Maisha Mema is
privileged to have many visitors. Some come
yearly, like some schools, but with different students every
year. One of these schools is Bømlo Folkehøgskole
from Norway. They visited
both the Clubhouse in the Soweto slums and our family in
Doonholm. Read about it on the
event page :-)
The Maisha Mema Familyhas functioned for many
years as a foster home, but in March 2007 we got a "Certificate
of Registration of a Charitable Children's Institution"
by Ministry of Home Affairs. We treat the children here - and
we have (per January 2012) 11 girls and 9 boys - as though they were our
own children. For 12 years we were situated in the
Old Doonholm estate in Nairobi, but in December 2011 we
moved to Tigoni outside Nairobi where we have a big
property (see the
Building Project). The
children in our family have a normal family-life, or at least as normal
you can get it with such a number of children in the same family!
We have two housemothers living together with us, so
that we have some help with the children (whoever wants
to try to take care of so many children alone, might try…).
Of practical reasons, we have a girls' house and a boys'
house. And in the third house Marianne and Jonny live.
The children take care of breakfast themselves, and get
lunch at school. In the evening, we all eat supper
together.
Saturday night is fellowship-time,
and Sunday morning we all go to
church.
We really enjoy
when we get local support! :-) And it doesn't even
need to cost money. Our kids enjoy being
encouraged by real-life stories :-) Recently, a
group with people, among them also members of our church
Mamlaka Hill Chapel, came to visit. They brought
flour and whatever else is needed to make chapatis,a local speciality and a favourite for our kids.
We really enjoyed, and appreciate the interaction.
And by the way; food is also part of a Better Life! :-)
One of the most
exciting times in our family, is when a new child
enters. Virginia came in the beginning of February
from far; all the way from up north in Kenya. We
always wonder how new kids will fit in. Virginia
adapted very fast, and is here on her way to first day
in a new school, proudly displaying the uniform and bag.
What a blessing it is to be able to welcome a new member
into our family! :-)
In a family, any small
event is a big event. So when Jane started loosing
her milk teeth, it was an occasion to eternalise.
Just like in any family :-)
Tabitha
is a smiling girl who is happy about living in a big
family. She is one of 20 children currently living
in the Maisha Mema Family (older picture).
Some of our
resident children in their nicest clothes.
Christmas means new clothes, and the children are
extremely happy for this. Normally, Sunday after
church is photo time. The children are then
proudly displaying their new outfits. Right now,
every day life is back, and school uniforms the most
common outfit. But on Sunday the nice clothes are
picked from the wardrobes again... :-)
(Pictures taken Christmas 2010)
”Without friends, you don’t live, only
exist”. How true this is also for the children in
Maisha Mema: Without you it would be a
struggle for existence, but with you they
can get a Better Life.
We are together in creating
a Better Life for children in Kenya!
(Doonholm family, Christmas Day 2009)
It's
back to school, and our smallest children in Doonholm
feel proud of uniforms, books and stationary - and the
fact that kind people in Norway, Switzerland and Germany
enable them to go to school! Under we see some of
the same children at left, now in January 2010, and a
few of the Secondary school girls also on their way to
school at the same time.
These two boys were
picked up in June 2008 from another children's home where
they were posted temporarily. Now they are part of
the Maisha Mema family, and we welcome them for what we
hope and believe will be a Better Life! One of the older girls,
just home for mid-term from Secondary school, forms a
background which should also tell something important:
Angels are those who do well to others. Hereby is
the challenge given to everybody reading this: Do well
to others!
Ready for school!
New uniform, shiny shoes, bag with books and stationary - what more can little children want?
At least in Kenya, where school really means
something!
Maisha Mema = Better Life!!
Sammy joined our
family in May 2007, and is one of the many children living in the Maisha Mema
Children's Home.
As
for most families, we also try to give the children
different experiences like camps, outings, swimming,
sports and so on. In December 2000, the boys even
climbed Mount Kenya! And naturally, as most parents,
we hope that all of them will succeed in life, by
getting good education and later good jobs. As
Christians, we also hope they will take a stand for
Jesus. It is good to have somebody beside you
always!
Our goal is
that all the children in the program one day will be
able of taking care of themselves and a family by
getting good education or vocational training, and
eventually a job.
Two of the girls from
our family ready to leave for school in January 2008: Nanu,
who attends Form 2 in a boading school, and Tabitha, who just started
Standard 1 in a school nearby.
We encourage people to come visiting us (check out the
Guest-book!). Our
children are quite used to people from all over the
world coming for shorter or longer periods. This
is also good exposure for the children, and encourages
them to broaden their horizon. Foreign, volunteer workers
also come living with us for shorter
or longer time (see Volunteer
Information).
Going to church on Sundays, we have for
several
years now rented the same matatu ("mini-bus"), normally
plying the number 58 Buru Buru route. Although matatus
are infamous for rowdy touts and drivers, we have had a
very good relationship with the people manning this
matatu.
On the picture,
two
of our
children
are on their way into the matatu after an outing
to Uhuru Gardens.
We actually save a lot of money by not buying a vehicle
of our own! (but if somebody should get an irresistable
urge to buy a matatu for us, we would of course be happy!)
Outings are part and parcel of being a family. And
City Park is a popular place to go because of the
monkeys! The outings are basically happening
during the vacations, as school otherwise takes most of
the time for the children. So they are always looking
forward to the vacations!
Another very popular activity is of course swimming.
Children all over the world are the same here!
During holidays it is important to activate the children.
Christmas holiday is a rather long one... But the
children in our family had various activities to fill
the time with, among them beadworks. Kamau is here
making a bracelet.
Any sound parents are proud of their
children. So are we! Only we have 27 of them we live
with and another 200 we are responsible for. Each of
them is unique. Each of them is having his or her
specific needs. In Maisha Mema we try focusing on the
individual child, because we believe they can develop in
the best way then. Thank you for stretching out
your hand towards these children and taking part in
bringing up these children to have a share in Kenya’s
future! In doing so, we also hope you will feel richly
blessed! [picture from the Christmas letter
2007]
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