The Light Orphanage Centre currently supports 41 borders, between the ages of 3 and 15 years old. Furthermore, the orphanage attends to another 34 disadvantaged children, who come from the nearby slum in Kware, to have breakfast, lunch and to attend school during the week.
There are eight classes in the orphanage, ranging from nursery to class seven, and four regular teachers. Jennifer Nthenya Mutuku is the Class 1 teacher, Gladys Gathoni is the Class 2 teacher, Margaret Achieng Kubasu is the Nursery teacher and Elisha Omolo is the Head teacher. Mr. Charles Mutuma also takes the role of a teacher when there is not enough staff or volunteers around.
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| Teachers Jennifer, Gladys, Margaret and Elisha |
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| Classes |
There are also some local volunteer teachers, like Benson Ombuge, who teaches Class 4 to 7. However, the local volunteers do not remain in the orphanage for long periods, as they are often looking for paid employment.
Due to lack of funding, the regular teachers have not being paid enough money for quite a number of months. For this reason, the orphanage is at constant risk of loosing its staff due to financial hardship.
INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS
In September 2012, the orphanage welcomed its first two international volunteers. Claudiene (Clau) and Claudine (Dine), sisters from Brazil, helped out teaching the children, developing this blog and making the profiles for the border and non-borders attending school in the orphanage.
The children and teenagers were very excited to have Clau and Dine as their first "mzungu" teachers in the orphanage, as for some of them, this was the first time they had seen and interact with white people (mzungu).
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| Brazilian Volunteer Clau with Class 7 |
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| Brazilian Volunteer Dine with Class 4 |
DONATIONS:
At present, there is only one regular donator to the Light Orphanage Centre. Mr. Peter Veal from Switzerland has been assisting the orphanage with a monthly donation since its foundation in 2008. His financial assistance is vital to help maintaining the orphanage, but it’s still not enough to keep the orphanage going.
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| Donator Mr. Peter Veal with Orphanage Staff |
WHERE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS MOST NEEDED:
ELECTRICITY: The Light Orphanage Centre has been operating without electricity since its opening in 2008. In the evenings, the children and resident staff get by with the use of candles. Financial help to assist the orphanage setting up electricity in the premises would be highly appreciated.
RENT: Most part of the money being donated to the orphanage goes to pay the rent. Therefore, there is little left to spend on food and other expenses. Financial assistance to pay the rent would mean security to all in the orphanage.
FOOD: Providing food to the 85 children remains an enormous challenge for Mr. Charles Mutuma. Many times within a month, Mrs. Mutuma has to run around the neighborhood to chaise up money to buy food for all the children. This is a constant struggle for Mr. Mutuma for the past four years.
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| Refectory |
Normally, the everyday food consists of ‘ugali’ (maize flour with water) and ‘sukuma’ (kale). Sometimes there is porridge available for breakfast. When there is not enough funds to purchase porridge, the children only eat lunch. The children rarely eat nutritious food, such as meat, unless the orphanage receives a donation.
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| Kitchen facilities |
Regular financial assistance to purchase food for the children is urgently needed. Many of the children suffer from stomach pain and headache from going hungry for long periods.
SCHOOL FURNITURE AND STATIONERY: The school classes lack in desks, chairs and blackboards. The children do not have enough school materials such as notebooks, books, pencils, sharpeners etc. The little they have is in poor condition and everything they have they share with one another. School furniture and school material would be greatly welcomed.
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| Class lacking proper blackboard, desks and chairs |
DORMITORY FURNITURE: The orphanage lacks beds for all its borders. Currently there are between 3 to 4 borders sharing the same bed. The mattresses are also in very poor conditions. There are no windows in the dormitories making these facilities extremely warm during hot weather. Financial aid is paramount to improve the dormitories and give the children a better night of sleep.
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| Dormitory |
CLOTHES: The orphanage borders as well as the non-residents usually wear the same clothes many times during the same week. Some of their clothes are in very poor conditions and very dirty too. Clothes donations would be deeply valued.
TOYS: The children have next to nothing when it comes to toys. In the photo below, they were playing a game with a ball made up with a pair of socks with paper inside. They boys were playing with a ball made of plastic bags. The little ones were playing with tyres. They have to be very creative when it comes to playing. Toys donations would make the children extremely happy!
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| Play area |
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Playground without swings
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HOW TO MAKE A DONATION:
OPTION 1:
Donators can make a bank deposit. Details as below:
Bank: Equity Bank
Account Name: Light Orphanage Centre
Account Number: 0610 296 227 569
Swift Code / BIC: EQBLKENA
OPTION 2:
Visitors are welcomed to the orphanage any day of the week or weekend. Preferably during the day, as night time there is no electricity available in the premises. If you would like to meet with Mr. Charles Mutuma, it is advisable to phone him, prior to your visit, to make an appointment.
CONTACT US:
Contact : Mr. Charles Mutuma, Founder
Mobile number: 0725 036 185
Address: Kaburini Area, Kware - Nairobi – Kenya
Directions: Drive along Langata Road (Rute 126), Mangadi Road, Kware, Kaburini Area
