The Kiwi Kenya Project: The kids!!

A day of face-painting: This photo is of us and some of the kids from the Son's of Manasseh Orphanage that the donations are helping!

About the Project...

Karibu!

Welcome to our blog! We are two New Zealand girls, Emily Reeves and Ceara Bickerton, and we are currently in Kenya for 5 weeks volunteering at an orphanage. Throughout our time here it has become clear that the orphanage is really struggling with finances and we feel that with some good old kiwi generosity we could help them out a lot.

One of the major problems is that there is no steady income for the orphanage. Beatrice (the wife of the manager) cares for 32 children from ages 1-13years during the day. While Joseph (the manager) is out trying to fundraise and get one off donations from the community. Unfortunately, the one off donations have to go on renting the property where the orphanage is and the left over money goes on food for the kids. This means that the children do not always know when there next meal will be.

On the plus side Joseph has secured some land from the Massai tribe to build a new orphanage. This would mean they no longer would have to pay rent at their old place. However, they have only been able to afford to make two small structures on the property which, in the future, will cater as a lounge/dining area and a kitchen. At present there is nowhere for the children to sleep.

We thought what would be great would be to provide them with a sustainable income. We have done some research and it seems that goats… yes goats… are the most viable option. One goat can provide all the children with milk each day which will give them some much needed nutrients. If we bought two high grade goats the milk from the second can be sold and the income from the goats would provide money to help build the new orphanage.

We have put out a plea to our family and friends to donate money so we can buy the goats. We are overwhelmed by the response and we can already afford to buy both goats. The extra money we receive is going directly into building the orphanage right now.

The purpose of this blog is so that the people who have donated can follow updates about the children, goat buying and building process. We will update the blog as the events happen!

If you have any queries about the project feel free to email Emily (emilyreeves7@gmail.com) or Ceara (ceara.bickerton@hotmail.co.nz) and we will reply as soon as possible.

Asante Sana (Thank you very much- in Swahili) to all our kind donors and hope you enjoy following the progress we are making,

Ceara and Emily :)

The Kiwi Kenya Project

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

The kids!!

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