Nanyuki Trip April 2012

APRIL 2012 (UPDATE)

Carolyn and Bill have now returned from their visit to Nanyuki and the home, it was a great pleasure to see the children looking happy and contented. During one of our visits several of the older children were having great fun making chapatis for tea time, these were produced on pieces of old metal over a small log fire, unfortunately they decided to cook “indoors” and the smoke produced was some thing else…….but they were happy.

The nursery at the home has eight babies at present, with one very seriously ill little girl. Emily is only two months old and was abandoned by her mother and is suffering from hydrocephalus. She has already spent much time in the local “Cottage” Hospital with a volunteer from the UK looking after her.Emily is now back at the home making some slight improvement but needs constant feeding and monitoring. Because of the charity shown by the hospital, not only for Emily, but for other children from the home we have donated, on behalf of our charity, a new adjustable bed and mattress to the children’s ward.

We were fortunate to have received, from the parents of Moyles Court School in Ringwood, a quantity of clothes etc. for the children, these we dispensed to the children, individually, so that each child received some thing., it was like Christmas. David and Jane Parkinson (our previous Chairman and Secretary) donated a quantity of toys and sweets for the children, these, as you would imagine, were more than appreciated by the children and the sweets were consumed much quicker than we could dispense them………..

One of our sponsors, Rotary Club of Stonehouse, have provided funds for improvements to the sanitation requirements at the home. During our visit it was evident that the most important thing we could achieve was the reinstatement of the showers. There are 8 showers in the home and none of them now work, the children are washed with buckets of cold water. We are therefore arranging for a contractor, in the town, to refurbish these showers.

Whilst in Nanyuki we met up with the charity organisers from “ndege wa pori” (mentioned previously in our latest news) The purpose of this charity is far reaching and was founded by Paul Hammond in the UK and Gladys Kafura Mwangi in Nanyuki. The charity is registered both in the UK and Kenya and its mission statement that is wide and varied. With our connection to this charity we hope to provide many new projects with in the Nanyuki area.

The first of these is to sponsor a small business in Nanyuki, that was started by one of the girls from the home. The business is a small run down hairdressers which has been operated by this young girl for two years and has proved to be viable. With improvements, the business can grow and the purpose of our involvement is to provide “on the job” training and employment for girls who now have to leave the home due to their age. These girls leave the home without any funds or accommodation and must fend for themselves, this usually means stealing or prostitution. By providing training we can give them hope for their future.

Our second project is to assist ndege wa pori with the implementation of their “Feed the Streets” program. This is a project to provide a nutritious breakfast, on Sunday mornings, for the street kids of Nanyuki, some of whom were resident at the home. The project is in collaboration with one of the local Churches and many of the local suppliers are providing large discounts for the purchase of the food. The first of these “feed the streets” events will take place on the 6th of May. The cost of providing each child with a nutritious breakfast is 50 Kenya shillings which equates to approximately 35pence and it is our aim to provide food for 60 children each Sunday.

Following on from the “Feed the Streets” project it is ndege wa pori aim to collect as much cardboard and timber from local shops etc. this is then converted by the British Army in Nanyuki into briquettes, free of charge, which is then sold and the funds placed directly into the charity. The street children will be able to collect the waste cardboard and wood in exchange for food vouchers. Our grateful thanks, once again, to the British Army in Nanyuki for their continued help.

Our greatest hope is to provide a new home for the children of Nanyuki where, not only can they be cared for but also provide an environment where they can learn a trade/skill to provide a more secure future. This would reduce the number of children who end up on the streets in their late teens. This project would require substantial funding and we are committed to doing our utmost to ensure ther is a future for these children.

There are many more projects in the “pipeline” which will assist, not only the children in the home but also those in the wider community helping to provide shelter, food, education and a future. If you can help with donations, however small, we would be more than grateful as every penny counts. We shall of course keep every one up to date with events as and when they happen.

Please visit www.ndegewapori.com for really full details of the charity which will be providing the self sustaining farming