The Associated Press recently published an article on the horrific abuse one young bride experienced at the hands of her new in-laws who tried to force her to participate in their prostitution ring. The article also highlights the injustices that lock women up in Afghan prisons.

From the article, “The U.N. says more than half of Afghanistan’s female prison population is made up of women sentenced by local courts for fleeing their marriages – the charge is often phrased as “intent to commit adultery,” even though that’s not a crime under Afghan law.”

Last month, Karzai pardoned a 19-year-old woman who was imprisoned after she was raped by a cousin and became pregnant. A local court sentenced her to 12 years in prison for having sex out of wedlock, a crime in Afghanistan. The judge told her she could get out of prison if she agreed to marry her alleged rapist. This makes perfect sense in Afghan culture. It’s the only way to remove her shame – the shame of being pregnant out of wedlock. And, of course, no other man would want her since she had been “soiled”. Amazingly, this very brave woman refused the offer and gave birth to her daughter in prison.

Reflections on My Visit to a Women’s Prison in Afghanistan

In 2005, I had the rare privilege of visiting Afghan women in prison and learning firsthand why they were there.

It was truly miraculous that I was able to go into the prison. I was just visiting Afghanistan at that time, but many seasoned NGO workers in that city had longed to go in that prison for years to let those women know they were not forgotten and to offer them some classes in English or sewing.

The only reason I and my two Finnish friends were allowed in was because another Afghan woman, a prominent lady in the city and head of an NGO, had brought us there. I’ll call her Tamana. When we arrived, we had to wait an uncomfortably long time standing conspicuously under the covering of the entrance just off the street and peering in through a barred window at the guard on the other side. Women’s NGOs had been granted the right to visit the women’s prison at any time in hopes that the possibility of a surprise visit and the watching eyes of others would deter the male guards from abusing the female inmates. Sadly, that right was rarely honored. This women’s prison was under the jurisdiction of the men’s prison director just down the street.

First we heard from our contact that he would meet us there at the entrance to let us in, but when he didn’t come for a very long time, my Afghan friend called again. It seemed he was hesitating in hopes that we would just go away. He was very careful about who he lets in because he didn’t want any bad publicity. He wanted us to come to the men’s prison to introduce ourselves and explain why we wanted to go to the women’s prison to visit the prisoners. We walked passed armed guards into a plush office and sat down for what felt like questioning. The Prison Director wore military-like clothing and was quite intimidating.

One by one, we introduced ourselves. Tamana spoke first and used her masterful diplomacy skills in an attempt to persuade him for quite some time. One Finnish friend and I prayed silently to the Lord of heaven to grant us entrance. After 20 to 30 minutes of discussion and questioning, we were given permission to enter the prison.

Forty four women and their children occupied the prison compound. There was surprisingly little room for so many people. There were two rooms for bunk beds, one large empty room, and a room that housed the sewing equipment, including 40 sewing machines, one zig zag machine, and one overlock machine, none of which they could use because they had no training.

All the women were lined around the wall of the empty room. The despair in the air was almost tangible. I couldn’t imagine a more grim situation – many of them unjustly imprisoned, some of them estranged from and unwanted by their families because of the shame that being a prisoner brings, and with little hope of ever having a normal life. My Finnish friend took the lead and I followed behind her, greeting each woman personally, looking her in the eye and holding her hand. Their eyes were haunting, some of them hollow and empty, having lost hope, others pleading. Touching their hands, looking into their eyes, and greeting them was an incredible honor. These truly are the least of these, the ones the world has forgotten, the ones for whom justice seems almost impossible.

The women were in prison for various reasons. One 24 year old woman, Sharon (not her real name), was there for her husband’s crime. He had raped a 13 year old girl and thrown her body down their family well. The family of the victim suspected he was the culprit and sent the authorities to investigate. The police found the victim’s body in the well.

As the drama was unfolding, the husband who had murdered this young girl, persuaded his wife to lie and say that she had seen the girl there and was too scared to call the authorities. He reasoned she would get a lesser penalty for stumbling upon a dead body and not reporting it than he would get for having committed the crime. It wasn’t hard to convince her that if he went to jail, she would not be able to support the children and none of them would survive. He promised that if she would do this, he would visit her and bring the children to her while she was serving her time in jail. She agreed to this proposal.

Upon her confession, she was convicted and sentenced to 6 years in prison. It was later reduced to 4 years, 5 months. At the time of my visit, she had been in jail 3 years and 4 months, so had about one month to go. Her husband did bring the children to visit her every day for about 6 months, then the visits became less frequent. When she went into jail, her youngest was six months old. At the time of my visit, her children were 9 (boy), 6 (girl), 5 (girl), and 4 (boy).

