Kohondo and Odette Kpededji (ped-ay-gee) met and married in the Abidjan Church in August 2005. Odette was baptized in 1997 and Kohondo in 2001. The Kpededjis are a hard-working couple; Kohondo earned a living for his family as a carpenter with his own little shop until it was tragically destroyed. Now he works as a house guardian but always looks for carpentry work on the weekends. Odette supplements the family income by cleaning homes and offices. They have two daughters, Grace, 13, who lost her hearing due to an illness when she was three and Gloria who is eleven. Odette’s niece, Gladys is also living with the family. The Kpededjis lived in a small wooden house in a very poor area of Abidjan. Every season, their neighborhood was affected by heavy rains which have increased in their intensity year after year often causing flooding and/or mudslides which destroy dwellings and even lives. This year the Kpededji’s home was not spared.
It all happened one day after some particularly heavy rain. Everyone except Gladys was at work or school when suddenly her home began to crumble all around her. Luckily, she was able to get out with just a small injury to her head but, the family home was completely destroyed. They were able to move in with a relative temporarily while looking for a new place to live. With the help of some brothers and sisters in their region, they were able to pay the security deposit and first month’s rent at a new place. Kohondo, Odette and even Gladys work many jobs to make ends meet, however, they still need help to make the rent until Kohondo’s work picks up and he is able to earn a living wage of rent for their new more secure home and help with Grace’s school fees at her school for the deaf.
Thanks to generous ETF contributors, this need has been met!
