How did you get started?
May (my wife) and I were running the Mill Creek Manor
Health Retreat when we met an American man who was the
principal of a Kenyan Missionary School. The man was
suffering from cancer. This man just intrigued me with
all the stories of poverty and the basic way of life for
the average Kenyan. This led into a trip to Kenya for me
and a real learning experience to say the least. I
returned to the USA and reported to May and our two
children the things I saw. Within 10 months the four of
us arrived at Nairobi airport in Kenya with a few
dollars in our pocket and two suit cases each. Almost 10
years have past now, and we are thoroughly enjoying
seeing the fruits of our labours in the East African
Mission Orphanage (EAMO).
How many children do you have?
We are currently caring for 109 children. These are made
of both boys and girls. Their ages range from a three
month old baby to 17 year old boys and girls. The
population is almost half boys and half girls.
Do you have any children staying at the orphanage
that are not orphans?
By far the majority are orphans. Although there are some
that have lost their mother to death, but the father is
possibly still alive. We just don’t know where though.
We do have some children on top of our own 107 orphans
that are staying with us for the purposes of education.
We provide all the basic requirements for these children
too.
We also provide some schooling and health care to
several children from the community. Due to our
background in Naturopathy, we are able to provide Health
Care to some children. We currently have a young girl
attending school here so that we can help care for her
ulcers. Her mother came and asked for our assistance.
She had extreme ulcers, most likely from malnutrition.
They were so severe that you could see the bone. She
attends the school, has a nutritious lunch with the
children and has the wound attended to.
How many babies do you have?
Currently we have 10 babies which are absolutely
beautiful. Taking in babies has been a very exciting
turn for us, as they are just totally different to grown
children. Everybody loves a baby!
How long do you keep the children?
All children are taken by the District Children’s
Officer to the local Court House for committal to our
orphanage. The committal is for EAMO to have custody
over these children until the reach the age of 18 years.
Because our oldest has only just turned 17 years, we
have not had to face a child leaving the orphanage as
yet. Our goal is to try to give them trade skills in
preparation for the day they leave the orphanage.
Although, we really don’t think any of the children
will want to leave the orphanage as it is their own
home. We the management will continue to provide for any
of the children once they reach 18 years. It is not a
must that they leave at this age.
Where do the children come from?
They come in various ways like, the District
Children’s Officer, the local Chief, the police, but
the most common way is through the child’s
Grandmother, or even the Great Grandmother. A typical
scenario is, the mother of either 1-10 children dies and
leaves all these siblings for the Grandmother or Great
Grandmother to care for. Usually the Grandmother is
struggling to put food on her table for herself, let
alone a number of other children. The husband of the
deceased has normally already left the home before the
death of the wife due to lack of work and being able to
support his family. When taking in children, we will
often take in brothers and sisters too to keep the
family together. In one case we have 5 from the one
family.
How are you supported?
The orphanage is supported mainly by friends that we
have known for years, and these friends promote with
their friends, which leads to either one off donations
or joining our sponsorship program. Sometimes we are
supported by institutions that may either give donations
for regular use or for a specific purpose, like a
building project. Some of our past donors have been:
- Australian Government
- Barclays Bank
- ADRA (Adventist
Development and Relief Agency)
- HIPPO Charity
- Peppercorn Web Design
- Hartland Institute
- Living Valley Springs
How do I make a
donation?
We are very appreciative of all donations. If you would
like to make a contribution you can do so by the
following ways:
Credit Card
Personal Cheque
Bank Transfer
PayPal
If I sponsor a child, how do I know that my donation
is not going to be eaten up with…………………?
When you take into consideration all the staff we need
to pay - day and night guards, cooks and carers on
rosters, maintenance men, office work, medical and
dental care, education materials, and the purchase of
food for all these - it is easy to see that the child
sponsorship funds do not cover the running expenses of
the orphanage. All of the sponsorship money goes towards
the care of the children and if we did not receive the
kind donations over and above the child sponsorships, we
would not survive.
What have been some of the most wonderful things that
have happened at the orphanage?
Off hand, I can think of three things that really stand
out amongst many things that I could comment on. Wendy
came to us when she was 2 years old. Her mum had died
from AIDS. The Great Grandmother was trying to care for
her. Wendy was suffering from TB and a weeping and
oozing scar on her neck that just would not heal. She
was very weak and tiny for her age, It was obvious that
she was not going to live too long. I am happy to say
that Wendy is alive and kicking, and I mean kicking! She
is now 5 years old, and talk about an extreme change!
She is just full of beans. A beautiful child indeed.
Next was Minnie, our first baby. At 15 months old, she
looked like a prune. He mother had died, the sister was
supposed to be looking after her, but it was obvious
that she did not want her, so we took her in. She was
the turning point for us. We had only been taking in
boys and girls aged between 2 and 12. But now she
started a whole new phase for us. Minnie is really
healthy and happy now and on her way from being a
shriveled up prune to a nice chunky adorable little
girl.
After Minnie came more babies who have more wonderful
stories, but the latest intake is not only a sad story
in its nature but one with a wonderful ending. Lilly is
15 years old, who was being cared for by her father, as
her mother had died. Her father raped her and she ran
away when she found out she was pregnant. She ended up
in remand prison, because the authorities had no where
to put her. She is now in safe hands and very
comfortable and secure. She already calls us Mum and
Dad.
But, we cannot forget the changes that we have seen in
all our children over these past 10 years. Each face
that you can see flashing on this website has a story to
tell that would give you goose bumps. But now they all
have their basic needs met, and are happy and loved as
one of our own!
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