Orphans at Nyumbani Village in Kwavonza area of Kitui County had a reason to smile last Sunday when they received donations from Mumbuni Boys High School students.
The children were ecstatic as they welcomed the Sh50,000 donation of clothes, shoes and foodstuff from representatives of students, teachers and non-teaching staff of the school from Machakos County.
Munbuni Boys School guidance and counselling teacher, Juliana Wambua, said the school’s community had adopted the “give back to society” initiative.
“We cannot ignore the fact that there are needy people, especially orphaned children and the elderly, out there who need help to survive and cope with life,” she said.
“It is for that reason that we decided to contribute something small to donate to these unfortunate children who lost their parents as a result of the HIV/Aids pandemic,” she added.
Wambua appealed to other secondary schools across Kitui county and from without to take up the challenge and form charity groups within their institutions in order to help orphanages and children homes.
“Institutions that care for orphans are burdened and any assistance accorded to them, no matter how little, goes a long way in ensuring that the children they care for get to enjoy normal life and also feel loved and accepted by the larger society,” she added.
The students’ president, Nelson Morara Nyangwara, said his school is proud to give back to society.
“We have found joy and fulfillment in clothing, feeding and socialising with the orphans at the Nyumbani village today. This is an invaluable opportunity for us to serve humanity.
“I urge all secondary school students across Kenya to borrow a leaf from us and touch someone’s heart through a simple act of goodwill. We don’t give because we have plenty but there is divine joy in sharing whatever little we have with those in need,” he noted.
Nyumbani village is the brainchild of Fr Angelo D’Agostino, the managing director of the Children of God Relief Institute. It was started in 2006 to provide care and support to both HIV infected and affected orphans and grandparents in the remote Ukambani region.
The orphanage, that lies about 11km north of Kwa Vonza trading centre, along the Machakos-Kitui road in Kitui county, is currently home to 1,000 orphans and 100 destitute grandparents.
The orphans’ asylum is organised into blended families that consist of an elderly (the head) with children who live together as a family of at least 10 people.
The institution also has own primary (Hotcourses) and secondary (Lawson) schools as well as a tertiary learning (Nyumbani Village Polytechnic) that offers the Kenya National Examination and Trade Tests in carpentry and tailoring among other courses.
The orphanage sustainability manager, Patrick Musyoka, heartily welcomed the support from Mumbuni Boys. He said the institution had not been able to break even and would always welcome donations.
He revealed that, despite having a number of promising income-generating projects including dairy farming and poultry keeping, the institution is in dire need of financial support to attain full independence.
“We still need monetary assistance from donors and well-wishers to fund full commercialisation of our projects. We are however doing our best to be self-reliant in our endeavours to take care of
HIV/Aids infected and affected children and grandparents in Ukambani,” he said.