Judith & James

This past week has been very exciting as I have completed my first week on staff with Judith & James. I have jumped right in to start my work with them. It's all a bit of a blur and I've learned a lot. I am constantly learning daily about life in Kenya and how to make sure to maintain J&J production. Already in one week, I have been restocking supplies of fabric needed, supervising the work of the widows, and keeping daily correspondence with our founder who is currently back in the states making preparations for her second appearance in the New York Fashion Week next weekend.

One of my favorite parts of J&J this week has been getting to know the women better and getting to laugh with them. I love watching their passion come out as they work. I also love getting to eat Kenyan lunch with them every afternoon. Each day the women take turns cooking lunch for the day. Every Friday (today) is a special day because we eat meat (nyama). For the typical Kenyan, meat is a rare treat because it is more expensive to buy. We eat it with ugali (Kenyan staple starch made of maize flour) and sukuma wiki (Kenyan collard greens). Below is a picture I took of my lunch today!

I am very thankful for Zeddy, one of our fabric suppliers. He helps order the fabric we need from Tanzania and hand delivers it right to our workshop. On Thursday he promptly delivered our exact order! Zeddy is pictured below holding a few of the pieces of Tanzanian fabric he sold to us.

Next week, I am looking forward to some guests arriving, including the arrival of the Northwest University's team of 8 senior nursing students and professors who are staying for one month at my family's house with me. My family and I are excited to host them. 

In addition, I am VERY excited for sister organizations: Judith and James and James127 Foundation, as they prepare to be showing at next weekend's New York Fashion Week! 

Join me in praying for preparations for everyone involved in both of these endeavors! 

Joy in Art

My favorite part of my morning was helping my mom teach her weekly art classes at Rehema Home orphanage. Today we taught the preschool and special education classes. They learned patterns, shapes and colors. First, we had the preschool class explore blocks of varying shapes to make patterns, lines, and towers with the shapes. All the kids had tons of fun playing with blocks. So much fun that two of them accidentally wet their pants. Whoops! That activity was soon over so they also made art using circle dot paint. After they were done, I placed them on the wall so they can see everyday. These little kids were loads of fun!

me pictured with the preschool class

Pictures above are Kelly, Christine, and Levi

A very happy Christine with her tower

Kelly with his masterpiece 

Next, we taught the special education class about shapes and colors. They started to make a mosaic craft, putting pieces of broken shapes of varying colors onto a large black heart. Their hearts, although they were hurt are still made whole by pieces of shining light. The pure joy in learning and excitement for art in each orphan made me so happy. All in all, it was a wonderful start to my day!

my mom teaching the small special

education class

James 127 Foundation

My work with James 127 Foundation is fast approaching. I am really looking forward to all the opportunities approach especially helping with the sewing training to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable women in Kenya.

As the Communications and Logistics Manager, I will be managing the workings of the sewing training. This includes J127 sponsor relations between donors and women, restocking of materials, and social media updates.


I am excited to be added in the newly updated J127 Foundation's website:

[Above picture taken from the J127 Staff Page]

NYFW prep!

I am very excited to be working with Judith and James and help transform impoverished women from the slums to become skilled seamstresses. They are working hard to produce clothing for the New York Fashion Week. These ladies are making strides to finish the Fall Collection. I admire their hardworking dedication to their work and their never ending joy. Pictured below is me with the women hard at work. I love all the big smiles!

Skydiving

Just came back from a couple day vacation with my family at the beach. My favorite part? SKYDIVING. Over the Indian Ocean. With my mom. It was literally the greatest moment in my entire life. The whole experience was utterly amazing. I absolutely loved every minute of it. The most freeing I have ever felt. 

I took my mom skydiving over Diani Beach through Skydive Diani [skydivediani.com], a company that is only about a month old but the whole ordeal was very well done. Each of us went on a tandem jump, meaning we were attached to a tandem instructor with a harness. We took a taxi to the small nearby airport, just a small airstrip. We boarded a small airplane with the door missing on one side so we could later jump out of it. As soon as the plane reached 10,000 feet, we fell out of the plane.

My favorite part was probably the exhilarating feeling that came from free falling at about 120mph. Diving down head first with the best view of the beach ever. Then once the chute is pulled, it is a nice glide down to land on the beach. I loved getting a chance to steer the reigns for a little bit, turning us left and right and spinning in circles. Seemingly too soon, we smoothly landed directly on the beach.

my mom and I before skydiving

the plane right before falling

overlooking the beach falling with tandem instructor, Karl

Nairobi Touristing

1.4.14


Elephants and Giraffes.

My grandma and cousin are visiting us in Kenya right now. So of course we have taken some time to see a few African animals. We went to the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage where they orphan baby elephants are taken in. They are fed and played with right in front of us. Each of the baby elephants drank from the biggest baby bottle I have ever seen! My favorite part was listening to the guide talk about the individual elephants and their stories. Right after that we went to the Giraffe Centre where I kissed a giraffe named Ed! It was a wonderfully big and wet one. Blech!

