More Donations

I have today collected a load of clothes to fit a 12-13 year-old boy and also a bag of young teenage girls clothes. On top of this we have received a bag full of Bratz dolls and accessories.

Thanks a lot Linda. They will be very much appreciated.

Twiga Kids Relax ...

Target for 2010

Amongst our children, there are a few who live alone with no adult supervision. They muddle along, with help from us, but they are not leading the lives of children.

They have to cook, clean, grow food, wash clothes, collect water as well as go to school and do their homework. It isn't the life a child should lead. Children need to play. They need to be children.

So, for these few, we have planned to build a residential home on our Twiga Children's Centre site. We already have one hut, which will serve as the dining/study area, kitchen/office and matron's room (we intend to have someone on site 24 hours).

So we need to build two more small huts, each containing 4 sets of bunks. We will use traditional materials to keep the cost down, so we need to buy cement for the floor, poles for the support walls, sheet steel for the roof and windows and doors.

We are in the process of getting quantity and cost estimates and when they are set, we will be launching an appeal.

These kids need a home where they feel secure, where they feel looked after, where they can get on with being a child, rather than a small adult.

So, look out for the appeal. We have set up a PayPal account and will soon have Mpesa to make life easier for our benefactors.

If a lot of people give just a few bob, it will soon mount up and you will know that you are helping to look after up to 16 orphans and homeless children.

That is worth a few shillings to you, isn't it?

Dare We Hope?

We have just received an enquiry regarding our plans to build a small residential unit at the Twiga Children's Centre, something that has always been on the "To-Do" list, but which has never had the funding.

As we had a change of direction regarding residential care of our children, we now need a lot fewer places than originally envisaged. We are going to offer support to family units where there is a capable adult, rather than just take the children into care automatically. But we still have six children who are either total orphans or totally abandoned by parents. These need residential care that, at present, we cannot offer.

So, last night, I was re-drawing building plans, and sending out requests for costings of materials. I have never constructed a building in my life, not even a garden shed, so I am bound to have forgotten stuff - like window frames and doors, pretty fundamental really!

Luckily, Vincent, the other director has build things in Kenya and is well used to traditional building methods, so I passed my initial workings-out to him.

We are planning on two "huts", each with 4 sets of bunks. The existing hut is split into three rooms, which will become the kitchen, matron's quarters and dining/study area. I have designed in a shower block, but we will need to build toilets. We have already started a deep-pit latrine, so we are wll on the way.

Using traditional building materials should cut costs considerably, but we want concrete floors and corrugated sheet roofing.

Of course, we will need to buy the bunks, a unit for each child to keep clothes and personal belongings, as well as furniture for the matron's quarters.

Then there are the running costs, food, wages for the adult supervisor (or matron), electricity (dare we?), clothing, books, etc.

But I will worry about these costs once the huts have been built. Let's cross one bridge at the time!

Generous People Will Make It Christmas At Twiga

Since the beginning of 2008, I have been collecting old cell phones for sale in Kenya. Last year, this effort raised enough to buy all our kids a new pair of leather schools shoes!

I have continued to collect cell phones, but they are becoming rarer. So I put out a plea for toys and games, as we approach Christmas - and my departure for Kenya.

Orphaned kids in Kenya don't do Christmas. They go to church, but other than that, Christmas Day is just another day to survive.

Anyway, I just want to say a big thank you to Sophie, 10 years old, who lives in Newbury. She has given up her complete collection of Barbie dolls, 15 of them! Her little brothers gave 4 or 5 cars and a few other bits and bobs.

Anne, also from Newbury, gave us a load of cuddly toys, and some games, such as chess, draughts and card games and a junior Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Mia, a South African, also from Newbury gave us some games and some seed for our vegetable plot.

Our kids at Twiga are going to have one very good Christmas, even if it will be a little early - I will be back in the UK for the day.

But we still need money to feed them (and to build the much needed children's home), so if anyone is feeling generous, or wants to do some fund-raising, please feel free. Donations can be made with the PayPal button in the right margin.

Also posted on Baba Mzungu's blog

BBC Feature

I am happy to report that although the broadcast was some time ago, by broadcasting standards, KCIS is still featured on the BBC Radio Berkshire website under the 'Faith' section.

There is still the audio slide show, narrated by Nejra Cehic, as well as the two features that were broadcast on 9th and 16th of August, featuring the voices of some of our children, notably Aloys, Edwin, Esther and Dennis, and of course, our local director, Vincent.

