CATALOGUE

A self-help group of HIV/AIDS-affected women in Nairobi’s Kibera Slum

Making beautiful artisan bead and fabric products since 2007.

2015

Choose Life Today is a grassroots self-help group in Nairobi’s Kibera slum consisting of 10 members affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. The group started in 2006 as a safe space for the women to gather over tea and a bible study for support, and has ever since been changing and evolving. Most recently, the women of Choose Life Today are empowering themselves and addressing the need for employment and community sustainability. Together, they have trained themselves in both sewing and beadwork, and have established a wide range of unique products. Each woman brings a special talent to the group and has a story and journey of how they found themselves at Choose Life Today, and how they are continuing to create a life for themselves.

We areCHOOSE LIFE TODAY.

Panorama of Nairobi’s Kibera slum

Choose Life Today is excited to share their current products with you. All the ladies are very creative and innovative, and are very proud of what they can create. Every purchase builds confidence and motivates them further to create positive change for themselves, their family, and their community. In the future, Choose Life Today hopes to expand and train other ladies in order to further their impact and continue to empower and provide employment.

A special aspect of the group is the lunch they share together daily. Even when money is scarce (and it can only be a small bowl of rice) they come together and provide social support and connect over a meal. The food also helps combat the side effects of the HIV drug therapy, and keeps them strong and healthy to continue the fight and provide for their families.

Interested in something specific but don’t see it in our catalogue? Send Choose Life Today a message and they would be excited to meet your needs. In the past the group has even supplied companies with products to accompany their own items including wine bags, coffee bags, and designer jewelry bags. Choose Life Today loves some extra fabric fun and is always up for a challenge.

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My name is Rose and I am the Founder of Choose Life Today. I started the group after losing a close relative to AIDS, and I find fulfillment in investing my energies in ladies lives to prevent future struggles. Every day I witness positive transformation, and my joy is at its highest when I see them up and about rearing to exploit the fullest potential of their lives and the lives of their children.

Rose Mong’are

My name is Margaret. I am a refugee from Uganda and a mother of 8 children, while also caring for my sister’s 2 orphans. I have always had a strong sense of caring for others, and if I could be one animal I would be a cow. That way I would be able to give out milk to the entire community – for drinking, icecream, cakes... for everyone! I never had the chance to attend school and one day I want to learn fashion design.

Margaret

My name is Gladys and I am a single mother of 3 daughters and I am living with HIV. My greatest dream is to have my own home with a dog and settle with my children. One day I hope to go to school myself because I never had the chance when I was younger. (Makes over the shoulder bags)

Gladys

My name is Millicent and I am a single mother of 4 children. I am HIV positive, but I have found love and support in the situation I am in and the drive to be the healthiest I can be. My dream is to have my own business in the future, and to see my children attain the highest level of education according to their ability so that they will have more opportunities than me. (specialty is beadwork)

Millicent

I am a single mother of 2 children. I dropped out of school and moved to Nairobi at the age of 14 to work, and independently I was able to save enough money to put myself through dressmaking school. I love to cook, and one day I would love to have my own place. My favorite food is ugali because it tastes good and it is fun to make.

Rose Mose

My name is Anne and I am a single mother of 3 children, and a proud grandmother of 3 grandchildren. I discovered I was HIV positive in 1998, and was able to continue forward through social support from other wom-en. One day I hope to open up my own hair salon. (does wine bags, vava bags, school uniforms)

Anne

I am a single mother of a beautiful daughter named Ester. I seperated from my husband after 10 years because the relationship was very abusive, and he did not support me or my daughter. Throughout my life God always helps and provides for me in times of need and I believe all will be well. My favorite animal is a chicken because the region of Kenya I am from has lots of chickens! I love to eat chicken with chips.

Sylvia

Introducing the women of CHOOSE LIFE TODAY.

I am a widowed single mother with 2 children. I joined Choose LIfe Today as a volunteer in order to provide my support and expertise through my background in cooperate management and community development. We are starting with the little that we have in order to make a life for our-selves and together we have large potential.I am very affected by HIV/AIDS through my work and. I am particularly passionate about the fight against the stigma and reducing new infections in Kenya and the wider East Africa.

Daphne

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RoseMong’areMeet

I lost a close relative in 1992 to AIDS. It was very traumatic watching my relative live in denial for a long time and not seek medical attention, and at this time being infected with HIV was equated to death. There was not much information available about HIV, and the stigma about the disease was at its peak. I watched helplessly as my loved one got thinner by the day; and by the time they died they were a skeleton. The ghost-like figure would haunt me for a long time.