Maasai.

Then straight after the giraffe business we met up with Pastor Francis, a Maasai man who introduced us to some Maasai people at a Maasai resort where we took pictures with them. On the way there, I decided to ride in his car along with his family. I am so glad I decided to ride with them. I loved getting to know this family to get reacquainted with the Maasai people and culture, even as we were squished in the car. 7 of us fit in a 5 seat car. I love their bright red colors they wear and vibrant personality with their strong traditions they still keep. They are such a caring, hospitable people.

It was amazing getting to know Pastor Francis. I loved hearing all the occupations he has in order to care for him and his family. He runs a printing and copying shop. He also has a small school where his wife teaches. He also pastors a church in Maasailand. I loved Pastor Francis had such a passion for all the work he does.

Evelyn, Pastor Francis’s wife, taught me some Maasai words and phrases. She even wrote them down for me so I could remember them. I was surprised how well educated they were. I also got to know few of their children riding with us, Mary and Peggy. They were the cutest little girls!

When we got to the Maasai resort, Pastor Francis presented me with a Maasai blanked in exchange for the time I spent with them in the car getting to know them. It was a reminder of how important spending good quality time is to their culture.


Nikki Hyodo

Ethiopia Trip

1.3.14

Anna Taylor and I went on my first Judith & James sourcing trip to seek out leather products in Ethiopia. It was an adventure every step of the way. This was our first time in Ethiopia. We flew over to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from Nairobi for a very short 17 hour trip.

As soon as we landed our first stop was Yami’s workshop, where she makes and sells leather products. Yami is a Westernized Ethiopian woman. She gave us good information on Ethiopia’s leather supply and production. We loved the way she makes her leather bags for the quality and quantity.

Yami took us out to lunch at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. It was seriously the best Ethiopian food I have ever had. It is one of my favorite things to eat! The restaurant served us Ethiopian-style coffee after we ate. Ethiopia is famous for their coffee and the many locals incorporate it in their every meal. It is a strong, yet small amount of coffee served with incense and cooked barley seed. The strong coffee kept me awake throughout the day.

After lunch we went to visit Fitsum, another skilled craftsman who makes leather products. He had a sizable production site. There we picked up a handful of leather bags we ordered for the Judith and James New York fashion show. After that we visited his shop in a busy shopping centre. Fitsum had a successful business with top-notch quality.

Finally we made our way to the guest house where we spent the night, which turned out to be a short nap by the time we got there. It was a full day but I was very glad to get all we needed to get done. We got the leather we needed as well as connections built with the leather bag makers. What a success! It was a great opportunity for me to have new experiences in Ethiopia. I loved getting to go directly to the source of the material we wanted (leather) to see where and how those products were made.

Nikki Hyodo




--I need to raise funds to support me while I am in Africa. I'd love for you to partner in prayer. Pray that God would use me to impact this world for His Kingdom. I also appreciate financial help so I can help others in need. Please consider making a donation. Thank you and God bless!--

For more information go to: purecharity.com/nikki-hyodo-in-kenya

Kenya 2014

As we bring in the new year, I will be starting a new chapter in my life. With a heart to compassionately serve the people of Kenya, I am making the move to Nairobi, Kenya to work with nonprofit organizations, Go Near Ministry and James 127 Foundation.

Go Near Ministry aims to “empower the poor through skill training, education and community development projects.” In addition to Go Near, I will be working alongside Anna Taylor to continue her work with her nonprofit, James 127 Foundation. This organization focuses on vocational training of widows and production of clothing for Judith & James clothing line. James 127 Foundation is a nonprofit organization, launched out of Go Near Ministry’s Sewing Training Empowerment Program. They bring hope and love to these widows by providing sewing training and care for these women in Kenya. These widows in the Gituamba slums receive sewing training for two years, participate in monthly feeding assistance and graduate with National Kenya Tailoring certification, later to be supplied jobs within James 127 Foundation.

James 127 Foundation is guided by the Scripture found in James 1:27, “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God to visit widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

I will regularly meet with the widows involved in the sewing program, women who have graduated from the sewing training to be the onsite communications person and manage the production of sewing projects for Judith and James clothes line. I am really excited to help make a difference the lives of these women as they learn to sew! 

As I make the move to Kenya, I need to raise funds to support me while I am there. I highly encourage you to help me financially so I can help others in need. Please consider making a donation for my mission. Each gift is important to me, whether $1, $5, or $500. Monthly donations or even one time donations. In addition, and more importantly, I would love for you to partner in prayer. Pray that God would use me within Kenya to impact this world for His Kingdom.

For more information go to: purecharity.com/nikki-hyodo-in-kenya