Categories: Diary

Yet another exciting month has gone by with so much to tell you all about. Firstly, the trip to Nakuru Park was a huge success. The children were overwhelmed by the KWS bus, never mind seeing the abundance of wildlife. The Education Centre did a great job of introducing the children to the park by giving them a talk and showing them a wildlife video before they entered the park. Once in the park, the children were lucky enough to see everything it had to offer, including many rhinos, a pride of lions and a leopard. The attached photo was taken at Baboon Cliff lookout, where the children had their picnic lunch. Thanks again to Chloe Green, who made it all possible by making cards and raising money for them to go. Unfortunately, not all of the children were able to make it, as it was the school holidays and they were staying elsewhere, not having the funds to get to Njoro, but another trip is being planned for December.

The building work is very nearly finished (see attached photos) and the children just can’t wait to move in, hopefully in about 2 weeks. The roof has gone on and the walls have been plastered. We now need to wait for the walls to dry. Once the building itself is completed, there are beds to be made, mattresses to buy and water tanks to install. All the work has been done by local artisans, and the building materials have been sourced from within the district. As I mentioned last month, the water comes in by donkey cart, 400 litres at a time, 4 trips a day from the river 2 km away. So, many around us are happy for the extra work and income, especially as crops are poor due to the drought earlier this year. The crop of maize and beans is now looking quite healthy considering, as we have had some good rain in the last month.

We are going to buy a set of text books to be kept at the orphanage. These will be invaluable in that the children can go over classwork and it will be much easier for the teachers to help the children with anything they may be having difficulties with. It would also be lovely for the children to have a wealth of books, both English and Swahili, and this is something we would like to aim for. If anyone would like to donate books, fiction or non-fiction, new or second hand, I’m sure we could find a way for them to get here.

We have been busy compiling portfolios of all the children. Each child has had an individual photograph taken and given us information about themselves. All of them had very clear ideas about what they would like to be when they grow up, ranging from pastors, to farmers, beauticians to drivers!

Much news from all corners of the globe. Patrick Scott has set up a bank account in the USA, which will be used to fund the children once they reach secondary school/university level. He already has commitments for US$ 6,000, a fantastic start! Watoto Trust Inc is now a registered Georgia corporation and the charitable status documents are with the Inland Revenue Service – it is expected to take three months to complete.

Marguerite Masterson and her friend, Lenna Kozovski have been busy in Canada fundraising by making beaded bracelets. Also, Lenna and her fellow Principal (School Heads) colleagues in the Toronto District School Board have a bookclub and they too are making collections for the Canadian Watoto Bank Account.

In Australia, Jane Scragg has helped to raise $1,300. Kenmore Care, a community help group, kindly donated $1,000. Jane had told them about the orphanage and it was decided at their AGM that Watoto Trust was a worthy cause.

Sonya Eriksson in Sweden is organizing a bring and buy sale and has a meeting with the Swedish company IKEA. She is also planning to do a presentation to the pupils and parents at a school in Nottingham. Sonya herself has also raised 1,000 pounds.

Also worth mentioning are the schoolchildren of OBS Rietveld in South Africa. The driver of an overland truck was talking to them about Africa; upon hearing of the plight of the orphans, the children spontaneously decided to take the T-shirts off their backs and donate them to the orphans!

What a lot of activity all around the world! It’s amazing how much support can be drummed up from word of mouth, especially as many of these people have never even seen the orphanage and are giving entirely on trust. Please be assured that all monies donated still go through Bruce before going to the orphanage so none is wasted and none goes sideways. 100 % of donations go entirely towards the orphans and their welfare. It’s impossible to mention everybody’s generosity, but well done, and thank you to all mentioned above, and their associates.

Posted by Martin Harris at September 3, 2006 10:05 PM