Not being able to watch her children grow up was the most grisly part of the whole experience for her. While Sharon was in prison, her husband took another wife. Sharon had no idea where her children were and hadn’t seen them for a year. The family of the victim wrote a letter to the authorities saying they hold nothing against her and are confident she did not commit the crime. Sadly, the government would not re-open a case and undo all the papers where someone has confessed to a crime (even the crime of seeing a dead body and not reporting it).

Sharon stayed in jail longer than others who had sentences as long as hers because she was not able to offer a bribe. To her credit, instead of gathering money to make a bribe that would have secured her own early release, she asked her brother to pay $10,000 to the victim’s family as reparations for her husband’s crime which her brother did do for her. Although she couldn’t wait to get out of that place, her primary concern as her release date approached was where she would go and how she would survive when she got out. She wondered aloud why she was suffering for a crime she did not commit.

Another woman in the jail had a baby that she did not want. Perhaps she had been raped. She was just not able to care for him. Sharon informally adopted that baby boy and, although she had nothing materially to give him, she lavished her motherly love on him as if he was her own.

Another woman in the jail had escaped her violent husband. When she ran away from him in Iran, he was accused by the authorities of killing her. He was convicted and put in jail. When someone realized she was alive and living in Afghanistan in a shelter, they informed the authorities of the situation and she was taken to jail for holding. They needed to hold her to prove she was alive to secure his release from prison. Because the women’s shelter was not secure enough to prevent her from running, she was locked up in the women’s prison.

Another young woman who looked to be in her late teens was free to go, but had nowhere to go so she just stayed in the prison. The streets of Afghanistan are dangerous for a young woman with no male relatives to ward off the predators.

There were also a couple of teenage girls in prison there because there was no juvenile jail.

When Tamana explained that I didn’t have funds with me at that moment to help them, one woman responded for the group, saying that they appreciated that someone was taking their voice to others, that they felt encouragement just by our presence. I was so touched by that. I’m hoping to be able to send the funds via Western Union to Tamana to purchase equipment before I leave.

Thankfully, as I relaying this story to others in the U.S., they responded with generous donations that enabled OneMaker to provide two water heaters for warm showers for the women’s prison. At the time of my visit, the women were bathing outside with cold water, relying on other inmates to hold up sheets around them so that they could not be seen by the guards who stood on the tops of the buildings. After my visit, another organization had provided funds for a building for them to shower in, but there was no money for water heaters. Those heaters were very much needed in the brutally cold winters and them women were so grateful to have them.

OneMaker also provided sewing lessons for all 44 women prisoners for three months and sponsorships for three prisoners that included equipment they could take with them when they left the prison.
Strangely, as we left the prison, our van was hit by a motorcycle. After it was determined that he was okay – these things happened quite frequently there – and perhaps, after giving him a sum of money, we were on our way again. Then just minutes later our driver accidentally drove into a culvert. Thankfully 8 men appeared from out of nowhere to rock us out of it and we were on our way again.

Woman Unjustly Imprisoned Receives Sewing Equipment from OneMaker

While at the prison, we appealed to the Prison Director to allow these NGO workers to start offering English and sewing classes. He agreed, but then later denied them access though they returned more than once. Sadly, the prisoners missed out on the pleasure of having visitors from outside their own culture and opportunity to learn English, a valuable skill in an Afghanistan where NGOs provided the best paid employment. Thankfully, the women were at least allowed to take sewing classes with a local instruction with funds provided by OneMaker.

Deaf Kenyans have a strong work ethic and many hidden talents, but find it nearly impossible to find work as most employers are unable to communicate with them.
As I spent time with them in Kenya twice in 2011, I had the joy of uncovering some of their hidden talents as I worked with artisans.

It was a special joy to work with Nancy, the new Artisan Team Leader who is also deaf. Promoting her to a leadership role gave me such pleasure. She is a woman who God had already obviously prepared over many years. Her heart and spirit were ready. Although she has been a spiritual leader in her circles and taught the Bible to other Deaf people, there just hadn’t been this kind of business and spiritual leadership opportunity for her until now.

What a pleasure it was to give her new responsibilities, ones she eagerly embraces. As the Artisan Team Leader, she does see herself as a spiritual leader for the artisans. She commits the business into God’s hands and invites the artisans to pray through the obstacles and challenges we face. She seems unflappable and at peace even when there are many reasons not to be. She is also very loving. It is an absolute joy to teach her. She absorbs everything so easily and is quite patient with my efforts to communicate when we are without an interpreter.

