June 5th, 2026
When Faith Met the Roadside: The Women Who Cleaned
Lanet in Silence
By Alex Njagi
PCEA Immanuel Jerusalem Women Cleaning the roadside at Tumsifu area in Lanet
The morning carried the soft dust of Lanet’s roads, that familiar blend of wind, sun, and the quiet hum of early errands. I was cycling unhurried, a journalist chasing nothing in particular when something made me slow down near the Tumsifu area.
At first, it looked like a group of women simply gathered by the roadside. But as I drew closer, the scene revealed itself like a quiet revolution.
Women some wearing the distinct PCEA Woman’s Guild headscarves were bent over the edges of the road, picking litter with deliberate care. Not casually, not reluctantly, but with a dignity that seemed to challenge the very existence of the waste they were collecting. The roadside, often treated as a convenient dumping ground in this part of Lanet, was suddenly under gentle repair by human hands.
This was not an ordinary sight.
Curiosity pulled me off the bicycle. I greeted them, and they welcomed me with the warmth of people who know they are doing something meaningful, even if the world passes by too quickly to notice.
“We are in a special week,” one of them explained, brushing dust from her gloves. “PCEA Woman’s Guild Week 2026.”
Their leader, Madam Lucy, spoke with calm conviction, her voice carrying both faith and purpose.
“Our theme is ‘Rooted and Established in Christ,’ based on Colossians 2:7,” she said. “This is not just a church gathering week. It is a life week. We begin with morning devotions, we share fellowship, and we go out to serve the community.”
She gestured toward the road they were cleaning.
“This is our engagement today. We believe that keeping the environment clean is part of living out our faith. It is the right thing to do. When we involve the community in cleanliness, we remind everyone that how we live matters.”
The women moved again, lifting bottles, papers, and forgotten fragments of daily life that had become part of the roadside story. Yet in their hands, the story was being rewritten.
A passerby stopped to watch James, a community observer who had grown up in Lanet long enough to know what is usually ignored.
He shook his head slowly, as if witnessing a memory returning.
“This act reminds the community of what seems to have been forgotten,” he said. “Keeping the environment clean keeps diseases away and protects us from other hazards. They have done what is right, and the community should emulate them.”
His words lingered in the air like a verdict gently spoken rather than enforced.
And perhaps that was what made the moment powerful the absence of force. No warnings. No enforcement campaigns. Just faith translated into action, and conviction made visible through small, repeated gestures along a dusty roadside.
In a place where waste is often treated as someone else’s responsibility, these women were offering a different theology one where cleanliness is not merely civic duty, but an expression of rootedness, discipline, and care for life itself.
I returned to my bicycle. The women were still working quietly, moving like a hymn in real time.
The activity was part of the PCEA Woman’s Guild Week 2026, held between 1st and 7th June under the overall theme "Rooted and Established in Christ” (Colossians 2:7).
The week includes morning devotions, parish fellowship, and community engagement activities. For the women of PCEA Immanuel Jerusalem Parish, community cleaning was their chosen expression of service— an act of faith lived beyond the church walls, into the very roads the community walks each day.
