Glory and Yvonne
Last Year, Glory and Yvonne lost both of their parents having died of Aids within months of each other. Imagine if this was you at their age. The loss of one parent at such an important time in your life would have been devastating. For Glory and Yvonne to lose both their parents has had a traumatic effect upon their lives. Not only did they suffer the loss of their parents, they were also acting as their carers by nursing them through the last days of their lives and then burying them in the garden of their home. Their young lives had been turned upside down and found themselves completely on their own. The community rallied around, the Village Chief came to their assistance. They were faced with having to leave the home where they were born, the village where they had always lived, the friends they had grown up with and the school they loved and go to live with their ageing Grandmother in a neighbouring village. Whilst their Grandmother willingly took the girls in, she had no means of supporting them nor could she possibly afford to send them to school. The Patrick Muthuri Family Foundation was made aware of their plight. Patrick arranged to provide welfare support and for the girls to attend the local Primary School by paying their school fees. Gradually the girls are beginning to find happiness again through the loving care of their Grandmother and the Headmistress at their school – albeit Glory is still finding the loss of her parents very difficult. Sadly, there are many such orphaned or disadvantaged children in need of Patrick’s help. HOW CAN WE HELP.
£5 per month = £60 per year = KES 7,500. The cost of giving an orphaned child the opportunity of going to Primary School, receive a school uniform/shoes, sanitary products,school books, a meal each day. And of… CHANGING THEIR LIVES FOREVER.
Poverty Is Rife
Orphaned children often live with aged grandparent(s) with no means of supporting them or parents unable to obtain work. What income they do have sustains them; schooling is not an option; no school no future. Life is difficult.
The Housing, like the schools, is primitive.The houses are no more than shacks, often with only one room, two if they are lucky, no running water, no sanitation and no electricity. Cooking is on an open wood fire within the living area.
Those with a small plot of land are able to eke out a meagre living by growing staple vegetables such as maize, potatoes, beans, carrots etc and sell any surplus they may have at the local market. Their diet is poor and often their health suffers with TB a threat. There are parents with aids which makes working their land difficult or obtaining a job impossible with their children having to care for them. Patrick’s ‘Foundation’ helps almost 40 such children, with them being the innocent victims of this deadly disease. Life is difficult.