Visit Report October 2016

Twelve months’ ago the Royal Air Force, Brize Norton, offered the charity 4 tonnes of space on their aircraft going out to Kenya this year. We were extremely honoured and thrilled to have been given this opportunity and so we have spent the last year collecting donations of clothes, shoes, books, stationery and much more. We could not collect the whole amount so our friends and colleagues, The Big Hearts Square Group in Wales, collected half the consignment and, in total, 209 x 20 kgs. boxes were eventually shipped out last month.

The Students and Staff at Ringwood School organised a compaign to collect so many donations and they have done a remarkable job. The hard work and generosity of everyone has been amazing and we are extremely grateful to everyone involved.

We travelled to Nanyuki to be there when the shipment arrived and it was wonderful to see the result of one year’s work and so many people’s generosity and hard work. So many of our family, friends and schools have donated items and our thanks go to absolutely everyone.

Caroline Gachoki and Doreen Wahome are our official representatives in Nanyuki and they have worked tirelessly to unpack the boxes and start distributing everything to Children’s Homes, Schools and the slum areas of Nanyuki.

SIMAMA Project

We visited the children at Simama and, as usual, were given the most amazing welcome. These children are so, so happy and this is the result of the most incredibly dedicated and loving team of staff you could find, headed by the founder of the Simama Project, Matt Orcutt.

BARAKA Orphanage

A trip was taken a few kilometres out of town to the Baraka Orphanage which is new to our charity. This home has 19 children and they are living in the most basic conditions. They have no water and no electricity. The children have to walk to the local river and collect water every day. The children were all at school on the day we visited but it was clear to us that the little they have is much better than living outside this home.

NEEMA Baby Home

NEEMA is a home for orphaned and abandoned babies and our visit was an absolute joy. So, so many tiny babies – one with a life expectancy of less than five years. He has no brain, only a brain stem, but he is being cared for by the wonderful staff at the home, headed by Annie Coppedge.

Ndururi Primary School

A visit was made to Ndururi Primary School to see the children who have been participating in an exchange of letters between children at Muscliffe Primary School in Bournemouth and Ndururi School. We were so pleased to see the children at morning break time, enjoying their morning porridge prepared in the “state of the art” kitchen provided by the Royal Air Force a few years’ ago. This meal of porridge was welcomed by them all as so many of them would not have had any breakfast or lunch.

 

DISTRIBUTION

Our most challenging visit this time was visiting an extremely deprived area in the heart of the slum district in Nanyuki. We, together with Caroline and Doreen, took many boxes of clothes, etc. to distribute to the residents there. We have never experienced such poverty. There were children caked in mud, with no shoes and dressed in rags. Two elderly men, dressed in filthy oversized clothes draped over their skeletal bodies, kept trying to make us understand what they wanted. When they were eventually given a gift of an item of clothing, they were ecstatic. Just as we were finishing up, three children appeared carrying wood they had been collecting. Their faces were a picture when they realised there were some free goodies. One of them, a boy aged about 7, just dropped his precious cargo of wood and ran to where all the action was. Thankfully, he received something but one of the older girls missed out as everything had gone by the time she realised what washappening. Life is unbelievably hard for these children.

 

Maternity Unit, Nanyuki General Hospital

A visit was made to the maternity unit in Nanyuki General Hospital to distribute some clothes for the new babies. As you can see, it is rather overcrowded – two ladies per bed. This is comparatively comfortable for them as there are often three toa bed and, on many occasions, the only place to lie down is the floor!!!!

During this visit we have assisted so many children and children’s homes with clothes, shoes etc. and food. Within hours of the boxes arriving in Nanyuki Caroline and Doreen started unpacking and sending things to the following homes:

• Simama
• Hope and Home
• One More Day for Children
• Baraka Orphanage
• Neema
• Likii Special School

More visits will be made in the coming weeks to schools to distribute school uniforms and shoes and visits will be made to the slum areas in the town, also distributing everything. We are also supporting several children with their school fees and are always looking for sponsors and donations to enable us to continue our work in Nanyuki.

The Future

Our next project in Nanyuki is to, hopefully, set up a dance school in the town to provide some of the most disadvantaged children with the “chance to dance”. A scheme is already in place in the Kibera slum in Nairobi which has proved an absolutely wonderful opportunity for the children there. This project in Nanyuki will be open to ALL the children in the town and it is hoped that children of all backgrounds will come together and those more fortunate will share what they have with the less fortunate. A voluntary dance teacher has come forward and Studio One Dance School in Bournemouth has already started collecting dance shoes, costumes etc.

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EASYFUNDRAISING has been a great help in providing some income for the charity. If you are not aware of this yet, please visit www.easyfundraising.org and when you shop on line, you can facilitate a donation for the charity at no cost to yourselves. It really is free money!!!!

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FINALLY

Christmas is nearly here and we would like to say a huge thankyou to absolutely everyone who has made donations of things we have sent out to Kenya. The Royal Air Force, Brize Norton and the British Army have been incredible in their efforts to ship and transport so many boxes out to Nanyuki for us. Thank you to each and every one involved. We would like to wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR.

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Should anyone wish to make a donation, one off or monthly (no matter how small), our bank details are set out below and thank you all once more. Everything raised is used for the children and no charity money is used for travel or accommodation. Wefund ourselves and treat our visits to Nanyuki as a working holiday.

SHOULD YOU WISH TO MAKE A DIRECT DONATION OUR BANK DETAILS ARE;

HSBC,396 WIMBORNE ROAD,
BOURNEMOUTH,
BH9 2HA

Account Name; Nanyuki Children’s Charitable Trust
Sort Code; 40-13-08
Account Number; 81349473

Thank You