Polish trio cycle from Nairobi to Meru to raise cash for disabled children

Three Polish citizens on Monday started a ride from Nairobi to Meru, covering 250km in four days to raise money for the Furaha Centre.

The centre helps children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism in Meru and Isiolo counties.

Zbigniew Ciszek, Andrzej Strządała and Bogusława Skupin were flagged off by Poland Ambassador to Kenya Jacek Bazański at his residence in Nairobi.

The bicycle ride from Nairobi through Sagana, Kiganjo and Nanyuki to Meru is part of the "Water for Furaha" project  initiated by Ciszek in October 2020.

The fundraising campaign seeks to collect money for expansion of the Furaha Centre. It is currently operates from a rented house.

Ciszek, the initiator of the ride, is a passionate cyclist and an employee of one of corporations in Poland.

Asked why he decided to raise the funds, he said since there are many children who need help in Kenya, they (with friends) decided to do something and get involved.

He said he knows they cannot help everyone around the world but if what they do makes at least one child smile, it was worth the effort. 

They found out about Furaha Center on Facebook, read about its story and its needs and decided to intervene and help. 

The centre was established in April 2016 by Marek Krakus, a Polish. It offers patients health and development support, including daily physiotherapy, special education opportunities and psychotherapy.

The facility is equipped with special therapeutic room, occupational therapy section, counselling and psychotherapy rooms, school classes and dining hall. It does not charge for the services.

However, due to high demand, Krakus said the centre needs further expansion. It recently acquired a new parcel of land and they are looking for funds to build a permanent centre for the children and provide a space for technical skills training, including carpentry, tailoring, knitting, poultry keeping, bee keeping and cultivating vegetable gardens.

“As some of the centre's charges approach teen age, these new activities will allow to prepare them for independence. The new, expanded Furaha Centre will have capabilities to welcome children not only from Central Kenya, but also from other parts of the country as well as from the other East African countries for open rehabilitation holidays,” Poland embassy said in a statement.

The "Water for Furaha" project aims at raising funds for drilling a borehole on the newly purchased property and buying a water tank. The embassy said that so far, nearly 75 per cent of the funds have been collected.

The initiative will be officially end when the trio finishes the ride in Meru.

However, collection of funds will continue on Facebook up to April 8 to allow for 100 per cent collection of the necessary funds, the embassy said.

The whole building is expected to be completed in 2023 with financial help of donors and well wishers.