Consolate Muga’s life changed drastically when she became a widow at the age of 38. She had relied on her husband to provide for her and their two teenage children over the years, and now she felt lost and alone.
Shortly after the funeral, Consolate sensed God telling her to do something to help children in need. She dismissed it. She was broken, how could she possibly help others? And where would the money come from?
“God showed me a vision of me being with children. In these dreams, I would teach children who were very dirty and in a very cold place with no clothes, no food and bare feet,” Consolate told The Weight She Carries. “I had the dream immediately after my husband’s burial, but it took me eight years to act on that dream.”
Following her husband’s death, Consolate became closer to God. The dreams became frequent and vivid. She would be sitting in a house and giving children clothes and food, and they were so happy.
“I didn’t share this dream with anybody all those years because I didn’t see how I would be able to take care of the children. Finally, I shared it with someone, and he told me that I needed to act on the dream because God was calling me to do something special.” – Consolate Muga
A few months later, Consolate started seeing street children coming up to her.
“They would carry my bags when I would come from my business,” Consolate said. “Then they would ask me to give them food and I would tell them, ‘Let’s go to my house and I’ll give you food.’”
Once at home, Consolate would cook food for the kids and give them clothes that her children wore when they were younger.
“They would be so happy. I made it a habit. Every Saturday the children and I would be together. We would recite poems and read the Bible,” she said.
Most of the children would come, eat and then leave. However, there were a number of them who were sick. Consolate would take them to a church to be cared for.
Tragedy struck again when her daughter passed away. Consolate grieved but continued her work and founded Mercy Compassionate Centre.
After a number of years, Consolate left Nairobi. She believed God was calling her elsewhere. She started to sense that God was telling her that He would give her a bigger place for the children.
“I went to visit someone and saw that there was a large home for sale in the area. I engaged with the seller in faith, knowing that God had promised me that wherever I stepped foot, He would give it to me. So, I got the land with a house sitting on four and a half acres of land.” – Consolate Muga
Within seven years, Consolate had paid off the land and was supporting hundreds of children.
“I can say that over 200 children have passed through these doors. Right now, I have 45 in colleges and universities, and then I have another 42 whom I am staying with in the house. I have another 56 whom I am supporting who are living with grandparents or other relatives,” she said.
In addition to caring for children, Consolate felt led to help other women in her predicament.
“I decided to form a widows group to support other widows in small ways. We have about 12 widows. We get together and support each other. We built a house for one widow,” she said.
Now, Mercy Compassionate Centre runs a school, a home for orphans and the widows group. It also provides mentorship for girls.
While her work is fulfilling, there are many challenges involved with running an NGO.
“I do not have a sponsor. We have grown in the sense that there are more children to take care of but funding is a challenge,” Consolate said. “In our school, people don’t always pay school fees. But the problem is that we need to pay our teachers in order to keep them. And if we don’t, we’ll lose our teachers.”
Consolate believes God will provide the necessary funding to operate her organization and encourages everyone to do what they can in their communities to help children.
“There are children out there who just need to be loved. All they need is an opportunity to be fed and to have shelter. They are the leaders of tomorrow,” she said. “As a community we must rally around the children. It’s not one person’s responsibility, it’s our responsibility as a community to help children.”
Vimbai E. is a content marketer, ghostwriter, and the founder of The Weight She Carries. With hundreds of articles and stories publishing online, in print and for broadcast, her love of language and storytelling shines through every piece of writing that bears her name.