Although my most recent three weeks in Kenya was too short and there were many things I wanted to teach that time just did not allow, I also realized that I need to step aside for a brief time to let her test her wings and to establish her leadership in the group. As various hearing members of the team ask questions or to ask for a decision, I gently directed them to Nancy to ask their question and let her consult with me on the issues she needs help with. For a couple of days I spent the mornings in the design room, doing training and coaching with her on managing the production side of things, giving some direction on what to do that day, and then headed back to my apartment to work on ordering materials or to create an insert card or update the production plan. I was delighted when I came back just before quitting time to see what was accomplished.

My temporary absence also means that the room has a better chance of switching back to Deaf dominant. It’s easy for us hearing folks to dominate a room by talking to each other without also signing. That can make Deaf people feel excluded. I also try to force myself to sign as I’m talking with a hearing person in the room so as not to be rude. That means I’m talking veeeerrrrrry slowly to keep pace with my signing speed (and sometimes my finger spelling speed – which is somewhere between turtle and slow).

There is still so much training left to do with the artisans and the Team Leader. I don’t want to leave her for too long with only the training she has received thus far. All of these responsibilities and tasks are so new for her, she needs some support and needs someone with whole she can talk through questions and decisions. I’m eager to go back and teach her and the other artisans more. In the meantime, here in the U.S., I’m incubating the business from afar, including coordinating multiple team members in Kenya and the U.S. who perform various functions in support of the business.

I’m also trying to work myself out of some jobs and we have two people ready to take their positions. I’ll be training them in production planning, ordering raw materials, pricing products, tracking inventory, and calculating fair wages, as well as connecting them with U.S. wholesale buyers.

Deborah* was born hearing. She was the only girl among four brothers. At four years old, she had a bout with the measles. After that, her mother wondered why she didn’t come when she called, but finally realized that the measles had left her daughter deaf. Her mother was able to find a school that had both hearing and Deaf children, but with the Deaf and hearing students together in one classroom and the teachers voicing the instruction, the Deaf children were not able to understand or learn. Thankfully, her mom was able to find another school for the Deaf, a boarding school, but the sign language was different than what she had learned as was the spoken language and written language. For two years, she really tried hard to learn these new languages as well as the subjects being taught. During school breaks, she went home to her family. She felt very left out when they communicated with each other, but made little to no effort to communicate with her. She cried a lot and stayed in her room.

One day, when back at boarding school, a Deaf man came and shared with the students about Christ. She says that she hadn’t understood anything about God before that. Deaf children often have the experience of not knowing much about their parents’ faith even if their parents are Christians. Then someone invited her to visit a church where she learned more about God. The message was signed, but it was in American Sign Language rather than in either of the two sign languages she had already learned. She continued to feel angry and lonely at home and fought a lot with her brother. She says he pushed her around. Sadly, many Deaf people speak of feeling oppressed by their own families.

She was invited to a Christian camp meeting and responded to an invitation to enter into a relationship with Jesus there. After that, she says, “My life really changed”. Some people made fun of her for making that faith decision and it really hurt her. After she finished her schooling, she returned home with her family and didn’t have much to do or look forward to so she just waited, hoping for an opportunity. An opportunity presented to make jewelry, but it was hard for her to travel to and from that place. She always had to ask her mother for bus fare, so eventually had to stop going.

Even with that setback, she was an enterprising woman and decided to borrow money to start her own jewelry making business. She did make some sales and was able to make a financial contribution to help buy food for her family. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens in African cultures, family members asked so often for money that she wasn’t able to reinvest in her own business to buy materials to keep it going.

She ended up giving away the materials she had left to a friend who was really poor and needed a way to earn income. Still, she kept waiting for an opportunity while living at home. Finally, an opportunity appeared, working at Sasa Designs. She is happy to earn income to help provide for her mom who struggles financially. Deborah also says, “I have a Deaf friend who is a prostitute who needs to change. If I have these things then I can help her to change. If I can provide her an opportunity to do something besides prostitution I hope I will be able to bring her into this business. I see women in Kenya; Deaf women suffer more than men. I really want to help women and pray God will help these ladies to work with us.”

The business that now employs Deborah gives her a chance to work in dignity, develop higher level jewelry making skills than she had before, and earn wages that allow her to support herself and contribute to her family’s needs. It also gives her hope of reaching out to other Deaf women who need an opportunity to work in dignity.

Please consider making a financial gift that enables OneMaker to continue to provide training to the leaders of the artisan group Deborah works with as well as to teach the Deaf artisans themselves new jewelry making skills.

*Name changed to protect artisan’s privacy.

