Our progress
April 2012 Jambo !! from everyone here at Footprints, we hope you are all well and enjoyed your Easter celebrations, here there was no easter eggs in sight !! too hot anyway, although the children all went to church on Sunday and celebrated with singing and dancing, in the evening we had special dinner of chicken and chips……. Oh my gosh !!! Tumaini has just brought me in her hands a baby bird she has found under the trees, it must have fell out of the nest !!, our 3 small children, Dotty, George and Tumaini are so active and investigating everything, especially George who has a concentration time span of 30 seconds ha ha !! we have to have eyes in the backs of our heads !! The children are all doing well, only Mary broke her arm playing football, so she has been in plaster for the last 3 weeks, our other concern is Bakari, as you know, he along with Njoki both carry the HIV positive virus, they are on regular medication, but just recently Bakari has been suffering lots of headaches and his CD4 count ( how they measure the level of immunity in the body) has decreased dramatically, I think he, like Njoki will have to start on the anti-viral medication (a stronger drug to control the infection), its really sad especially when you see how much he has progressed, he is such a kind helpful young man and his effort and determination at school and around the home has proved to be excellent, he is always busy making things and he has recently gotten No 1 position in the last exams, lets hope and pray for Bakari that we can control this terrible illness, so he can continue to be happy, healthy and successful in the future, he really does deserve it. Anyone who has met him knows what a lovely young man he is!!
All the children’s education continues to excel, we combined our children with the children from our local gvt school, Stephen Kanja during the last exams where there were approximately 80 children who sat the exam, in fact all our children got the top positions, Hadija got No. 1 in her class too, her English is so good she tries so hard all the time, they were all so proud and it has given them so much confidence, the decision to teach them at home was the right one, Mr Kolonzo our teacher is fantastic and I just hope we can do the same for our other 10 children very soon.
I have found another teacher, a lovely lady called Rose, who I feel has the dedication, motivation and patience and can also speak fluent English to teach the children in English, at the moment we are trying to fundraise to build a small structure on the land and hopefully start a small kindergarten so we can employ Rose to teach our 10 other children and then eventually consider other children from our community to join them. It will cost around £ 3000 to build the structure and £ 100 per month to employ Rose, so anybody fundraising at the moment or wishing to help on this project, this is our next hope and dream……
Finally, we got to use our ‘new’ showers and toilets this week, Uncle Julius back from sick leave after his accident made the final finishing touches by painting pictures on the walls it really is colourful ! and amazing as it was it rained for the first time in months, oh how wonderful , anybody who has visited us over the last few months knows only too well how we struggled with only one shower and toilet, and shortage of water, the children were so excited, we brought them all a new towel (I only realised this week some of the children didn’t know what the towel was for , some thought only for covering up we had to show them how to dry their little bodies – most of them have never used a towel, can u imagine ) !! it was all rather organised chaos but showering was all finished within 30minutes, George thought he was at the beach running from the girls to the boys showers laughing all the time, the housemothers are so happy too because they also have a new laundry with sinks , no longer having to wash on the floor in buckets, couldn’t stretch to a washing machine !!!! but who knows maybe if we ever get electricity here we will have one day….. of course our special thanks goes to Debbie Falmer who financially sponsored our shower, toilet and laundry project, we are so grateful to her and her family – asante sana sana !!
As you are aware the lack of water has been one of our biggest challenges, the drought has really affected us, our only hope has been the river water which we are still trying to pump from the river to fill our water tanks, we are hoping for more rains this month so lets pray we get them soon. The knock- on effect from the drought hits everywhere, right now we can’t get milk from anywhere because the cows aren’t producing the milk because there is no grass !! Even the rats are hungry, say no more !!
Although we have a very strict routine around the home with the children, everyday continues to be so different, many joys and many challenges, you just have to expect the unexpected, last week yet again we were asked to assist our neighbour a young girl called Amina who had given birth in ‘the bush’ the baby was ok but it was obvious she needed urgent medical treatment for blood loss, we got her into the vehicle and rushed her to Shimba Clinic only to find the the whole of Kenya’s gvt hospitals were on strike, no emergency team nothing !! by this point the girl had passed out our only hope was Dr Euri the small private hospital in Ukunda that we use, finally as soon as we arrived, she was treated immediately, Amina survived, but many don’t it really is life or death situations, anyhow we now have another baby in the community called ‘Kerry’ !!!
