Solar Energy and Lighting for a Children home

Compassionate Hands for the Disabled Foundation was started 15 years ago, in the slum  of Korogocho, Nairobi for children living with various disabilities. These are orphans and other vulnerable children from extremely poor families abandoned or orphaned through HIV/AIDS .The home is now serving 106 children ranging from 4 to 21 years of age with special needs that range from mental to physical disabilities. The home initially started as a daycare but as the days passed, the number kept growing exponentially. This necessitated the need to move to a larger land out of the city in Ruai area.

The visit:
The PBF team in Kenya led by George, Sam and Dan visited the center on 16th Dec to witness the installation of the Solar module unit that was funded by PBF.

When we arrived, the center was a beehive of activities we children playing and others in class with friendly and helpful staff on watch. It is the end of the year and there were a couple of other visitor  from other organisations delivering Christmas goods for the children.  We were welcomed by the founder Anne Njeri with a word of prayer. We were taken around the compound by a pastor who volunteers as a spiritual guide of the center.  We got an opportunity to interact with the children and it was a very touching, inspiring and out of this world experience. Our expectation was that because the children had special needs -some of them were autistic, partially blind & deaf and others suffered from Cerebral Palsy (a movement disorder, caused by damage to the brain before, during or soon after birth. The ability for people with cerebral palsy to communicate effectively is often impaired by problems with speech & gestures used in communication) – they would be dull and non-interactive.

We  were wrong on all levels. They were very cheerful, playful and full of life. This really made us put our own life into perspective. We interacted with them for a long time. We played with them, talked to them and got to know the children’s names and backgrounds.

Our sitting with the founder who gave us a background of her own experience living with disability in the slums was really inspiring. She appreciated the contribution of PBF to install a Solar power that would drastically reduce their electricity bills.

We also saw for ourselves the various gaps and challenges the center faces that would need urgent support from PBF.

These include, increasing the Solar panels to enable the center to fully use renewable energy. There is also a need to repair the Biogas unit to produce gas from the dairy cows to be used in heating and cooking. Other needs include:

• Food stuff such dry cereals like beans, maize, green grams, black peas
• School uniforms and navy blue with white stripes tracksuit
• Building materials such as cement, sand, ballast, building stones etc.
• Assorted toys.
• Adult Diapers
• Animal feed

Over and above this they also have children who have to take medication daily, and these drugs are not cheap. They also have school going children who need uniform and stationery. Any assistance towards this end would be highly appreciated.

We were touched to discover that Anne the founder of the home is also disabled. Growing up, neighbors and relatives advised her mother to take her and beg for alms in the city center. Her mother did not take this route and she is thankful because her life might have been very different. With the help of a well-wisher, she was instead able to go to school, finally becoming a journalist working with a radio station. It was at this job that she decided that it was her calling to start this home and help others to live with their disability as she herself had been helped years before.

She does this in collaboration with the Children’s department of Ruai who place abandoned disabled children in such homes for long term engagement. She runs the home with the aid of professionals who have been trained for this kind of work. Her vision for the children in this home is to grow them into all rounded individuals. This is achieved by the four core principles she lives by: giving them an education, therapy, medical intervention and spiritual development. Her message to us is, what matters the most is what you do for the others while you are alive. You do not have to be rich to start charity; just a simple act of kindness goes a long way.  We just need to understand the language of compassion and change our attitudes.

For anybody interested in getting in touch with the home; they can be reached on the contacts below:

The Executive Director
Compassionate Hands For The Disabled
P.O. Box 13761 – 400, Nairobi
Email: info@chdfkenya.org,
Telephone: +254 725 982 882/ +254 723 859 947
www.chdfkenya.org.

Dan Amolo