I am a trained counselor as well as a Christian, and in 2006 I was approached to teach a course at a Resource Centre to the pastors and church leaders drawn from the community who were being trained at the Centre. Upon its completion, I was approached again in 2007 to teach a Certifi-cate Course but I was hesitant to accept the offer because I was not a trained teacher and I didn’t feel passionate about teaching. When the centre asked what my passion was, I quickly responded “HIV/AIDS.”

I constantly agonized about the virus that could be reduced significantly by behavior change. I desired to have a platform to talk freely about HIV and hopefully reduce the struggles it was causing. It is against this backdrop that I set up Choose Life Today to help women in the Kibera slums of Nairobi. My husband passed away when my 3 sons were very young, therefore I also understood the hardships a single mother in Kenya faces.

Initially we were under the Resource Centre, and I met ladies once a week in the afternoon where we had a Bible Study over tea. I would also vol-unteer my counseling services, and over time we bonded and established a special trust for each other.

As I continued to interact with the ladies, I soon realized the benefits of learning a skill and working together for the entire day. I got a lady to train us in beadwork, and then in 2010 we learned tailoring. In 2013 the Resource Centre was experiencing funding challenges, and could no longer support Choose Life Today; therefore,Choose Life Today became a separate entity. Since this time we have never given up, and every day I drive forward with the cause. However, the struggle has always been to establish sustainable employment and a market for the ladies talents.

The program has enabled me to share my expe-riences as a woman affected by HIV. I have found fulfillment in investing my energies in these ladies lives, and I continue to witness their transformation through Choose Life Today. My joy is at its highest when I see them up and about rearing to exploit the fullest potential of their lives and the lives of their children.

I have seen sickly ladies get lifted up and change their attitude towards life. I have seen them gain a positive outlook towards life, make short and long-term plans, and also live to achieve them! It is my goal to expand the program in the future in order to have even more ladies benefit.

Coordinator of Choose Life Today

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Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower,

and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity.

- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie -

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GladysMeet

I am a single mother of 3 daughters, and we live with my sister and her 2 children in a small sin-gle-roomed shack in the slum of Kibera. I am HIV positive, and I discovered this when I was carrying my last child. When I was younger I never had the chance to attend school. My parents were peasants and due to the fact of never going to school them-selves they did not know the value of education. I grew up working on the family farm and doing house chores while other children in the community went to school.

I was raped at the age of 18, resulting in the birth of my first-born, Jacqueline. After weaning the child I travelled to Nairobi so seek work. Eventually I found employment as a house help, and I met and mar-ried the father of my two younger daughters. The marriage was very abusive, and my husband drank heavily and was very violent. When my husband heard the news that I was HIV positive he became even more abusive and after two years he walked out on the family and never came back.

During my last pregnancy I fell extremely ill and I could not even get out of bed. It was at this time I came to know about my HIV positive status. For-tunately with therapy I was able to get better and the treatment ensured that the disease was not transmitted to the baby. My last born child and I now share a special bond, as she is the reason I am alive. She is a blessing, because if I had not been pregnant at the time of falling ill I would have just disregarded feeling unwell to other causes and self medicated. Eventually I would have died. With therapy, I was able to get healthy again but it wasn’t without extreme side effects & struggles. At the beginning of taking the drugs it was extremely difficult and at times I wondered if it was worth it. The therapy doses have to be taken every 12 hours for the rest of my life, and even the thought of the medication would make me throw up.

I was referred to the Choose Life Today program by a friend at a time when I had given up on life. I was able to receive counselling, and I now con-tinue to live each day looking to the bright side. I am now healthy and thriving, and with the social support I received I was able to overcome the drug side effects and find strategies to continue my life. For example, I have found that if I take the drugs with porridge it does not make me throw up. At the centre, I have learned beadwork and tailoring and through these skills I have been able to provide for my children single handedly. By the grace of God they are all in school! My hope is that my children will go to the highest level of education so that their lives will be much better than my own.

