Support Noel (our nanny) and Hillary (our driver)

Hi, my name is Yosi and I'm a single mama by choice to my spirited and beautiful little 15-month old girl.

We live in Nairobi, Kenya where I work as an aid worker.

The aid sector is going through an unprecedented crisis all since that Orange man decided to cut international aid funding, inspiring other governments to follow his example. This means many of our positions are being cut and we will be left without a job.

Sadly, my own job will also be cut and it means I'm leaving Kenya in early 2026.

Now, enough about me...

My nanny, Noel, had planned to stay with us for the 4 years my posting here was supposed to last. We were going to be her last family before she retired - she has served and supported multiple families over the last 25+ year , being a wonderful caretaker to numerous little children passing through Kenya over the years. She is a warm, fun, committed, and amazing person!

But she has also had her fair share of struggles in this life. Being married to a man who preferred to drink his salary away while she was trying to raise two young boys and left her daughter with her own mom when she became pregnant as a young adult, has meant she had little chance to save money. She even managed to put one of her sons through university just from her own salary! And still both her sons have ended up jobless in the difficult financial situation Kenya finds itself in...

I have helped her with loans to purchase and fence off her little piece of land in rural Kenya so she can build a house for her retirement. In Kenya, state pensions are low and as a woman she also did not inherit anything from her parents.

A house costs more than I can support her with financially and now that I have to leave earlier than planned, I'm trying to raise some money so that she can at least set her up to get started with her little house.

Will you support me in supporting her?

The second person I would love to help is our wonderful driver Hillary. Let me tell you about this amazing man. He is not only a driver. He has become a part of our family and a key person of trust to my little daughter Anaïs who adores him!

He's only 30 years old but has already adopted two children from friends and family who have been unable to take care of them themselves. This is a very rare act of humanity and kindness in a country where most men (sorry, I don't have statistics but it's a general fact) run away from their parental duties and leave most families to be led by the woman. For that I honour him.

On top of that his mother is suffering from a serious heart condition and he and his siblings had to take a loan from friends, employers and others of 500,000 Ksh (almost 4,000 USD for a recent heart operation - the health care system in Kenya is not providing anything for free. This might not sound like a lot, but to Kenyans it's a fortune. I already gave him money for this.

I want to honour his immense sense of humanity and responsibility by giving him some cash that allows him to put his two adopted children through school (in theory school is supposed to be free in Kenya, but there are so many hidden costs, that many families struggle each year!) and have a buffer in case his mother would need another heart operation.

Will you support me support Hillary?