The violent riots of the 2007 national election left hundreds of Kenyan children orphaned. Opening an orphanage in the community of Mowlem, Nairobi wasn’t an option…it was a necessity. A building was purchased, but five years later there still haven’t been enough funds to finish construction. Over 100 children have been placed in temporary housing until the building is completed.
When our team arrived at Smile Seeker Children’s Home in the slums of Mowlem, it took our eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dim lighting. Steel padlocked doors block out the sun, and the uncovered roof lets in the only source of natural light. Unfortunately that roof also lets in the rain which collects in dirty puddles on the floor. The unfinished concrete structure creates a fine dust that hangs in the air and makes it hard to breathe. The dust collects in the corners of the rooms, and turns to mud when the rain leaks in. The smell is horrible. The building is mouldy and musty and has an overwhelming stench of urine and feces wafting from the bathrooms.
I wish I was exaggerating.
This building is simply not fit for children to live in. It reminds me more of a dungeon than a home.
We spend our afternoons playing outside with the children. They are so desperate for any attention you can give them. They squeal with joy when we chase them around and tickle them and it’s almost impossible to walk down the street without having both of your hands held. The thought of these precious boys and girls living in a home that looks like a prison makes my heart ache.
Until construction is completed, the orphanage building is being used as the community’s primary school. The classrooms that will one day be bedrooms are dark and dingy. There are too many jobs to count. The floors and walls need to be finished, the walls need painting, the windows need glass and a roof needs to be put on to keep out the rain. Jobs are completed as the funds come in, but the funds just aren’t coming in fast enough.
Abel told us they will need $1,500 USD for supplies and another $5,000 for labour costs for the children to move in. Abel’s vision for our team this month had been to complete at least one of the many jobs that will take him one more tiny step closer to his goal.
BUT what if we could raise the funds completely? What if this horrible building could be transformed into a happy home in a few months instead of being left for another 5 years?
When we first explained our plan of raising the money to Abel, he smiled but didn’t seem too hopeful. $6,500 was too monumental a sum of money for him to get excited.
It might seem like a lofty goal, but my team intends to raise $10,000 for Smile Seekers Children’s Home before we leave Kenya.
I have given money to children’s charities before, I have watched the World Vision commercials, felt sorry for the starving babies on TV and I filled ‘Operation Christmas Child’ boxes…but I have never truly seen the need with my own eyes. Until this month, I have never rocked an orphaned baby to sleep in my arms knowing that she doesn’t have a mother to do that every night.
My heart beats a little faster to think of what a difference every single dollar will make in this place. I am painfully aware that I can’t provide these children with the loving family they deserve, but hopefully I can help raise enough money to give them a real home where they feel safe and happy.
2 Corinthians 9:7
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
James 1:27
“In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ”
Ephesians 1:5a
