Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable Children Support Program
Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable Children Support Program was born out of love and compassion for the suffering girl-child and in keeping with our founding Charism in the year 2000.
The constant report in the media on the ordeal of the innocent vulnerable girl-child partially or totally orphaned due to HIV/AIDS or some other natural disaster triggered off the desire and passion to do something to make a difference in the lives of these children. Consequently the idea to talk to some of our friends and to solicit for funds to assist the girl-child and to purchase land to build a boarding primary school in the nearest future was pursued to give wholistic formation and solid education to the children, and to provide the Region with a means of sustainability.
Sr. Augustina Ngwu shared the plight of these orphaned/vulnerable children and the idea to come to their aid with two of her great friends: late Richard Sohm and Mary Simpson. Mary thereafter in 2003 visited Kenya in the company of her friend Paula Righi. During this visit, she had enough time to share with them the unfortunate situation of the children, and the desire of the Handmaids to play a part in redirecting their destiny. Moved with compassion, Mary and Paula decided each to adopt a child and promised to help talk to their friends about the need to support orphaned/vulnerable children in Kenya, Richard on his part decided to make yearly fundraising to support the children and to help build the boarding school project.
Sr. Augustina approached His Lordship Bishop Cornelius Korir, of the Diocese of Eldoret, expressing the need for the Handmaids to have a plot of our own and to carry out our own projects, as a means to become self reliant. With her was a project proposal to Peter Claver Sisters in Rome for the purchase of land and the Bishop gladly recommended it. Thanks to Divine Providence, Peter Claver Sisters responded in 2001 with a grant of US$3000 for the purchase of the two plots of 5 acres and 1¼ acres at Outspan. Because the grant was not enough to complete payment for the 1¼ acre piece, Sr. Louise Onyeanusi, the then Mission Superior, requested communities and projects to contribute towards clearing the payment.
AIM
This program is meant to provide love, care, food, clothing, shelter, wholistic formation and solid education; and skills to orphaned and vulnerable children, especially the girl-child, who are left out in various parts of the country to survive on their own. This program takes full responsibility for every child adopted for assistance.
Solid formation and education offers the only practical way to obtain skills so as to become self reliant, be able to take care of themselves and their siblings, be freed from various forms of social injustice, violence and poverty.
FACILITIES
With the pledge of Mary Simpson and Paula to adopt a child each and Richard and his family to make a yearly fundraising in support of the program we found reasonable hope that the program would succeed. We thus decided to use the boarding facility at Kalimoni to respond to the plight of the girl-child in Kenya while waiting for such a time that we would have completed the boarding primary school at Outspan. To our joy, we opened the doors in 2004 to our first batch of orphans: Loise Gacambi, Rose Nyambura, Melisa Mbikwa and Janet Tanui. We are grateful to God that with the help of Michelle Possberg , other friends in Canada and the Safaricom Foundation, we were able to start the construction of the first phase of the dormitory and have the very first batch of orphans this year (2009) at our Ancilla Boarding and Day Academy at Outspan . The construction of the dormitory and classroom block is yet to be completed . We are sincerely grateful to Betty and Florian Possberg, Michelle and Shawn Peters, Jaclyn and Brandon Sandmaier for their unfailing support towards the realization of this project.
Our gratitude go also to Marian P. Day and Lannan Foundation for supporting nine girls; to Margaret and John Beacon, Barbara Shea, Teresa Law, Paula Righi and all those who have in one way or the other supported the children. May God bless and reward you abundantly. To Mr. Lawrence Oduman we say thank you for being a wonderful friend.
We invite all people of goodwill to join us in any possible way to help give life to these children by sponsoring a child or donating towards the construction of dormitory, classrooms, sinking a borehole to provide clean water, donation school and office equipments and the host of other needs.
Brief History of few of the girls
Marceline Anyango: an orphaned girl and seven (8) years of age. She lost both parents to HIV/AIDS in 2005. She is in grade two at Ancilla Boarding / Day Academy, Outspan. Marceline needs assistance.
Faith Akanua: this 7 year old girl is in grade 1. She lost her father to HIV/AIDS and her mother unable to face the reality of her status disappeared leaving Faith and her other sibling to their helpless grandmother. Her grandmother lost all her three sons to AIDS and is left with nine children who she is neither able to feed, cloth nor educate. The worst of it all is that they have no shelter but squats from place to place.
Brenda Chelagat: now aged 7 lost her father to AIDS and her mother is terminally ill with HIV/AIDS. She is in grade 1 (std. 1)
In the company of Kayla and Janell friends from Canada, we visited a family in Kaptagat on the 4th of June 2009 and discovered yet another family of four kids - three girls aging 10, 8, 2½ years old and a little boy of 9 months. They lost their father to HIV/AIDS and their mother not able to cope with the situation became mentally ill. Magdalene 10 and Naomi 8 at their age act as parents to the two little ones. They neither had food to eat, clothing, nor do they go to school like other children. Their living condition was quite an eyesore.
As can be seen in the photo below,
Magdalene and Naomi were trying to 
bathe their younger ones with almost bare hands. At the background is the picture
of their home.
Magdalene told us they were hungry and had no soap to wash their clothes. Every day their mentally ill mother leaves the house in the morning and comes back at night with nothing.
While we managed to buy them soap and provided them with food to last at least two weeks, we couldn’t help asking, What happens thereafter? They need to continue feeding and clothing. They need medical attention, education and better shelter and security. They need us to listen to their cry. They and many other children need you to listen and help turn their lives around for a better life.
How do we identify these children?
Our own Sisters in their various places of work and through home to home visitation identify some children and bring them for assistance. Some were brought by desperate, sickly, frail and frustrated guardians. We have cases of grandparents left with the care of several grandchildren orphaned by the HIV/AIDS scourge. These are desperately poor people.
Some of the children are those found wandering about with neither a place to call home nor an environment to find love and acceptance. Such are either spotted by our Sisters or brought for help by people of goodwill.
In summary we seek out the children ourselves and also get help from the local communities where the children come from. That notwithstanding, all cases are satisfactorily investigated before he children are accepted for support.
Impact of the Program on the Children
There has been a commendable positive change in the lives of the children who are benefiting from this program as noted psychologically, socially, health-wise, and progressive improvement in academics.
They no longer see themselves as poor and unfortunate children without hope, but now feel loved, belonging, safe and full of hope for a brighter future. They are able to interact and compete comfortably with other children. More than 70% of them who came sick and malnourished are now very healthy. They were all tested for HIV/AIDS and none except one boy is positive. About 65% are above average in academic performance. To crown it all the children from Std 4 upwards have a clear picture of what they wish their future to be like hence their goals are already set at an early age.
Many of the grand mothers have expressed satisfaction at the improvement in behavior and on the impact they make on their other siblings when they go home for holidays.
Honestly speaking, the children are doing great.
If you would love to help us make a difference in the lives of these children, kindly contact:
Sr. Augustina Ngwu, HHCJ Program Coordinator Handmaids OVC Support Program P. O. Box 1280 Eldoret 30100 Kenya East Africa
Tel. +254-722653956
Email:
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