She lives in a country where she can’t speak the majority language. Very few speak her language either. Those she can communicate with are part of a very small and marginalized minority group with little power. She is vulnerable.

When looking for his next victim, her would-be perpetrator calculates her vulnerability. He instinctively knows his chances of getting caught or prosecuted are minimal. Who would she tell? Who would believe her? She’s the perfect victim.

She isn’t a refugee living in a foreign country. She belongs in this land. She is a citizen. But she is deaf. Her inability to hear and speak combined with others’ inability to sign, or to “hear” her, means she is unlikely to be able to communicate to others that she has been sexually abused.

She can, however, communicate in her own language – sign language – with her deaf peers. Sadly, even her parents are unlikely to understand her when she tries to tell them she was assaulted. They don’t know sign language. In fact, 75-90% of parents of deaf children don’t sign. In America, about 75% of parents of deaf children don’t sign. In other countries, where there is often shame associated with having a deaf child, the percentage is even higher.

In India, for example, when Deaf children attempt to sign in public, their parents will discourage them from speaking what they call “monkey language”. In other countries, it is thought that the Deaf person has been cursed by God or is influenced by some demonic force. In shame, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that their child is deaf, parents often discourage their children from signing in public and are not motivated to learn to sign themselves.

Even if a deaf child does have parents who know some sign language and she wants to tell her parents she has been sexually assaulted, her parents are unlikely to know the signs for sexual words. Mackay Vernon, a Florida psychologist who has worked with deaf clients for 50 years says, “Most parents don’t know sexual signs. And only 1 percent of teachers do. Even if kids try to tell, they may not be understood.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer -Nov. 27, 20

Even if there are agencies in his or her country to report sexual assault to, many deaf victims may be reluctant to reach out to those agencies because most of the providers are hearing and do not have systems for effectively communicating with deaf people. (National Institute for Justice Journal No. 257 , June 2007). If the abuse happened in a residential school, she may not want to be the one to bring shame on her educational institution by reporting it. If the abuse is happening in the tight-knit Deaf community by another Deaf person, she may fear that she wouldn’t be believed or that she would be ostracized from the only community she has.

How widespread is sexual abuse of the Deaf? One hearing woman who lived and worked with Deaf people for decades said she had never met a Deaf woman who had NOT been sexually abused.

• 83% of women with disabilities will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime (Stimpson & Best, 1991).

• 54% of boys who are Deaf have been sexually abused, compared to 10% of boys who are hearing.

• 50% of girls who are Deaf have been sexually abused, compared to 25% of girls who are hearing (Sullivan, Vernon & Scanlan, 1987).

Note: The Deaf usually do not see themselves as having a disability. Rather they see themselves as belonging to a distinct group with its own culture and language.

Call to action:
The worldwide problem of sexual abuse of the Deaf is multi-faceted and a very large one to address. We may not be able to solve the whole problem, but we do have an opportunity to make a difference for a few Deaf women in Kenya.

OneMaker is a 501c3 organization, providing business and jewelry making consulting for DOOR International to establish a fair-trade jewelry making business that aims to employ 100 Deaf artisans. Establishing a jewelry business gives Deaf artisans a chance to work in a safe environment where others, their co-workers and supervisor, can “hear” them because they also sign. As an artisan learns new skills and earns income through the products she makes, she gains dignity as well as status in her family and community. To support OneMaker’s efforts with this artisan group and others around the world helping poor women fair wages in dignity, make a donation today.

Blog post by Jana Harp Dean, President of OneMaker and consultant to organizations starting businesses to employ poor women in developing countries. OneMaker is a 501c3 organization that exists to be a tangible expression of God’s love to poor women and girls vulnerable to trafficking and other exploitation by giving them opportunities through education and business ventures. Visit www.onemaker.com for more information.

Just last month, I had the privilege of providing strategic business consultation and training to DOOR International at their campus just outside Nairobi, Kenya. Mike Buus, the president of DOOR International, dreams of starting-up a jewelry-making business that would employ 100 Deaf artisans in Kenya.

Like in most developing countries, the greatest felt need in Kenya is for jobs. The last estimated unemployment rate for Kenya was 40% (est. for 2008, reported in the 11/9/2010 report of The World Factbook). In a ranking of 200 countries from lowest to highest unemployment, Kenya ranks number 185. (The World Factbook, a CIA publication, 2010). Among the Deaf, the unemployment rate is even higher, perhaps even as high as 85%.