In the broadcasts, Nejra visits the home of Aloys and Nyachuba to see just how primitive their living conditions are. She also visits the site of the Twiga Centre where she sees the children's efforts to grow their own vegetables. The children can be heard playing and singing in the background.

These broadcasts give a very good audio idea of life for orphans and needy children in rural Kenya.

It is really worth a listen.

Catch-up

I have just spent a few weeks at Kisii, with a few visits to the site that will, one day, be the site of our orphanage.

At the moment, it is just a plot on the wooded side of a hill, very pleasant, with a little hut on the site. This will serve as the start of our project to build a home for about 40 to 50 children in need. We presently have 37 children on the register, but not all need residential help.

But, as ever with children, our first priority is food. So we have prepared an area of our land for growing vegetables. I say we, the kids did most of the hard work, and I have never seen so much enthusiasm, bearing in mind that some of these children have to cultivate their own little plots to grow their food just to survive.

Over the space of one weekend, a couple of hours each day, the plot was cleared of weed, tilled, and sifted by hand. Then seeds for nine different vegetables were sowed.

The following weekend, we visited the site, hoping that the seed had sprouted and we were not disappointed. We also sowed the seed from a butternut squash on this second weekend and I have been told that they have also taken.

The kids then built a fence around the seed beds to protect their seedlings from marauding chickens, goats, etc.

Since I have returned to the UK, I have been told that the butternut squash has sprouted and the other seedlings are being transplanted to grow.

So, phase 1 of our children's home project is off the ground, or rather, in the ground.

Now we need to rasie the money to build the residential block.

Twiga Children's Centre

On my recent trip to Kisii, I visited the houses where some of our kids live.

Aloys (13) and Nyachuba (10)

These brave kids lost their mother a while ago. Their father remarried and moved out of the area, leaving them to fend for themselves.

They live in a two-room hut, living room and bedrom. Thre is a smaller hut which serves as the kitchen.

Aloys, the boy in this pair, milks his cow and sells the milk to buy food for the two of them. He cooks over an open grate in the kitchen. There are few utensils and some of those he has, he made himslf.

Both children attend school, and despite their desparately hard life, they both attain good marks.

Aloys, at 13 years old, has to act as father and mother to Nyachuba, administering medication if she needs it, etc.

I was astounded, when he was at the centre, preparing the soil for the vegetable patch. He was the hardest worker there. He stripped off his shirt and his hard life can be seen in his thin, sinewy body. He has muscles that many twice his age could only dream of.

But why should a kid have to work so hard that he has the body of a fully developed athlete?

Both kids are very cheerful, always helpful and rarely without a smile. In the case of Aloys, he also has a very cheeky disposition.

Their dream? To help build the Twiga centre so that they can move in and enjoy a little comfort.

Edwin (14) and Dennis (12)

Cousins to Aloys and Nyachuba, these brothers had a similar fate when their mother died. Luckily, they have an older sister who took them in, despite the fact that she is a teeneage single mother of two very small children.

Edwin is open, cheerful, helpful, and ready for hard work. Dennis is more withdrawn, but once he comes out of his shell, his rare smile lights up his usually serious face.

Edwin and Dennis put in more than their fair share of work to prepare the vegetable plot, working very hard to clear the weeds, prepare the soil and build the animal-proof fence.

They also want to help to build the Twiga centre so that they can move in and benefit.

Volunteers

After the resounding success of Amy's visit last year to Twiga Children's Home, Kisii, we are happy to see that we are receiving enquiries for this Summer - two, so far.
It is so good for the children to meet people from other countries and cultures, to help them to speak English, and just generally see new faces.

Merging and Changing

Having set up as a separate entity to African Community Initiative Support, the new KCIS is incorporating the children's home (Mercy Gate Champion Children's Home), which will for the time being, be known as the KCIS Children's Home, although it will have a "proper" name in the future.

This decision has been made for the following reasons:

1. Only one person within ACIS was doing anything for the children's home


2. Mercy Gate, from whom the home took its name, did little or nothing for the home.

The new organisation, based in Kisii, is led by Vincent from the home and David from ACIS, and will be seeking NGO status in Kenya and charitable status in the UK, in due course.

ACIS, in its various forms within Kenya will still continue its activities, as far as we know.

As has been seen in previous posts, David and Vincent are also in business together as Kenanda-Steggall Exports, a soapstone exporting firm, which will be supporting KCIS financially, thereby lessening the reliance on donations - we hope.

As to the name of the children's home, we will be asking the children for ideas as well as the volunteers and trustees.

So, watch this space ...