Photo credit: Philip Laubner/CRS. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Photo credit: Philip Laubner/CRS. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

For some, independence means freedom from persecution. For others, it’s the right to self-govern. For Truphosa Aloo, a widowed mother of six from Kenya, independence is sufficiency—the ability to provide for herself and her family, without outside help, now and into the future. Against all odds, Truphosa has earned this independence. It began nine years ago when she joined a Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program that helps children and families living with HIV.

Her children all received scholarships, enabling her to concentrate on earning an income. She joined a CRS-supported savings and loans group in her community and saved enough to buy a fishing boat and nets. Now she owns a small business selling fish she catches. Her shop is so successful she employs other women to help her cook the fish.

Where Truphosa lives, many widows and orphans with HIV suffer because social stigmatization and a lack of training prevents them from making a sustainable living. In starting her business, Truphosa put to use the job training, health care and counseling she received through CRS. Determined and resilient, Truphosa has worked hard to gain real and lasting independence for her family. She is prepared now to weather any storm.

Read about other industrious families in Kenya here: Microfinance—Saving Lives and Money I CRS.

Copyright 2016 Catholic Relief Services