The president of DOOR International conducted an informal survey among the Deaf at a church service. He asked how many people in the room had a job. No hands went up. He then rephrased the question, “How many of you have a part-time job or a temporary job like painting a room for your brother for which you get paid?” About 15% of the hands went up. Although they may be skilled and hard workers, because employers don’t know sign language, the Deaf are hard to employ.

To address this problem, DOOR has already started business ventures to employ the Deaf, including a rabbit farm, a fishery, and an organic produce farm. DOOR wants to continue to create more jobs for the Deaf and expand its business portfolio to include a business that taps into an international market.

A jewelry making business does just that – taps into the international market – and has some other aspects that make it especially fitting to the context. Basic jewelry making skills are relatively easy to learn and it takes a relatively short time to acquire them. The tools and equipment needed for making simple jewelry are inexpensive and some raw materials are available locally. The global market for jewelry is large and the U.S. represents about half of the global jewelry market. Exporting creates the potential for generating more revenue and more profit than a business creating products to be sold only inside Kenya would.

To start a jewelry making business in Kenya, there are many issues to work through, including a 50% tariff on any imported items, even raw materials imported to use in items to be manufactured for export. Although there are many raw materials available to incorporate into jewelry, higher quality finishing pieces, like clasps, would have to be imported, at least initially. Another major challenge is finding a business person to champion the start up. Over the week I was there, Deaf women demonstrated that they could master the skills required and, because they need jobs, were very much in favor of a business start up that would employ them. Those on the planning team love the idea as well, but, as in many Christian organizations, most of the staff had too many responsibilities already and could not take on more.

Over the week I spent with DOOR, several days were devoted to teaching jewelry making skills to Deaf women. Mike had mentioned that the Deaf tend to be very attentive to detail and are eager to do a good job. He was right. I have taught jewelry making skills to women from many countries and often through translators, but have never encountered a group that was able to master as many skills as quickly as this group. As visual learners, they noticed even the smallest details in the demonstration of the particular technique. They consistently asked for feedback and wanted to know if there was anything they could improve on. They caught the concepts quickly and translated the concepts into completed pieces of jewelry.

Next steps:

DOOR has commissioned OneMaker to design 15-20 pieces of jewelry using materials available in Kenya plus some higher quality supplemental materials not available in Kenya. Later this year, I plan to return to Kenya to teach the artisans how to make each one of those products. In the meantime, we’ll keep praying that God will raise up a business manager.

The president and I will also work on the business plan together. Then, when the Lord has provided the business manager, I hope to provide training for him or her as well. I’m so honored and delighted to be able to be part of a business start-up that has the potential of blessing so many.

Would you pray with me for:

• God to raise up a business manager to lead this business that would employ 100 Deaf people one day.
• Creativity and wisdom as I design 15-20 jewelry pieces.
• Retail buyers for these pieces of jewelry.
• Blessing on a business that would provide for the physical needs of Deaf Kenyan artisans and their families as they work in dignity.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog entry and for your prayers for these budding artisans and this business venture. If you’re interested in receiving future updates on this or other OneMaker consulting projects, please email me at jana@onemaker.com.

Evening 1

Arriving in Africa feels a bit to me like moving from air to water. You know how when you dive under the surface of the water, your movement is in slow motion? It’s like that here. To me, it actually has a quieting effect. Having lived in slower-paced cultures, like those of Guatemala and Afghanistan, this environment feels familiar and comfortable. I landed and got in the visa line with my completed application and my $25, as new and crisp as I could find, and then I waited……and waited…..and waited. I was one of the lucky ones who had a worker actually sitting at the desk processing applications at the front of the line. Poor souls in the line to the right of me had no worker at all until one of them approached another worker to inquire about where this one was!

I wasn’t in a hurry so just enjoyed looking around at all the people in all the others lines to either side of me…..waiting. There were Africans and Indians and British people and other westerners.

I learned that the Indians built a train line through here many years ago and many of them settled here in Nairobi. They started lots of businesses and are now known as the “white Kenyans”.

Upon arriving at the campus, I learned how important security is here. The walls had razor wire uncoiled along the top of them to keep would-be intruders out, but that’s not all. There are two night guards and ferocious dogs that patrol with them. Apparently, these dogs will tear up anyone who comes out of their building onto the grounds at night except the guards themselves. If jet lag wasn’t enough to keep me in bed, the thought of those two dogs patrolling about was more than enough! I was also told that paw prints of lionesses were often seen on the dirt road in front of the main compound gate. And, interestingly, there are never any stray dogs loitering about.

Day 1 (Monday): Business Training & Spontaneous Jewelry Making Training

The first day of training went well. The first half of the training was focused on the business side of starting a jewelry making business. People kept trickling in throughout the day, some came to learn about starting a jewelry making business, but others were more interested in learning jewelry making skills. So, as one does in Africa, we adjusted the plan slightly mid-way through.

