“I am a living testimony of the impact that Untold has had in my life. Today, my family is well catered for, and I am fulfilled with the work I do because the program taught me how to earn a living.” 

Those were the words of Abubakar Khamis Faraji, a 41-year-old father of four with two wives — a Christian and Muslim — residing in Mwembe Tayari in Mombasa. He spoke those words in February 2022, at the Untold graduation in Mtopanga center. He came to the graduation to share his testimony a year after he graduated from the program at Kongowea Center in Mombasa.

Abubakar is a native Tanzanian but has lived in Kenya most of his adult life. He began having marital disagreements with his wife in 2015 because he was not employed and could not provide for their basic needs. In addition, he realized she was consulting witch doctors and wizards whenever they had marital issues.

In 2016, he married his second wife. “I chose to marry a Christian because a lot of my relatives were Christians, and I admired their prayer culture and desired to learn about the Bible.” He has a Christian friend who often shared with him some verses and taught him how to sing worship songs. 

Abubakar was introduced to the Untold program in Kongowea Center in 2019 through his second wife. She had visited the center during the pre-launch ceremony. “My wife enjoyed the program activities, especially the counseling sessions, and she decided to ask the staff if I could join."

After a while, he gained experience in the coal industry and got an opportunity to work in a local bank. As per the bank's recruitment process, Abubakar underwent a few tests, including testing for HIV; he tested positive. “That is how I missed the opportunity to work at the bank. With no work and consistent application rejections, life was difficult. I had to do odd jobs to survive,” Abubakar said.

In 2019, during the center’s recruitment phase, he was struggling with stigma and disclosure. He had not disclosed his status to his relatives because of the fear of experiencing rejection. Through the one-on-one counseling session, he gained confidence in himself and the courage to speak before people. Today, Abubakar openly talks about his status and encourages others to do so.

During the empowerment activities, Abubakar took a keen interest in making detergents, stain removers, and multipurpose soaps. Towards the end of 2020, most of the hotels that had closed due to COVID regulations were reopening. As an effect of the closure, their swimming pools were filled with mold and algae. 

One day, a friend who works in one of the hotels called him to clean the pools using the soaps he made during the program. “With the skills I learned, I made enough soap and bleach to clean the swimming pool and called someone to assist me. We did a thorough job, and the management was satisfied. Little did I know this job would open more doors,” Abubakar explained.

The hotel management referred Abubakar to other hotels. With the growing need, Abubakar hired more help, registered the cleaning company, and began cleaning swimming pools full time.

Today, he has ten employees who serve more than six clients with big swimming pools, and ten clients with small swimming pools a month.

As a Muslim, the program provided a place to learn from scripture and ask the center counselors questions. “My relationship with the center counselors and resident pastor has been strong ever since I joined the program. I often donate cleaning soap and detergents to the church as a way of expressing my gratitude,” he replied. Abubakar reconciled with his first wife and can take care of his children from his first marriage.

Much like the 90 clients that Abubakar spoke before and Abubakar himself, restoration is promised to us all.