Published by goldertrust on 17 Jun 2008
News Update from Lewa Childrens Home!
Here’s the latest news update from Lewa Children’s Home!
For more information about this Trust sponsored project, visit their web site at www.lewachildrenshome.info!
Since our January newsletter, the home has admitted eight more children, fostered one and re-located eight with their relatives. Out of those admitted, three were babies who were abandoned at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, two were orphans and three came from Munyaka slums in Eldoret. The case of the three sisters from Munyaka slums was a bit touching as their mother is HIV+ and had been their sole caretaker. The eldest was always left to care for the other siblings and therefore faced difficult challenges, such as taking adult responsibilities as the head of the household. It was hard to imagine how these three young girls were meeting their daily basic needs, as their mother was away most of the time. After admission to the home, the three are now much happier and healthier. All they need is care and some loving intervention to help them cope with the trauma.
With the financial support of Golder Trust for Orphans we have started the renovation of the ‘old’ children’s dormitory.The plumbing, sanitary and sewerage systems needed to be improved. As a result, a room for a matron/patron will be provided and the number of bedrooms within the dormitory will increase to 5 after completion. The dormitory will also have a smaller kitchen, dining area and a lounge.
As you read in our previous newsletter, the post election violence had an impact on our children, especially those attending schools far away. The newspapers & the TV reports were horrific and sent out grime messages of death, violence and suffering. Some of our children were exposed to the madness of the post-election skirmishes. We have taken measures with our guidance counselor Gladys Koech, to aid the children with regular counseling sessions to allow them to cope with what happened to them.
Despite our country’s woes, most of our children managed to perform relatively well in school.
Although, the April holidays were short, with some children closing schools later than usual, we still managed to have some quality time with them all. For instance, we introduced a new tuition session for the holidays to enable all the children with certain subject difficulties to revise & practice with volunteer teachers.
Many thanks to the Golder Trust for Orphans for all your support!