Most of the women in attendance were those who aspired to be artisans, but not necessarily the ones who would lead the business or who wanted to wade through all the business management presentations. More and more women arrived throughout the day so we split the class into two groups, those who needed to be in on the business planning side of things and those who wanted to learn to make jewelry. Ana Lu Herrera, a OneMaker volunteer and business woman employed by Nestle in Guatemala, provided an overview of marketing to the business group. While she did that, I started teaching jewelry skills to the budding artisans.

Since I heard rumors that we might have twelve students on Wednesday and Thursday for the jewelry making training, I decided to fish out an assistant with an aptitude for learning these skills and train her before Wednesday so she could help me teach!

We made it through two of the four basic skills in about an hour and a half – not bad. These three ladies had not done these techniques before, but were catching on pretty fast. It was clear by the end of the day that “V” most easily mastered the skills and could be a teaching assistant later in the week. She’s a lovely Deaf woman who is expecting, but isn’t sure how far along she is. She’s been to two doctors, but they gave conflicting estimates. The ultrasound that would help her know for sure when to expect her little one is 500 shillings ($6.10 USD) and she hasn’t wanted to part with that kind of money so she just waits for the baby to come. I inquired about whether assisting me would be too taxing for her, but the staff assured me it was no problem. She looks much further along than 4 months to me!

The women devoured the jewelry catalogs, supply catalogs, and magazines I brought with me, poring over the pictures and thinking through how various pieces are constructed. We did an exercise where we looked through popular jewelry catalogs and identified themes like combinations of metal and textile, asymmetry, chunkiness, etc. They seemed very engaged, but also quite interested in the construction of the pieces and types of materials used.

These ladies seem eager to be a part of a jewelry making business, but at present they are missing one important element – a business leader. Pray that God will raise up someone who can provide designs and training, connect the group with customers, and even handle order fulfillment with U.S. customers. To fill in gaps, I can help with designs and training and do some initial connections to wholesale customers, but they still need a business leader who can operate in a full time capacity.

Unique Kenyan Sign Names

Each of the ladies introduced herself today with her name sign. In Kenya, unlike in western deaf cultures, the deaf choose a name for each person based on some distinguishing physical characteristic about the person, perhaps even one they wish they didn’t have! It could be your freckles, or the curved wrinkle that forms around your eye when you smile, or, as in one man’s case here, his ramp-like forehead. For him, the sign is a hand going upward across the forehead like a plane taking off!

One person tried to come up with his own name sign and announced to the Deaf community what it would be, but that didn’t go over well at all. In fact, the Deaf community never did accept him. So it seems being given a name sign by the Deaf community is a kind of cultural rite of passage. I’m eager to know what my sign name will be! I’m also hoping it won’t be one of several things!

The Deaf – Unreached Peoples Around the World

DOOR International has projects in Kenya and India, doing Bible translation with the Deaf, for the Deaf. There are still 400 sign languages around the world that do not have a Bible in sign language. DOOR aims to translate the Bible into 85 of those languages. Teams come from around the world to the DOOR campus in Kenya to work on signed Bible translations for the Deaf.

Today I came face to face with the fact that even the Deaf ladies in the room were in what I’ve heard termed “Bible poverty” by Wycliffe. As I talked through slides about ideas for jewelry pieces inspired by scripture, I asked, “Do you know the story of Esther?”, “Do you know the story of Elijah?”, “Do you know about the Proverbs 31 woman?”, “Do you know the story of creation?” Thankfully they had just studied Proverbs 31 and they knew the creation story, but they had very sad looks on their face, and if I perceived correctly, maybe a bit of shame, for not knowing the story of Esther or Elijah. I hated the feeling that they were on the outside and, without being able to communicate in sign language, I couldn’t help them get “in the know”.

How the Deaf Pray in Groups

At supper tonight, I spoke (through an interpreter) with an Ethiopian Deaf man, a believer. I was curious about how Deaf people pray in groups. He said most will close their eyes when they pray, signing with their hands. Others watch the person praying sign so they can agree with him in prayer. The Deaf person signs with eyes closed so as not to be distracted by others looking at him. I learned that initially when Deaf Kenyans started coming to faith and having worship services, they adopted the ways of worship of the hearing, but when they inquired about whether they could do it differently, in a way that fit for them and got “permission”, their services dramatically changed. They incorporated drums so they could feel the music, they dance, and their services are a time of giving testimonies of praise to God. It’s very interactive rather than one person preaching a sermon.

