07.02.2008
Vicki Weaving-Shorrocks, a secretary in our building surveying team in Manchester, recently visited an orphans school in Kenya, taking with her gifts from Gerald Eve. The following words are extracts from her diary...
I visited the Tumaini Community Orphans School during a recent two-week stay in Kenya. We travelled on safari for seven days to Tsavo, Aboseli and the Massai Mara and then spent a week close to the villages of Mtwapa, Bamburi and Kikambala – about a one-hour drive north of Mombassa, a long way from the main tourist areas of south Mombassa.
The orphanage is run by a Dutch woman, Irene Okech who first visited the area in 1996 and returned to Kenya to found the school. 24 children were at the school at the time of our visit, most are between two and 10 years of age, though the oldest is 18.
We took gifts from Gerald Eve including pencils, clothes, caps, toys, toiletries and a big stationery order from Volvo (where my husband works) as well as gifts, like sanitary wear and toiletries, skipping ropes, learning aids and clothing, from friends. Our gifts weighed 18kg.
Many of the children have been orphaned because their parents died from aids and some were HIV positive. Some were abandoned as babies on the side of the road. They were the most affectionate children, braiding my hair, wanting piggy backs and generally happy and active. The children that are ill from HIV are all being treated and luckily the orphanage can support this. Volunteers work full time around the clock alongside qualified and experienced carers. It is a wonderful set up. The children are street children, meaning they had little sense of right and wrong, manners, work ethic, education. Now they are in school.
We had the most amazing day with them; they sang, danced and played. It was great to be with them on Boxing Day as they had their first Christmas dinner with turkey and were still very excited a day later. There was no commercialism and the children were so happy with the gifts donated. They never expect anything and really show gratitude and respect for visiting them. They come from not knowing anything, no norms or values. One girl called Lucy was abandoned as a baby at the side of the road near Nairobi. The first time she heard a toilet flush she hid for hours as she was so scared. We have made a difference to these children’s lives. Now she is a happy, playful girl with so much affection – as they all are. Even the boys were up for cuddles.
It was a really worthwhile thing to do. If you’d like to know more about the orphanage and the S’harity Foundation, please visit www.kenyastreetchildren.com.
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