Sunday 10 February 2008

Help from the UK

Since the start of the crisis in Kenya, Kisii, where the orphanage is located, has been reasonably quiet with only a few skirmishes in the town centre. But it has seen nothing like the violence that nearby towns have suffered.

However, the town has received over 300 refugees from neighbouring towns. These people are now camped out in the grounds of various churches.

Food is in short supply and local producers have raised their prices - naturally. So the orphanage suddenly found that they were struggling to feed the children properly.

So I launched an appeal in my village shop, asking people to put their change into a box.

So far, we have raised £95, which means that we were able to send the orphanage £85 after expenses. This is a lot of money n Kenya!

We are also collecting old cell phones. Not worth a lot here, they can be sold for a minimum of £20 in Kenya, and this money will buy every child a new pair of shoes!

Other people have been collecting clothes for the refugees, but I don't know how I am going to get them out there yet. I am not having a lot of luck with the airlines. One in partcular was very keen to help ACIS, but I can't seem to get any sense out of them at the moment.

And then there is the question of our vehicle, which was destroyed in the troubles. Being such a small agency, we don't have the funds to replace a vehicle at the drop of a hat.

Oh well, I am sure something will turn up.

No comments: