Educating Healing Employing
Last year was a good year for us in all aspects. It ended in us celebrating the festive season with two parties, one at our house and one at the restart on Christmas Day. Father Christmas travelled through the streets of Gilgil, waving to all residents and there was tremendous excitement when he stopped at the Restart. He had presents for all the children and staff. I must say there has to be a great dance studio in Lapland as Father Christmas was an amazing dancer, even though his stomach protruded greatly!
The Restart is doing well and the children are growing fast. They are healthy and happy. Our two babies are now one year and one and a half years old. The one and a half year old, a little girl called Paige, goes to Nursery school at the Restart and she sits perfectly and looks very studious. She can barely see over the table they work from. The boys and girls are so good with these little one and it brings so much pleasure to watch them all playing and interacting happily.
You are all aware that our Restart is different from all other children’s home in as much as our kids are really loved. This is reflected in the fact that one of our first street boys, Emmanuel Kitoe, had decided he was not able to continue academically being the age he was, 19, and had not really been to school previously so felt he could not sit with the primary school kids. He was paid to have driving lessons and he left us to get his driving license. Emmanuel had been a street boy formally, for a LONG time and had been on drugs and alcohol. After being brought into the Restart, he became one of the leaders of the children and set a very good example, encouraging others to change their lives like he had.
I spoke to him and said that we wished him well and hoped he’d keep in touch. His reply was touching, he said, “Mum, I am coming back here after I pass my driving test for this is my home! I love you all and my friends.”
So I’d say we have succeeded in our quest to change the lives of street orphaned and the destitute children with us.
6 boys sat their final exams at Primary school and they all did very well considering that some had never been to school before coming to us. They are awaiting entrance to Coulson secondary school. We need support for them, for as you know, they need fees, clothes, uniforms, books, etc. etc. All of which are expensive.
It was difficult to continue the momentum that Ethical Fashion set with us making 36,000 bags for them, however, we did our best to keep the women growing. Zucchini gave us an order they want to continue with. Our bags for them “Keeping life green” are green with white writing on. We made uniforms for our schools and trained the women in cutting and sewing the different articles. We are hoping to receive funds to start an actual uniform making group and have sent out a proposal to a fellow Rotarian. We sold all the bags we’d made at the Pembroke Craft Fair in December and got a private order from the USA.
We are performing a fashion show, with Restart children and Pembroke House children at Pembroke House on the 26th March and not only are our children modeling, but the women are also making the clothes for the models to wear. These will be made of kikoy and kanga and designed by our own team and we are hoping for big sales after the show!
The agri project is doing very well. Our thanks to Nji Wa Nema who have provided us with the funds to make our agriculture project such a success.
We have trained over 90 youths in organic agriculture, enabling them to learn simple techniques of making natural fertiliser and preparing the land efficiently, with little or low cost techniques. Our orphans trained as field officers, visit on their bicycles to ensure that what their tutees have learned is being followed practically. These crops are nutritionally rich and give those that eat them a stronger immune system.
Our first dabble at selling cauliflowers in Nairobi was not a great success as the cost of transport to and fro is far too expensive therefore we shall feed our schools, Restart, Saidia, Bridge of Hope with our produce and Terry will give us the money he was paying to the suppliers of vegetables and of course, we can charge him less than they do. So, hopefully Terry is saving something and we are able to pay the staff and keep growing and supplying the kids. Until the schools get outside help, it’s the best solution we have.
Lift Up Africa has given us the money to purchase drip irrigation for our agri and herbal projects. This will be installed in the next two weeks. We thank them so much for they have given hope and life to us.
Everyone is so impressed with our herbs and Healthy U are very keen to partner with us. We are waiting for a final meeting to get everything sorted out between them and us. They may have to forward some money in lieu of herbs to us off so we can purchase containers and choppers, thereby starting the processing of the harvest. Remember, we have 2500 therapeutic herbs for all types if sickness and healthy U will sell them in all their outlets, not only in Kenya, but also Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.
It has not been an easy time for our schools. The Headmaster at the Boys’ School and the Headmistress at the girls’, both given to us by the Government turned out to be the biggest disasters ever!! Once Terry refused to allow the two of them to control HIS money they were hell -bent on destroying us and the schools. They lied and connived and incited to the point that the school boys and girls listened and believed them! They manipulated the truth to the point where Terry was accused, amongst many other things of “cheating” the students. The Headmaster walked around all day with a bible tucked under his arm quoting chapter and verse. He was the biggest hypocrite I have EVER met and his past record is dubious and we believe there is a very strong possibility he may not have been honest with the Government money at his previous school! This experience was a very sad reflection of the attitudes and ignorance we are up against, not to mention the selfishness of grabbing what belongs to others without a care about the young people who have nothing that they are responsible for. These two heads have now been transferred and we continue with our special status with Government and trust it will work out for the benefit of the poorest of the poor orphans, destitute and desperate young people.
We are very sad to see Hetty Meggy leaving us after 19 months. She set up the craft project, became our top designer (!) in fact turned into a jack-of-all-trades. Hetty was a fantastic asset in every way and, although I understand completely why she is leaving (she is actually going to earn some money), it is very sad she will no longer be that cheery, happy face in the office. She was great and we thank her so much. Please don’t forget us Hetty!
We welcome Kerry Stewart, who has now joined us. She is incredibly efficient and just what we needed. I am sure with her experience in running her own business; she will help us tremendously in organising the craft etc and taking it to another level of progress.
Please appreciate Peter in Hetty’s sunglasses!
We hope to start a briquette making business and selling to the community instead of charcoal, we will make our own boxes for packaging, with heavy cardboard made from grasses. This will come under an environmental scheme as well as recycling waste and more importantly, it will give the youth, you are unemployed from the street a future.
I really believe our future is very bright. We have made tremendous progress in two years and there is potential on every level. The priority that I have is building the Restart; this is because we cannot expand any further with our children. We have very few little girls and this cannot be right considering how many are out there in dire need. We are not willing to spend much more money on upgrading the building we are in now, we (Terry and I) have already spend 10,000 pounds. The landlady, as nice and pleasant as she is, could easily demand the building back at any moment. This is not the ideal solution for us. The other factor is the church where the women work is condemned and seriously flawed. We don’t know how long the props that Terry had put up will last, and we must get the women out of there. The obvious, logical answer is to put the women into the rented building that we are now using as a Restart and move the Restart to our land and into a building that is ours.
A big thank you to the UK Trust who have been so supportive.
I wish you all a happy and healthy 2011. Please email me if you have any questions or queries and you are all most welcome to come and visit as long as I am given some advanced notice to make sure I am actually here.
Thank you for your support.
With best wishes,
Mary Coulson