Tulaya is a grandmother, or in Chichewa an Agogo. She has two grown children and lives with her husband of 20 years. They have a number of grandchildren who live with them as their own children, a common practice in Malawi.

In 2018 Tulaya was selected to participate in Y-Malawi’s program to empower women and girls. About halfway through that year she was sponsored by a family from San Diego, California. At the time Tulaya didn’t understand what sponsorship meant, she just knew that someone from America was going to help her. Although not young, she and her husband were working hard in their garden trying to feed their family, but there were many times they had no food. Tulaya was anxious for any help she could get.

That first-year sponsorship focused on food security and some other basic needs. Tulaya was provided items like maize flour, salt, sugar, soaps and blankets. Once food secure, she learned some new gardening skills through a program called Farming God’s Way. Life was starting to get better. Tulaya expressed to her sponsor her gratitude, “Thank you my sponsor and friend for all you have done for me. I think of you often and pray for you always.”

By the end of 2019 Tulaya had survived a very bad hunger season. In the face of hopelessness all around her, she gained renewed hope. She received a goat that year so that she and her husband could use the offspring from the goat as a small business venture. The goats meant that she could earn enough money to keep her grandchildren in school.

In 2020 her sponsor learned that her roof was in bad shape. It was a common thatched roof.  It leaked during the rains and was causing the family hardships during the winter season. Her sponsor provided some funds to replace the roof with a brand-new tin roof. Tulaya was overjoyed, “The roof was badly damaged, it was leaking, I was supposed to replace the grass and the roofing paper. Unfortunately, I had no money to do the job. When it is raining, we could sleep at the corner of the room, and in the morning we could realize flour and other things are all socked in water. I thank God for going through you to answer my prayer.’”

Although she follows Islam, Tulaya also joined a local Bible Study Group. A faithful attender she is now leaning more about the Bible and Jesus. At the Bible Study she is not only learning about the Bible, but about new methods to gain more from her garden and she is even participating in adult literacy classes learning to read and write.

Sharing the love of Jesus can’t be done without touching the lives of others. Tulaya’s sponsor is sharing the love of Jesus by letting her know that someone cares. Her life is full of new opportunities and new hope now. Tulaya’s sponsor is loving her in the very same way Jesus loved people while he was here on earth.

 

 

 

 

Click here to learn more about Y-Malawi Click here to learn more about sponsoring