Ziporah’s Story of Rediscovering World Relief, the Organization That Changed Her Life
Ziporah was wandering through the rows of booths at the local fair when a familiar logo suddenly caught her eye: World Relief. Immediately, memories rushed back to Kakuma Refugee Camp; home to more than 300,000 refugees. It was there that she grew up, and where Ziporah first discovered World Relief.
Now, nearly two decades later, she found herself standing in Spokane, Washington, face-to-face once again with the organization that had shaped her childhood. How could their paths cross here, so far from Kakuma?
Life in Turkana, Kenya
Ziporah’s story begins in Turkana, a small village in the barren desert of northern Kenya, just a few miles outside of Kakuma Refugee Camp. Turkana is in one of the hottest, driest regions of Kenya, where crops can’t grow and water is scarce. Hunger and thirst are part of daily life.
“Sometimes people go four or five days without food,” Ziporah recalls. She remembers sitting with her grandmother one day, asking, “What are we going to eat today?” Her grandmother had no answer.
But one day hope was found. Ziporah learned that World Relief had food programs at the Kakuma camp nearby.
The Light of Education
Ziporah made her way to Kakuma, where she knew she could find a meal, but it was there she discovered something even greater: the light of education.
World Relief provided food for the school in Kakuma Refugee camp, which was free to attend for those in nearby villages. For most families in Turkura, school was simply not an option. “If you’ve slept hungry with no food, where will you get the money to send your kids to school?” Ziporah explains. However, Kakuma provided both meals and education.
Ziporah began going to Kakuma for school. “There is light in education, and you can get hired. Without education it is hard to do anything. Education helps young women so they don’t have to be forced into early marriages. Sometimes it is education that gives you the courage to have a voice,” Ziporah says.
The Call to Run
Ziporah graduated from middle school at the age of 25 and was able to get small jobs around camp. After a few years of working small jobs and having a baby girl, Ziporah knew God was leading her to something bigger. A new purpose began to stir in her heart: the call to run.
There were no women runners around her, but she felt the calling. With the encouragement of a refugee from Sudan, she started running. At first she ran around Kakuma camp, working a small job to save money to buy plastic running shoes. With every day that passed, Ziporah ran further and faster.
Racing to New Heights
Ziporah knew running could change her life and provide for her daughter. In 2014, she entered her first major competition, the Tanzania Kilimanjaro Marathon, spending her last bit of money on a plane ticket. With no way home, she had to finish in the top ten to earn prize money.
“I started the race, and no matter what, I was going to finish,” Ziporah recalls.
Three hours later, she crossed the finish line in 10th place, enough to earn $100 and a flight home. That victory sparked something new. Determined to go further, Ziporah found a manager who sponsored her to compete internationally, leading her to first-place finishes in both China and Peru.
Ziporah’s Journey to the U.S.
In 2020, she crossed continents to compete in the Mercedes Marathon in Alabama, finishing fifth just before COVID shut everything down. Ziporah was stranded. The generosity of a Kenyan family in Alabama offered her a place to stay for two years. Eventually she was able to move to Spokane, Washington, to live with her cousin.
Today, Spokane is home. It’s where Ziporah met her husband, found work as a caretaker, and reunited with World Relief, nearly 20 years after she first encountered their programs in Kenya.
When asked what helped her persevere through every challenge, Ziporah smiles and says, “Faith — believing there is God and that everything is possible. Calculation — always thinking about survival. And hard work — because without hard work, there’s nothing we can get.”
Change that Lasts
Ziporah’s story is one of faith, hard work, and resilience; a reminder that even small acts of compassion can spark extraordinary transformation. The support she once received as a child in Kakuma Refugee Camp planted seeds that would grow for decades, eventually leading her to a new life in Spokane.
When we choose to give, volunteer, or simply show kindness to our neighbors, we never know how far those ripples will reach. The contributions we make today don’t just change lives in the moment, they create change that lasts.
