Neema Oltwati lives with her five children in Ng'abolo, about four miles from Malambo. We introduced Neema in an earlier LIFE update, but her unstoppable drive for a better life is such a remarkable story that we wanted to tell you more about her. Despite her blindness, Neema has set up a business group called Naitajeu, "in our language, it means we will save each other from poverty," she explains. And she's well on the way...

"I was born with good sight but, when I was three months old, my eyes became infected. In those days there weren't any hospitals. I was taken to a small clinic, a long way from my village, which didn't have the facilities that I needed. By the time I was five, I was blind.

"Before Oxfam came here, I had to beg every day to survive. So when Oxfam suggested that the women of Malambo should turn their traditional beadwork into a business, I said I wanted to make beads too. Many thought that I wouldn't succeed. 'How can a woman who's blind make beads?' they asked. But, with my sister Elizabeth, mother Maria, and friend Naserian, we formed a business group (as Oxfam had showed us)."

Neema's group made some of the bracelets that we sent out when we first introduced you to the people of Malambo.

"Since then, all four of us have been busy making bracelets for the nearby tourist lodges," Neema continues. "When I spoke to you last time, I said that I planned to build my own house one day, and now I have, using the income from our beadwork. Because I've never married, some of the men were amazed that a blind woman could build a three-room house, with a tin roof by herself. In Maasai culture, it's the woman's role to build the family home: but now the men are talking about selling some of their animals to build their own homes, if enough of their animals survive the drought.

"For the first time, I have found freedom from my blindness. This project has brought so many changes and opportunities for the women of Malambo. And it has inspired others, including the men, in my boma and in other villages too. We're respected; considered as equal. That makes me very proud."

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August 2008 updates