Projects
Although the clinic is giving us a new impetus and focus for our efforts we mustn’t leave behind those organisations and individuals that we have supported over many years. The key to being able to support yourself in Kenya is good health and a good education, our projects are helping to deliver both.
Focus on Africa was started by local resident Peter Plumb in 2002. It was formed as a result of Peter wanting to help in Africa. His dream was to build an orphanage and school to provide education and a place to live for the orphans of the Nyamira region of Kenya. Unfortunately Peter died before seeing his dream take shape. But the project didn’t die with him as it was taken forward by his son in law and Brian Boltwood. The facilities built by the charity housed 20 children in 2007 and it was handed over to the local community in 2009.
In addition to the main projects the charity has always supported a number of schools and orphanages in and around their Kenyan base of Kisumu. This work includes practical jobs like plumbing, electrics, small scale building work etc. plus the supply and fitting of mosquito nets, bedding, play equipment and educational books.
Harmony Clinic
In 2014 Focus on Africa found some land that we wanted to purchase. The land was outside of Kisumu city. Our prime aim was to build a small clinic to replace a nearby clinic run by Jackson and Juliana Mraga. It took us a year to finally purchase the land. We finalised the purchase in January 2015. Originally Jack and Juliana ran the clinic from their home with temporary facilities. Jack is a registered nurse and Juliana a qualified midwife. In January 2016 we appointed a builder to start building our clinic. Focus on Africa have now raised enough money to build and open the clinic. We still need to raise the money to keep the clinic supplied with medicine, drugs and equipment to run efficiently. Please help in any way you can.
The clinic treats children with Malaria. In Kenya, medical help is not free and many children die from Malaria when their parents cannot afford medical help and medicine. Its the hope of the charity is able to treat the children and prevent many children from dying.
Mama Ngina's School
Mama Ngina's School (pronounced en gina) is a state owned orphanage and its where abandoned babies and children are brought. When we first was told about the orphanage and visited, we found a pretty sorry site. They had completely run out of food, the group had a quick whip round and managed to get a local person to go to the market and purchase sacks of rice and flour, oil and vegetables to feed all the children. When a new manager was put in place, he persuaded local supermarkets to donate bread on a daily basis for free and another supermarket to donate chickens to give the children a more healthy diet.
We have returned many times to the Orphanage, purchasing mattresses, mosquito nets and having an oven built to enable them them have an indoor kitchen as opposed to cooking on an open fire in the courtyard. We then painted the kitchen from ceiling to floor to make it clean and hygienic.
The Rescue of Cecil and Victor
Cecil and his best friend Victor were living in a very run down home in the hills of Kisumu. Cecil is sponsored by one of the Focus on Africa team who was unable to make the trip this year.
Since leaving Kisumu in January 2013 the living conditions for the 2 boys had deteriorated drastically. The large dormitory they slept in had been changed into a classroom and a shed no bigger than 8ft square, with a collapsed roof and broken window had been changed into a bedroom for 8 boys. The condition inside was appalling. We also discovered that Victor had been sent away from the home in August 2013 to live with his grandfather, as his grandfather had not been able to pay Victor’s school fees of £1.90 per month.
When we spoke to Cecil who is 12 years old, we discovered that the Manager of the home was sending him to stay with his stepfather each weekend to ask for school fees. He was told not to return until Monday so that the Home did not have to feed him. Cecil is his Mother’s first child from a previous marriage; she subsequently went on to have 3 further children with her new husband. As is common in Kenya, men will rarely take on another man’s child so Cecil was banished to an orphanage several years ago.
Cecil’s mother and stepfather had fought and she had fled the family home sometime in 2013 leaving him with the 3 children. As Cecil was being sent to his stepfather each weekend his stepfather was making him take care of the 3 younger children and would often keep him from going back to the Home on Monday so that he could continue to look after the children. Sometime his mother would return and when she did the stepfather would beat Cecil and throw him out. As a result Cecil was a very unhappy child who was also well behind with his school work.
With our knowledge of Mama Ngina’s, Focus on Africa had little doubt that Cecil would be much happier there. With the help of the Manager at Mama Ngina’s and Kisumu Social Services we were able to move Cecil within just a few days. When we took him to his new home he had nothing more than the clothes he stood up in; he said that all his possessions were stolen at the previous home.
When we arrived at Mama Ngina’s with Cecil he could not stop smiling, he was so happy and was particularly pleased to have the use of a shower and a toilet – something he had never had before, and a roof that did not leak. He now has clothes, shoes and toiletries which were provided for him by his sponsors, plus more importantly, stability and a much happier life. As Victor’s grandfather was unable to work, Victor had not been to school since August 2013 and taking care of him was a huge struggle. Both Victor and his grandfather felt that Victor would have a better future living at Mama Ngina’s orphanage and so we made the necessary arrangements. Victor will continue to have contact with his grandfather through the orphanages’ support team.
Focus on Africa then set about finding Victor, who is 11 years old, a sponsor. Cecil’s sponsors had indicated that they would like to sponsor him too, so that he might have a better life and future. Cecil and Victor were delighted to be re-united and when the charity left Kisumu they were two very happy boys.
George Mcomwana's School
We have made improvements to George Mcomwanda’s school over recent years.
In 2014 the electrics were extended by adding a new fuse box and several light fittings and power points. These were installed in the new kitchen and in the remaining classrooms.
With the oven fitted last year and the added electrical work the kitchen and classrooms really meet the needs of the school.
Donation of Books
We were very fortunate to receive from Nick Ison, Managing Director of Book Life, a leading supplier of school books, a donation of books for 2-10 year olds. This was a particularly welcome gift as most of the schools we deal with in Kisumu have very few books, some sharing one book in a class of 50 children. But of course we had to get the books to Kisumu and there the kindness of Andrew Smith of Avient Airlines a DC10/MD11 freight carrier came into play. He arranged to fly the books from their base in Liege, Belgium to Nairobi from where Washington Odera of the Simon Newberry School arranged to get them to Kisumu. 18 boxes totalling some 350kgs and more than 1000 books found their way from East Anglia to Western Kenya at almost no cost to the charity due entirely to the generosity and help of many people. Although all of this took place in 2013 we had to wait until our trip in January 2014 to distribute the books.
Jack & Gill's Nursery School
Jack and Gill’s nursery school had been held for four years in the local church. The church then decided that they want to use the building for their own purposes so the school needed to be re-homed. Phoebe the school owner has been allowed by her family to build a new school in the family ground. With money Focus on Africa raised last year, and with the help of Phoebe we managed to get three quotes for the materials and construction of a large building that could be divided into classrooms.
A section of ground has been fenced off from the family homes and work was started for the new buildings to be erected. Since we have returned from Kisumu the construction is finished and the children are now having their lessons in the new building. The children all have a chair to sit on but unfortunately the benches they used as desks in the church have remained in the church so the children did not have any desks, so when they need to write in their books, they had to kneel on the ground and use their chairs as desks. When members of the team found out they very kindly donated the money personally to pay for the desks. Many thanks to Chris Hearn and Chris Piper. During 2014 we raised the money to put a solid floor into the classrooms, the school is still going strong.