My greatest dream is to buy land and build a home where I can settle together with my children. My favorite animal is a dog. This is because it would protect my home and my 3 daughters, because I don’t want crazy men coming! One day I hope to go to school myself and take adult classes

Choose Life Today Member

AnneMeetChoose Life Today Member

In 2004 my estranged husband passed on from the disease after suffering for a while. At my lowest moment in life when I was also down with TB, I joined the Choose Life Today group of ladies. Here, I found love, support, and encouragement, and I met other ladies who were going through similar challenges. I soon began to gain my self worth back and the ability to look at life more positively. At the centre I learned beadwork and tailoring, and I continue to work at a salon on the side.

It has been incredible being able to put my children through school, and one day I dream of opening my own salon business. None of this would be possible without the social support I have from Choose Life Today, and I am very excited for the future.

I am living with HIV and a single mother of 3 children, as well as a proud grandmother of 3 grandchildren. I was the third born of 8 children and dropped out of school at 7th grade because my father worked away from home and was involved in an affair with an-other woman. He did not care for us or even come home to visit. I came to Nairobi from my home in the Ukambani region of Kenya at the age of 14 to work as a house help. While in Nairobi, I got married at an early age of 17 years to the father of my three children.

My husband and I lived in the Kibera slums. Upon getting my first child, my husband sent me upcountry to stay with my father-in-law while he continued to live in Nairobi to work. I stayed upcountry for 8 years picking coffee, working in the farm, and raising my 3 chil-dren. However, I had to move back to Nairobi when one of the children became very sick and needed constant health care.

Upon my return, I discovered that my hus-band was extremely promiscuous and in 1993 I decided to move out of the marriage. I took the three children to live with my mum upcountry, while I returned back to Nairobi to look for work. I worked briefly as a house help, and then later trained as a hairdresser which I enjoy and continue to this day.

In 1998 I fell very ill, and I learned that I was HIV positive. This was at a time when the disease was uncommon, and people did not understand.

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RoseMeet

MoseChoose Life Today Member

In order to help the children when in my care and to better understand the disease, I joined a church group. I wanted to be able to provide them a good life. Through this church group, I was then directed and connected to Choose Life Today. When I was younger I was trained as a dressmaker, and so my skills are used at the centre to make items and to train the other women.

To make extra money on the side, I sometimes go cook for people. I love to cook. My favorite food is ugali because it tastes good and it is fun to make. My daughter is currently in college studying hospitality, and I am very proud of her. One day I would love to be a cook and have my own place.

I was born in Kisi in Kenya. My parents were too poor to pay for my schooling, so at the age of 14 after only attending prima-ry school (elementary school) I moved to Nairobi.

From the age of 14 to 16 I worked at a relatives house as their cleaner. I worked hard and saved money diligently, and saved enough money to put myself through dress-making school. My proudest moment was also being able to save enough money to put my younger brothers through school back at home!

I eventually married and had two children, a boy and a girl. The girl is 21 and the boy is 15 and still in highschool. My husband passed away 5 years ago leaving me a single mother. I must work extra hard to feed my children and pay my rent, and even my relatives do not have the means to help support me. I don’t ever want to become a beggar or have to beg!

I am affected by HIV/AIDS because my sister died 5 years ago from the disease, and she left behind her 2 children as or-phans who are also HIV positive. Although my nephews stay at an orphanage in Nai-robi, they often also stay with me too. As a result, I have seen how difficult it is to have HIV. There is a lot of stigma attached to the disease and I even personally experience it when the children are with me because people do not understand and think I will get the disease too.

MillicentMeetChoose Life Today Member

I am a 30 year old single mother of 4 children, and I am HIV positive. I live in the sprawling Kibera slums with two of my younger daughters, while the older ones live upcountry with my mum. My father was a peasant farmer and due to the lack of funds for school fees I had to drop out of school at 7th grade.

I am currently working with Choose Life Today, a grassroots self-help group of 10 ladies who are living with/affected by HIV. It is here that I have found love and support in accepting the situation that I am in and the drive to be the healthiest I can be. The social support from the other ladies helps me value myself and live life positively. At the centre, I have learned beadwork and tailoring (beadwork with recycled paper is my specialty!) and this has enabled me to feed and educate my children. I am so proud when I make a bracelet and some-one wants to buy it. As a single parent it is not easy, and the support provides me the motivation I need to continue onwards.

My dream is to have my own business in the future, and to see my children attain the highest level of education according to their ability so that they will have more opportunities than me”

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SylviaMeet

Choose Life Today Member

I found Choose Life Today through meeting Rose, another member and I was here able to fulfill my joy of working with my hands. My friends here are the most important thing I have. Although I do not personally have HIV, I am affected because my sister is HIV positive and many of my friends are struggling with the disease.

