Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable children

Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable Children

INTRODUCTION:

Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable Children is a catholic funded program located in Uasin Gishu County, Wareng sub-county, 15 km from Eldoret town. Among other things, the program is a home to more than 250 children aged 3 – 18 years and is run by the sisters of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus. We are a Catholic Pontifical Missionary Congregation founded with an apostolic duty of working with the poor, with special interest in the girl child. As sisters of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus we educate the youth and support the poor, imitating the humility, charity and simplicity of Mary of the annunciation. We promptly embrace charity, love and serve the people of God and in doing so we aim at building a sustainable community.

Statement of a problem

The project was started in 2004 by the late Sr. Augustina Ngwu (H.H.C.J.) who had great passion for the poor. She identified boys and girls from poor/orphaned families from Eldoret and its environs and through her friends (Michelle Peters, Betty Possberg and their families) gave them a home and education. After some time she admitted children from other parts of the country who were identified by our sisters working in various apostolates. These children were carefully selected based on their economic and family background. The children with above average class performance have always had an added advantage in joining the program over their counterparts. Unfortunately Sr. Augustana did not live long to see her children grow. She died on 26^th July, 2011 in a ghastly motor accident on her way to work.

In its wisdom the Congregation appointed Sr. Mercellina Ezenwa (H.H.C.J.) to continue with this noble duty of taking care of the poor. In 2015 Sr. Mary Taabu Simiyu (H.H.C.J.) was appointed to take over from Sr. Mercellina who had been charged with other leadership duties in the congregation.   

As years went by the number of children increased, this called for the need of starting a primary school where these children could study. The school was also meant to fund the daily needs of the orphaned. This school, Ancilla Catholic Academy, started in 2009. Apart from the Orphaned/Vulnerable Children, the school admits children from Internally Displaced Persons who were rendered homeless in 2007. Though the government has tried to resettle these persons the truth is that the families have never recovered from the loss and still depend on the sisters for school fees.

At the moment the program of the Handmaids Orphaned and Vulnerable Children is a home to hundreds of boys and girls of whom 80% are orphans. 60% of these orphans are from HIV/AIDS pandemic who fully depend on our program for their education and general upkeep. Furthermore, most of our orphans (around 70%) are girls who are often abused by their relatives/guardians; hence need full help from the sisters ranging from sanitary towels to school fees. The remaining children are from low income families whose financial status are below poverty line and as a result cannot provide the basic needs of their children not to talk of educating them. This forces the sisters to take care of both the children and their parents through feeding programs. Some of our children (5%) are either visually or mentally challenged who need expensive learning materials and whose school fees are quite high.

FUTURE PLANS

It was a thing of joy last year when 50 of our children who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education all passed. However, this joy was short lived because we could not send all our students to College as their school fees were overwhelming. This forced us to talk to the young ones to repeat the National exam but it did not solve the school fees problem rather increased the number of those sitting for the national exam this year to 62. It is for this reason that we urgently need to put up a secondary to generate funds to break the vicious circle of getting stranded each New Year with school fees. Though Handmaids Orhaned/Vulnerable Children have a 10 acre land in Nakuru suburbs which is enough to put up a well-equipped secondary school for the orphans, the dream for the school may not materialize due to lack of funds. As a project we are already overwhelmed with our daily needs ranging from sanitary towel, food, medication, clothing to school fees for the children. It is for the aforementioned reasons that we request well-wishers to help us put up a laboratory and a four class room block which are essential in starting a secondary school in Kenya. A dormitory will also be a necessity in our case because all our orphans will have to board. Nakuru is around 200 km from our home in Eldoret.

The Secondary school project is a viable project in Kenya due to various seasons; Most of the Kenyan parents send their children to private primary schools due to poor management in the public primary schools. However due to the high cost of starting a secondary school there are very few well equipped private secondary schools to accommodate large numbers of graduates from private primary school. The public secondary schools which would have come in handy to solve this problem for the past five years have been giving priority to graduates from public primary schools thus disadvantaging the graduates of private primary schools. The Roman Catholic nuns are a trusted lot in Kenya in matters of Education. In short this is a potential area and there is no fear of the project failing once it starts.

How can I help

Our future plans can never be complete without you. We collect any help in any form ranging from material goods to monitorial donations. We encourage our foreign donors to give monitory help as the taxation costs are unbearable. For those who wish to support on infrastructure, please join us to build a new secondary school. As a congregation we have raised one thousand US dollars (US$ 1 000) which is like a drop of water in an ocean as the budget in Table 1 indicates. For those interested in taking care of our children we have calculated what it costs us to take care of our children who stay with us in our home and outside the home in Table 2 and Table 3 respectively. Just let us know what you are interested in. We prefer staying with the kids in order to help in character formation. The home also protects the kids from abusive guardians for the orphans. For special students we normally send them to special schools and follow up their progress monthly. It is our prayer that we get special schools in the future. In the home no child is forced into Catholicism or only love of GOD and discipline is emphasized. Some of our children are from Muslim background.

 Table 1: A proposed budget for secondary school for Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable Children.

Table 2: Approximate costs of taking care of a child outside the Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable home

Table 3: Approximate costs of taking care of a child within the Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable home

Important note

Please note that you must not provide everything in this budget. Just assist us with the little you can spare. Remember giving is a noble duty that we are charged with as Christians.

Contact person

Sr. Mary Taabu Simiyu

Administrator of Handmaids Orphaned/Vulnerable Children

Mobile No.+254 731 155 108 or +254 721 973 648

Email:              This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Account Details

Account name:           HHCJ Kenya Region Central Fund

Bank:                          Barclays Bank

Branch:                      Eldoret

Account number:      003-4499071

Beyond Handmaids Orphaned and Vulnerable

People have always asked if they must  be orphans to be served by our sisters? The answer is NO. Apart from the Handmaid Orphaned/Vulnerable children our sisters in focus on under privileged. This should not be misinterpreted also serve the rich but we have a deliberate move to help the poor get equal opportunities. In our schools we continue to admit students from poor background. In these schools 50% of our students are from poor background and are sponsored by the church. Well, the church on its own has no funds but relies on well-wishers like you to educate the youths. Among the private school owned by the catholic church that Handmaids are serving are Beshop Delany Academy- Eldoret, Our lady of Assumption Academy, Our lady of Assumption Montessory Nursery School and now Our Lady of Fatima Mixed Secondary Kongowea – Mombasa. Apart from Bishop Delany Academy all these schools are situated in the slums where no one wishes to call a home. Our sisters live with and serve these people. As sisters we identify the extremely poor but intelligent students and talk well-wishers to assist us. .We also teach and evangelise the public schools; Kaptagat Girls High School and Lang'ata Boys High School

Conclusion

As a congregation, we thank you for joining us in this noble cause of taking care of the orphaned/vulnerable children of Kenya. Your contribution will enable the kids to compete favorably with their counterparts. The sole goal of this program is to create a self-reliant community in this country and the global society. We believe education will enable these children to compete favorably with their counterparts all over the country. We appeal for your support towards this noble duty to make learning more efficient for our children and ease the financial burden for the sisters who tirelessly continue to support the children. I would like to attach the proposed budget of the above request for your further perusal. Looking forward to your kind consideration.