, and my business failed, and a great hunger struck us. At the age of twelve, I became a house maid while also attending school. Food, clothing, and shelter were provided, but there was no monetary compensation.
At the age of twenty-eight, I began a family. The two incomes are ksh300 per month from the church and ksh5 from the pension. My monthly wage of ksh800 gave us a total of ksh1095 for a family of six, in addition to making a contribution to the education of some of our siblings born after us. Helping our siblings’ children is not yet complete.
The better life in America began with late Dad earning $4.15 to $7 per hour and me earning $3.15 to $5 per hour for a family of seven, plus church food bags and government subsidies on occasion. I once paid back government subsidies that had been received incorrectly. The government gave me a hundred dollars for remaining married to one man until our retirement, which meant helping him work and taking care of the family. Yes, as a result, my monthly ssn income of $595.00 that I cherish and share with many others thatranges from a dollar to hundreds of dollars. At the age of eighties, I’ll be traveling for another forty years until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I praise God for his wonderful works.
“You can’t beat God’s giving no matter how you try.” Matthew 5:45 NIV
The just a life PRELUDE.