My favorite animal is a chicken. The region of Kenya I am from has lots of chickens! I love to eat chicken with chips [aka. French Fries]

I was born in the Western part of Kenya. My father died when I was young, and because of this I only went up to Form 2 in high school. My mother was very sick and could not support me, and so I came to Nairobi to live with an uncle. The uncle helped me to enroll in a tailoring course and eventually I found my own place to live.

In Nairobi, I met a man whom I married and was together with for 10 years. I had my daugher with him, Esther. Unfortunately the marriage was very abusive, and somehow we were never able to be friends. My hus-band never supported me – he ate alone, never bought me anything including food for me to eat, and he often beat me.

I finally sought help from the church, and I tried to talk to my husband but he never changed. He refused to talk with me. My family advised me to separate from my husband and I kept my daughter but the father provides no support. At times my brother will provide me some small mon-ey for some food or rent when times get tough. But my brother has his own family he needs to care for therefore I can not de-pend on him and I must find my own way. Throughout my life God always helps and provides for me in times of need. I believe all will be well.

MargaretMeetChoose Life Today Member

I would like the world to know that the life that I am living is very different from that of those that have gone to school. I find education very important because then one is able to read and write, communicate with people, and even get a better job. Additionally, when one opens a business they can attract clients because of communication as well as have the knowledge to run the business properly.

In my lifetime I have witnessed the role of women in change. In the past, when the harvest was ripe, women would take the coffee to the factory. When the time to collect the money came – the man would go and get it. The man would then apportion it to family needs. Now, I am more independent - I look for jobs, get my money and use it to cater for family needs. I see even more changes with my 4 girl children….they have more independence and say over what they do and use their money on. My hope for my girl children is that their lives will be much better than mine, and that I will get more work so that I can provide all my children an educa-tion. I would like to tell women to try their best to educate their children so that they do not live as difficult a life as me.

In the future I would like to start my own business….stitching and crafts! One day I would love to learn fashion design so that I could improve my tailoring, and also learn how to speak English so that I can communicate with my customers and my quality of life would be improved. I have always had a strong sense of caring for others, and if I could be one animal I would be a cow. That way I would be able to give out milk to the entire community – for drinking, for icecream, for cakes, for everyone!”

I was born in Mbale, Uganda in a family of 8 chil-dren. My parents were peasant farmers and I only managed to attend elementary class 1 and 2 for my education before war broke out and there was not enough money for me to continue. I left all my family behind at the age of 15 in order to flee the war and come to Nairobi as a refugee.

When I got to Nairobi I got employment as a house-help, and I worked with the family for 7 years. It was at this time that I met Nathan, a casual laborer in hotel, and I married him at the age of 20. I have only been back to Uganda once, and only my mom and 2 brothers were still alive after the war.

I am happily married, and I have 8 children between 35 and 7 years old. Additionally, my husband and I also care for my sisters 2 orphaned children. It has been very challenging to fend for ourselves and the 10 children because my husband and I do not have a regular income. My husband is not employed and gets casual work on a daily basis, such as at construction sites. We live in a small 2 room house in the outskirts of Nairobi. We do not have water or a toilet, and we eat 2 times a day at most. I got 8 children because no family planning was available to me, and the doctor told me to use natural family planning after a series of complications. Maybe, if I had a little more education, I could have learned more on different family planning methods; or I may have even been able to afford to talk to other doc-tors for help.

A few years ago I registered as a refugee at a Cath-olic church, and here I was able to get training as a dressmaker. I started stitching clothes and selling from my house, and then I was connected with the HIV/AIDS self-help group Choose Life Today to help teach other ladies how to sew. I do not personally have HIV, however, I have many close friends that are with the disease and I have seen the effects of the illness on the entire community.

I earn an income when I work with the other ladies – stitching bags, dolls, school uniforms. My husband pays for the rent and I provide food, clothing and their school necessities. I am content with my job because of my limited education, but I need more work.

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DaphneMeet

Choose Life Today Member

As a result of my desire to help women, I feel the need to provide professional foundation to the ladies of Choose Life Today. I volun-teer every Wednesday where all of us meet together and I provide a small training. I am also the secretary for Choose Life Today, and I aid in documentation for the group includ-ing helping to establish the constitution and official registration.

