| Support for the Visually Impaired (Blind) |
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Towards the end of 07 Kindfund received a substantial gift to help blind people in Kenya. When we arrived in January 08 the Blind Unit was a priority. We visited towards the end of January. Some of the 14 children had not arrived because of the trouble in Kenya but those who were there were about to be sent home because of the lack of food. The compound was overgrown and the water supply was not working. A new dormitory built by a donor remained unoccupied because there were no curtains and no lights and a new kitchen and dining area needed a few finishing touches to complete and make them usable.   We set to work with enthusiasm. Locham our driver mechanic suggested we bring a team to cut their grass and the builder to repair the kitchen which had not been finished. We engaged an electrician in Isiolo to repair and extend the solar to the new dormitory, the kitchen and dining room, to replace the battery and the control box. Once we started the work the Primary school rallied around and the pupils finished cutting the grass, cutting down overgrown hedges and trees and lifting the many boulders around the site. We organised for a nurse Veronica to come and treat minor ailments and worm all the pupils. A discussion between Nancy and the house mother soon agreed upon a diet and later in the week we delivered basic food requirements. A call with an engineering works in Isiolo to discuss the design of curtain poles and tie backs all made from y10 construction bars. Pamela suggested Turkana blankets for curtains. We purchased from Archers Post and Elizabeth our deaf tailoress ran a seam along all 16 of them. They are bright as you can see in the photo above which includes the children from the unit singing three worship songs at the official opening. We were blessed to meet Ruben a retired blind teacher who was responsible for establishing the unit with the support from a commercial farm where he was born. A Christian with a heart for the children and a Salvation Army officer he plays the accordion and trains choirs. He will continue to help to develop these children. We have undertaken to visit the unit on a fortnightly basis to provide for their food and bring the message of God's love. We will support any new children who require these specialist facilities. In August 2008 we have been asked by the Human Rights Commissioners in Kenya to consider becoming one of two trustees of theis home along with Kisima Farm another sponsor. If you would like to help these doubly disadvantaged children living with their handicap in the poorest tribes in Kenya you can sponsor a blind child from £15 (€22) per month. All sponsorship funding goes to Kenya. Local administration and overheads are covered by personal donation.
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At a meeting with the District Education Officer in Isiolo in 2006 to discuss our support for children to secondary education and our interest in the Deaf School he suggested that we might also like to help a small unit for the blind attached to Kambi Ya Juu Primary school. The school is located about 5 kms out of Isiolo on the Kipsing Road, He explained that the boarding unit had been started by private sponsorship but was now in some difficulty. The road out to the school is rough and when we sought to visit it we failed to locate it. Eventually after trying again we located the school but it was closed. Subsequently Nancy our Kenyan co-ordinator visited the Blind Unit and was deeply touched by the conditions the children were enduring. She sent us some photos and appealed on the children's behalf for us to do something. In September of 2007 having seen the conditions we began to help by sponsoring three children at 3000ks (c.£25) each for the term and buying their uniforms and personal effects. | < Prev | Next > |
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