Roslyn’s Story

 Roslyn is fatigued and her brain is foggy.  She tries to work daily yet seldom makes more that 40 cents a day.  She is in debt for food.  Her children play with sticks and rocks. The yearly rent for her one-room stick hut with dirt floor, a door with one hinge and no lock is $40 per year (11 cents per day).  Water from the water pump is free, yet it takes energy to walk to the pump and carry the water home.  A water bucket costs $6 and when filled with water weighs 40 pounds. 

It costs her 30 cents to feed one child one time a day - rice, oil and beans; for four children and one adult the cost is $1.50 - that does not include fuel of wood, charcoal or gas to cook with.  She cannot afford school tuition, uniform, books or shoes for one child, let alone 4.  As a child she was not given food for her brain to develop nor was she given the chance to go to school.  She is extremely thin.  She does not have the energy or power to fight off another rapist. She has no money for preventative birth control.  There is no justice system in her village.  So, a child is added to the war she is losing.  

She desires to reach her potential, yet she needs food.  She needs clean water.  She needs a lock on her door.  She needs someone to advocate for her. She needs training. She needs friends.   

Every 18 months 9 women are vetted into the Women’s Incubator Program. She will meet weekly with her trainers for sessions on how to buy food in bulk at a lower cost, how to measure/package the food, health and hygiene, and practice math/money skills.  She will make friends and interact with women who care about her growth.