Twiga Kids Relax ...

A Day in the Life ...

of some Twiga Children

3 year-old seriously ill

Twiga Children's Centre

We have a 3 year-old, HIV+ child on our register. We have just received a report from Kenya that the child is seriously ill and needs medical attention.

This is a preliminary report and we are awaiting further details.

No treatment can be administered until we have the money to pay for it. Presently, we do not have any funds available.

If there is some kind person out there who would like to help this child by helping to pay for her treatment, please contact us.

More details will be posted as soon as we have them.

Brothers Donate Board Games

In Wash Common, near Newbury, two brothers, 9 & 13, have cleared out their rooms and donated several board games and educational games to KCIS, to be forwarded to the Twiga Children's Centre.

Thank you, boys. I know that your games will give more pleasure than you can imagine.

Esther - a further update.

Esther, the girl who was "rescued" (see previous posts) from an orphanage miles away from her homeland is now in Kisii.

She has settled in and is attending school, where she is doing well.

It is so nice to have a success story to report on.

Update on Esther

It looks as if the young Gusii girl lodged at an orphanage in Kajiado will be moving back to her homeland.

We have had an offer of sponsorship from a family in the USA which will cover her daily needs and schooling.

This is indeed good news and we are very happy of the outcome. The authorities at Kajiado have been informed, so we are hoping that Esther will be repatriated very soon.

Update on the Update: Esther will be taking the bus on Monday morning to be returned to her homeland of Kisii. By all accounts, she is very excited!

Update 15/3/2010: Esther has arrived in Kisii and is settling in well.

Let's Make It Clear ...

In our last post, we made an appeal for a girl, Esther, who is stuck miles from her homeland after being abused by her employer.

Now, there seems to be some confusion about the meaning of the word abused.

Let me make it clear. I am English and I write in GB English. The word abuse means "maltreatment: cruel or inhumane treatment". This could mean sexual abuse but not exclusively so. There are many types of abuse, sexual, physical, mental ...

I used the word abuse to mean mistreatment. The girl in question had been beaten by her employer and no mention has been made about her having been sexually abused. If she had and I wanted to publish the fact, I would have said that "she had been sexually abused by her employer". Obviously, if she had been sexually abused, I would not have published her name and photograph, any more than I would if the child were HIV positive.

Apparently, abuse has a different meaning in Kenya. This is not surprising. Lots of "English" words take on a new meaning in other English-speaking countries. We often say that the UK and USA are two countries divided by a common language.

So, repeat after me: when reading a blog, or news article, one should remember that it may not have been written in your country, in your version of the language. And you should not jump to conclusions.