Nasra

Nazra is a petite 22 year old mother of two boys ages 2 and 3 months. She lived with her mom through secondary school when the troubles began. Her mom could not pay for her transportation to school, so she missed many days. She finished school, but she did not pass. Without an education, she had to find work. She worked as a house maid but her wages were not enough to support herself, her mom, and her siblings.  Nasra started a relationship with a man who helped provide for her financially but when she became pregnant with her oldest son, he refused to support her. She continued working until she was 8 months pregnant and had to go back to live with her mom. The baby had medical issues and she had to miss too much work. She lost her job and the lack of income caused quarreling and tension with her mom. Nazra met a new man that she lived with for awhile before she was deserted again with news of a pregnancy. Her mother would not welcome her back, so she found a home with her aunt in Arusha. She hid her pregnancy from her aunt the whole time. When she felt labor pains, she went to the hospital on her own. After the baby was born, she felt hopeless. She had no way to feed or clothe her baby. She left him on the bed and escaped her hospital room. When she got to the gate, she knew she couldn’t leave. She felt it wasn’t right. She went to the reception desk and starting asking about an orphanage. Her questions made them suspicious and they realized she was the mother. Social Services was called in and they tried to contact relatives. Her aunt was angry and no family member wanted to help. Finally, Social Services called Anna from MAP and she was welcomed to the program. After 3 months of trying to help Nazra reconcile with her family unsuccessfully, Anna and Nazra believe she can survive on her own with her sons. With the training and support of MAP, she plans to start a small business selling breakfast foods such as pancakes, uji and chapati.

Many of these young women Neema takes in have made a lot of bad choices in their young lives.  Most of the time it is because they have not had any good choices to choose from and try to make the best they can to support their children.  Nasra made one good choice, that was to not abandon her baby.  We believe Nasra with the training, support, bible classes and counseling she is receiving at Neema Village will begin to make good choices.