Wrapping Up in Nakuru

We arrived at the Nakuru New Life Home this morning around 8:30. The babies were up to greet us along with the caregivers, directors, and administrators. As we began to assist the staff by playing with and feeding the babies, Anne, the teacher, took us down to the school in groups of five at a time for the open house.


While the first group went, I played with Reuben until he needed to be changed. I was almost immediately given Osten (pronounced like Austin). He is absolutely adorable! He’s a very happy baby, you can tell because he’s always smiling. He’s a big boy and he loves to explore anything that you might be wearing. He explored my shoulder with his gums and left me a little “baby love” on my shoulder!


Finally it was my turn to go down to the open house at the school in the backyard. When I walked inside I was directed to the kitchen where there were small sandwiches, cookies, popcorn, and potato chips. I was told that the staff at New Life Homes had each given 50 shillings to make this possible for us.

The main attraction of the open house was the artwork portfolios that were on display. The school-aged children at the Home completed these portfolios. There were about 20 of them. They were like homemade coloring books, each bearing a different child’s name on the cover. The portfolios displayed the children’s ability to color inside the lines.

In looking at the portfolios, I noticed slight differences in what appeared to be same picture in different portfolios. All the portfolios had the same pictures in the same order, but the pictures looked just a little different from portfolio to portfolio. When Mom inquired, Anne told her that she draws each child’s coloring book page by hand. There is no internet or computer to download these blank drawings so that the children may color them and no copy machine so that she may draw it once and reproduce it the appropriate number of times. The things we take for granted…

That also made me think of something I’d seen the day before. When we got to the home yesterday, we saw a man cutting the grass in the yard…with a machete. We all thought “wow, we should raise some funds to get them a lawn mower.” But when you think of it, we would only be putting that man at a greater disadvantage. When we get them a lawnmower, we turn a job that takes him three days to complete into a two hour job. We would almost cut three days of wages for him.

It’s similar to when a pair of Amani contributors came to the home last year and were deadest on getting a washing machine down to the home for their use. Wilson and Beth had to explain to the generous contributors that the electricity needed to run the washer machine would cost more than paying the women who washed the clothes. It would also cut those women out of work. If we really want to continue to help them, we need to continue to sponsor these orphans. The money that we give cares for a child, the caretaker at the home gets paid to care for this child, that job helps that woman care for her family as she uses the money to feed them, put them through school, etc., this helps the economy survive. Circle complete.

Before leaving, Wilson talked to us a bit about what it was like when the country was at war with one another. The mass killings during the Great Rift Valley Conflict caused great stress for directors of the homes. He recalled how he had to hide in the roof of the home with the Kikuyu babies for their protection. It was mainly the male children because they were the ones begin targeted, but also because there weren’t many Kikuyu girls at the home in the first place. There weren’t very many girls at the home period.

He explained to us that girls are adopted more often. There are always more boys in these homes than there are girls. Wilson said that it is because girls are so vulnerable. They need a mother AND a father to protect them as they are growing up. It is believed that boys will be ok. That these homes can provide the care that they need. He also said that there are always fewer girls at the homes because they don’t come into the homes at the rate the boys do. This is because when some people find orphaned girls they’ll keep them and turn them into maids. They are often abused in situations such as these.

Josem Walker, a friend of the Amani Children’s Foundation, fears the vulnerability of female African orphans. He has 16 children…13 of them are adopted…all of them are girls. That’s not to say that he doesn’t care about what happens to young orphaned boys. He has started a school for them. It has produced some of the leaders seen in the various Kenya communities today.