I feel that I am one of the ladies, and I am very encouraged and comfortable in their presence. These women are not asking for charity, but rather helping themselves and I feel that I can contribute to what they are doing. The spiritual element of Choose Life Today is something in which I also find value, and we provide each other social support. In the future we want to grow and involve other ladies, because it is important to continue to add value and help others. Together we have large potential, and as we grow stronger and people recognize our work it will become easier and we can become sustainable. We are starting with the little that we have in order to make a life for ourselves.

I am a widowed single mother with 2 chil-dren. I was introduced to Choose Life Today by Rose, and I joined as a volunteer in order to provide my support and expertise. My background is in cooperative management and community / organizational develop-ment, and for this reason I feel that I can have some small contribution to the group.

In terms of HIV/AIDS, I am very affected. I be-lieve we are all affected in one way or another by the disease and therefore each one of us has a role to play. I have worked in the Kibera slums for over 3 years with discordant couples, where one partner is HIV positive and the other is not. I am very dedicated to the fight against stigma, and I am even involved in contribution to HIV policies as the chair to the Discordant Couples Board. Additionally, I have worked extensively I am a 30 year old single mother of 4 children, and I am HIV positive. I live in the sprawling Kibera slums with two of my younger daugh-ters, while the older ones live upcountry with my mum. My father was a peasant farmer and due to the lack of funds for school fees I had to drop

CHOOSE LIFE TODAYProduct Catalogue 2015

ClutchesPage 15

BackpacksPage 17

HandbagsPage 19

Shoulder BagsPage 21

BeadworkPage 23

Children’s Page 25

Choose Life Today creates a variety of beautiful fabric and beadwork products, ranging from backpacks and clutches to necklaces and children’s

dolls. We encourage you to peruse our catalogue to look at some of the beautiful products we offer.

While we can’t promise to replicate every pattern and fabric design found in this catalogue, we welcome custom orders and will try to fill your order and design

specifications. For inquiries, a full price list, or to make your order today, send us an email at cltodaykibera@gmail.com

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clutch bags >

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backpacks >17 18

handbags >

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shoulder bags >

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beadwork >

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children’s >25 26

The creation of this catalogue would not have been possible without the generosity and support from many individuals around the world. It took an entire community coming together and sharing their unique gifts and talents.

First of all we would like to thank the ladies of Choose Life Today. Your endless strength and perseverance to make a better life for your children, yourselves, and each other inspires us every day. We are forever grateful for your friendship and for being welcomed into your home with love and open arms. It is our hope that this catalogue touches the lives of others as much as you have touched ours. You truly deserve all the expensive wine in the world.

A special thanks to Julian Njoroge for offering his professional photography services. The gor-geous photos captured for this catalogue would not have been possible without your partic-ular eye and talent for bringing out the beauty in the most unexpected places. You became our older brother in Kenya, and the memories we shared together will last a lifetime – who could ever forget jamming to crazy Kenyan radio stations on route to the country side!

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is

the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead -

Thank you to Pastor Elias for your trust in God and for sharing your Christian fellowship with Choose Life Today. We were immensely fortunate to have you join us for our weekly lunch “swallowship”, and for your assistance running various errands around Nairobi. Your positive attitude and smile are contagious, and your continuous commitment to Choose Life Today and the people of Kibera is admirable.

A big thanks to Marzieh Talebi of Uniting Global Communities in the UK for her generosity and foundation to ensure Choose Life Today continues, as well as Abzed Osman our local Kibera tour guide and escort. Your daughter shines as a model in our catalogue, and we aren’t sure what would we would have done without someone to arrange our boda-boda motorbike taxi adventures.

International experiences do not always go as planned, and we would like to recognize Paul, Lise, and Jennifer from Western University for their understanding and support. It must not have been easy dealing with two interns in turmoil across the globe, but thank you for allow-ing us to stay in Nairobi in order to have the impact we believe we were meant to have.

Lastly, we want to thank you for taking the time to read this catalogue and for helping us cele-brate the ladies of Choose Life Today. We truly are humbled by the show of love and support received from family and friends, and individuals who have taken an interest in the time we spent in Kenya. We sincerely believe that each one of us has a special role to play in order to make the world a better place. We are excited for the opportunities that await Choose Life Today.

Nicola Paviglianiti & Adrian NoronhaThe Canadians Crazy for Kenya

“...holistic transformation.”

We look forward to hearing from you! For inquiries and to place your order please contact cltodaykibera@gmail.com