Poverty can have a strong grip on a person’s life . . . even more so when it’s been a multi-generational inheritance. Much more than wishful thinking is needed to overcome it. Edna Chebet exemplifies the hard work and persistence required to break out of the stranglehold of poverty and create a new inheritance. Edna grew up surrounded by poverty. Her father was an alcoholic, and her mother was the younger of his two wives. The two women struggled to provide for their 22 combined children because their husband could not hold down a job. The little money they made went toward food and clothing, so the children were often unable to attend school. Edna remembers walking all the way to school barefoot only to be chased away because her fees hadn’t been paid. Eventually she was able to take her high school exit exam and graduate, but college was out of the question with so many younger siblings still needing a basic education.

Although this education was helpful, it did not set Edna up for a job, so she was stuck living at home with no employment prospects. Then, in 2012, she met Lynert, a gifted and passionate ELI agricultural trainer. Lynert shared about the Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development Program (SACDP) at the Kipkaren River Training and Development Center. Edna was excited by the prospect of having practical training to help provide for her family, so she enrolled, managed to get together the small fees, and graduated in 2013!

Even with these practical life skills, poverty continued to have its way in Edna’s life. Frustrated and not wanting to burden her family any longer, she decided to get married in 2014. Her husband, who did not finish high school on a regular schedule, had leased out his two acres of land in order to pay for the rest of his education. Without this valuable asset, they struggled for years to provide for their growing family. Edna used her agricultural skills to get them a few chickens or a cow, but eventually her husband would lose his job and they would need to sell their livestock. Poverty’s grip was strong, and it seemed like they would be ensnared forever.

Throughout this time, Edna did not give up hope. Finally, in 2018, after more lost jobs and selling of farm animals, the lease agreement on their land ended. At last Edna was able to fully use the skills she’d learned from the SACDP training. First, she planted sugarcane and maize on their property. Then, with their earnings, they were able to buy a cow, chicks, and a completed poultry house. When her husband got a new job, things really improved and they were able to build a dairy unit, plant boma rhodes (a grass-like hay used to feed dairy cows), and buy 15 more chickens.

Edna’s hope for a better future was slowly becoming a reality. Later that year, she and Lynert connected again. All these years later, Lynert could still see Edna’s drive to change her future, so she offered to train Edna in advanced poultry production, including key business skills in order to really grow it into a profitable business. Of course Edna was excited by the prospect, but she decided to share this opportunity with other women who were struggling so they too could begin their empowering journey out of poverty’s clutches. For the first training she brought along seven friends; then eight more joined them for the next one! And after they began implementing everything Lynert was teaching them, another 15 women in their community joined in, with the original group providing encouragement and advice to the newcomers. Edna and her husband are now able to provide for their family without fear of his losing his job. She is thankful for the opportunities she’s been given: “All in all I wish to thank ELI for the trainings they have offered me and the women in my community because it is transforming us into changing our families and our community. May God bless ELI in abundance!”

This has been the beginning of an incredible ripple effect that will continue to help more and more people in Edna’s community and beyond. For poverty to be crushed, it has to be defeated in an entire community, not just in the lives of a few individuals. Edna is truly a World Changer because she is helping crush poverty—both in her own life and in the lives of so many around her. She is one of thousands of people in Kenya who are eager to learn, put their knowledge to use, and then turn around and share this training with others. Thank you for your persistence in making sure people like Edna have access to practical, life-skills training in order to stop the generational inheritance they’ve received. Because of you, they can begin a new legacy of abundance, joy, and hope. We all have to work together to crush poverty.