Day 2 (Tuesday): To the Nairobi Market – In Search of Supplies, Special Training for One Artisan

As I worship God by listening to praise music full of truth about Him, I rejoice that I have this privilege, to hear music and be able to worship God in song. I rejoice that I have the privilege of reading my Bible, any part of it I want to, effortlessly, just by running by eyes over the page or the screen.
“Your words were found and I ate them, and they were to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” — Jeremiah 15:16

“V”, my designated teaching assistant, learned skills three and four of four basic skills in one and a half hours. She did so well, I sent her home with a box of materials to make two more bracelets.

After the training session in the morning, a group of us headed out to Nairobi, a half hour’s drive away. We found some stones and supplies that we could use in designing products and left town at 3:30 in hopes of beating the horrendous traffic. I couldn’t imagine how awful traffic could be as it was already pretty bad before 3:30. We should have arrived home an hour later or so with the traffic. Sadly, it was 5 hours later, 8:30pm before we rolled in, exhausted.

Apparently, there has been a gasoline shortage going on in Kenya and we realized we didn’t have enough gas to get back home! All over town gas stations were out of gas. We prayed for provision in the van, turned the corner and saw a gas station. One of the ladies in the car got out and walked down the road to see if they still had gas. Indeed they did, but the line was so long, the road was backed up with people waiting. We decided to walk on ahead and see if we could find a container that we could fill with gas and bring back to the van. Ultimately, we bought 4 – 5 liter water jugs, emptied them, and, with much effort, persuaded the elderly lady who was the gas attendant to put some in our containers. Finally, she did and we were able to fill the van to ¾ full. Still, it was a long drive home in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

I still had much to do to prepare projects and organize supplies for the next day’s training, but was so exhausted, I fell into bed and got up early the next morning to prepare.

Day 3 (Wednesday): First (Official) Day of Jewelry Making Training with All the Artisans

Before I arrived, I had been told to plan on having six students in class. Ten showed up today and I learned that others had been turned away. Thankfully, I brought two extra sets of tools and a box of supplies had been donated and there were two more sets of tools in the box.

Of course, three of the budding artisans had a head start in Monday’s training. We worked our way through the four basic skills and all of the budding artisans got good practice. Some of them even mastered the skills surprisingly quickly.

I’m quite amazed at how quickly they are catching on. There were even two ladies from another jewelry-making project in the city who were sent to learn some new skills. At the end of the day, the ladies said they were happy to keep working even though it was quitting time. They loved learning. I was the one who needed to stop for the day to sit down for a bit and then to prepare for the next day. One lady said she wanted to learn new skills every day for a month. Another of the ladies on staff here asked if I would be willing to come back and teach some more – of course, I said, “YES!”
This evening, I spent time laying out supplies and preparing projects for the next day as well as spreading all the finds from the previous day on the table and designing products in my head.

These budding artisans seem eager to work and are enjoying the learning process.

This evening as I was working after class, a number of Deaf people on campus just poked their heads in the work room, curious about the potential new venture. They commented in sign on how beautiful the stones were and said we were doing a good work.
Thankfully, sign language seems easier to acquire than a spoken foreign language. Some of the words I learned in sign language study in college are in use here in Kenyan sign language. I’ve learned a few basic phrases and can spell out words I don’t know the sign for which prompts the Deaf person to give me the sign for it! They have been quite generous and helpful.

I introduce myself by spelling out my name. I do now have a sign that an Ethiopian brother gave me, but it doesn’t use the Kenyan approach to assigning sign names. It’s a letter J and pinky touching the chin (Ethiopian women’s sign names are always done around the chin area). The Kenyan way of assigning name signs focuses on some visual uniqueness of a person, usually not even using a letter at all.

I thank God for opening this whole new world to me and that He is willing to make me useful here.

Day 4: Budding Artisans Learn Quickly!

The time has flown by! This was the second full day of jewelry training with all the artisans and I’m amazed at how far they have come. They caught on so quickly that we had less wasted material than I had anticipated and we have more ready-to-sell items than I could have hoped for. They worked so quickly, I had to scramble just to keep one step ahead of them, to have the next project ready to demonstrate and teach before they finished up with the one they were working on.

Tomorrow we’ll have a meeting to talk about our impressions and think through what next steps might be. I’m praying that God will provide a business manager to enable the launch of this business. I’m also happy to come back and teach more, help create a logo and some packaging, and put together some jewelry designs using local materials and a catalog. Perhaps the Lord would open the door for that.

I find myself longing to learn Kenyan sign language so I can ask these ladies about their stories. Several men and women on campus try to communicate with me by signing. I can only get so far with the little I know.

I was given my Kenyan name sign today. I had worn my hair up in a high ponytail for the first few days here, so my name sign is a fist on the back of the head where my pony tail sits! I love it because they gave it to me and that’s what they noticed about me.

Today I even attempted some humor, although that is always a challenge to do cross-culturally and across languages. I decided to take a chance. One artisan as she worked with a piece of leather for a necklace asked if it was okay for leather to get wet. I said, “I don’t know, but cows do stand in the rain.” The ones who were looking when the interpreter translated it laughed. That felt like a little victory!

Day 5: Getting from “Dream” to “Reality”

Today was a day of meetings and making a plan for going forward. It seems current staff could cover some of the functions of the business. There is a young Kenyan woman who is handling accounting on a big construction project whose time will soon be freed up and she’s eager to start learning the inventory tracking software. Another woman (American) on the team handles all newsletters and graphic design for the organization so she’s going to work on a logo, marketing materials, and an insert card. A Kenyan woman who works for DOOR and knows sign language has been identified as a potential candidate for supervisor.

The greatest need is for a champion for the business start-up, someone who can get the business up and running with good systems and processes and then either continue in a business manager role or train the person who would do the ongoing management. We will move forward by creating a business plan, developing product prototypes, presenting prototypes to wholesale customers, training artisans in how to produce those, and by praying that God will raise up the business champion for this business.

If you’re interested in receiving future updates on this OneMaker consulting project and others, please email me at jana@onemaker.com.
To support OneMaker’s work to help poor women around the world through business ventures, you can make a donation today.

The picture of Aisha featured on the TIME magazine cover recently jolted the world back to the stark reality of the continued brutality Afghan women suffer. Beyond all the controversy and politicizing of this event, there are many girls who are still sold very young for very large sums of money called the ‘bride price’. Usually her price is about three years’ wages. These girls, more often than not experience abuse at the hands of their husbands and, sometimes at the hands of their in-laws with whom they must live.

Living in Afghanistan for 16 months was like swimming among an ocean of drowning people with only a few life preservers in my hand. Tears come to my eyes now as I think of two young girls, 8 and 12 at the time (2008). Their mother had passed away, their father remarried and the new wife didn’t want them around. So they were ‘married’ off to two brothers. The reality was that they were sold as slaves and shipped off to a remote village where they took care of livestock and did the family chores. The 12 year old was married to a man 22 years old and the 8 year old was married to his brother, 18 years old. The parents of the boys control the house, their sons, and their daughters-in-law.

Their aunt, who worked for me in the jewelry business, went to visit them as she was able. She reported that she had only minutes alone with them and the girls showed her where their scalps had been split open from beatings over the head by the mother-in-law. The aunt, a natural diplomat, tried to win the favor of their in-laws, inviting them to come for a visit in the city for a family wedding, asking if the girls could come see her and her husband, but they were never allowed to do that. Now the older girl has a baby of her own. There were so many of my friends who were concerned about these girls, we could have easily raised the money to buy them back. But their aunt said that if we did that, it would just create a market for more buying and selling of girls as the villagers realized they could sell them at a profit to foreigners. And they would just use the money to buy more girls. She was right.

On a flight within Afghanistan I had the good fortune of being seated by an Afghan American woman who was an attorney and familiar with Afghan law. She was there on a short trip. When I explained these girls’ situation, including the fact that one of the young men may not be able to have children, she said that his inability to give her children would be grounds for her to divorce him. While it’s also true that it is illegal for girls to be married earlier than 16 according to Afghan law, she thought the court would be more likely to give the one girl a divorce on the grounds that her husband could not father a child.

Their aunt and her children wanted to be an advocate for the girls, take them into their own home and share the little they had with them just to help them escape the living death they were experiencing. But the aunt had overwhelming problems herself. She had an aged husband, twenty years her senior, who was not working, so she was the sole breadwinner for him and her four children. She had to deal with the loan shark coming by her home to ask for sexual favors as interest on the loan she took from him. She herself was married off early and experienced harsh treatment, including a miscarriage after he pushed her down the stairs. She had ongoing pain issues. Even though she loved her sister’s daughters dearly and wanted to take them in, she had no margin or resources to be able to help them.

What I wanted to do was just go get the girls and take them out of that situation, but it was not possible. I offered money for every time the aunt wanted to take a taxi out to the village to see them. I gave her information on an organization in our city that might be able to provide a human rights attorney to help them and offered money to pay the attorney. The pain of their situation and the pain of not being able to help them is like a rock in my heart even now.

What do you think we can do to help the girls in these situations?