Remember last month we welcomed our new little girl Uchi, she too continues to strive, her ‘jiggers’ are all gone after Uncle Patrick’s daily medical treatment, she is settling in so well and shares a bedroom with our lovely Eliza, I think you can see from the pictures how happy she is, George loves Uchi and follows her everywhere. Unfortunately, during my visits to Uchi’s home before she came to Footprints I too managed to get a ‘jigger’ in my feet , oh my gosh !! how painful, so I had to get it removed too !! thank you Uncle Patrick !!!
We are nearly approaching 20th April, it will be Footprints 2nd Anniversary since we opened, it really is hard to believe, the time goes too quick, you know the saying 24/7 I wish it was 36/10 !! But once again a time to say how truly, truly grateful I am to each and everyone who has been a part of making a success of this wonderful home for these amazing children, you should be so proud, I wish I could share with you all the special moments I see daily with the children, so you could see the life –saving difference we are making to their lives. My hope is that you will continue to support the children and spread the word about of the work Footprints, so we can help more desperate children. We have already identified and visited the places where children are really suffering, living alone or with people that don’t care or can’t care for them, I am still researching their plight but lets hope we can rescue some of them into the care of Footprints very soon.
I personally thank all of you who are financially sponsoring the children or taken part in fundraising events or organising fundraising events , we really rely on your support to keep Footprints alive. I especially thank my dedicated committee back in the UK, I’m so involved in the day to day running, I’m sure at times they think their forgotten, but their dedication, time and hard work is invaluable to me and without them I too wouldn’t be able to continue this wonderful work here in Africa. Asante Sana sana
February 2012
Jambo from everyone here at Footprints !! This year is going so quickly, and so much has happened, most importantly all the children remain in good health!!. Which is a real blessing… Remember me saying we started the year by changing the children’s schooling. It was a big risk, our 6 older children began by being taught at home by Mr Kolonzo, they have all worked so hard and we have seen and heard so much progression . Their English speaking and understanding has hugely improved, the sense of achievement made me very proud, especially was when I was able to sit with Bakari one afternoon and he was able to tell me in English about his wonderful but most fearful times he spent living in the bush trying to survive, before he came to Footprints, I’ve known him nearly 2 years and at last I could understand his most inner thoughts, an amazing and special moment . Our other 6 younger children went along to Madam Agatha’s Ufanisi Acadamy in the village, still a few frustrations in how the teaching system is over here but still a big improvement in their education too !! We really hope to be able to continue teaching them this way and I thank you for supporting our decision and the funding we are trying hard to get to be able to continue this such valuable teaching.
The baby of our ‘family’ GEORGE celebrated his 2nd birthday last week, its hard to believe he is the same child we rescued nearly 2 years ago, he is such a happy, healthy and sometimes very ‘cheeky’ beautiful child as you can see from the photos. Dotty, Tumaini and George make us laugh so many times they are like the 3 musketeers ! The housemothers are trying hard to read them stories, paint pictures and use play dough all the things we do in our society, but its very ‘alien’ to the staff as they have never had such items in their own homes, sometimes I see Aunty Syrianna reading ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ story books to herself !! Thursday 18th February marked another special day for Footprints, we went to the Magistrates Court in Kwale and was granted Court Commital Orders for 6 of our children, Jane, Mary, Eliza, George, Anna and Kijana making us legal guardians over the children. We are still fighting for committal orders for the other children because of their backgrounds and the lack of information we have for them, like dates of birth some of which I know we will never know.
We have achieved so much in the last 2 years since we opened the home, and achieved many of our goals most importantly making a difference to our 15 children’s uncertain lives. Next week we will be welcoming our 16th child, a 10 year old little girl called Uchi, her elderly uncle has visited us many times during the last year, walking miles by foot asking for our assistance to help her. Her mother died in 2010 and her father suffers severe epilepsy making it impossible to care for her, we visited the home where she was staying with her uncle and found the most terrible of living conditions, but even worse for the last 12 months she has been suffering from the terrible infestation of ‘jiggers’ a worm-like creature that burys itself into the skin of hands and feet making them swell and the skin split open, to walk is very difficult and so painful , but she has been trying to make the daily 3 km journey by foot to school to get that most needed education. She so desperately needs medical care but also the love and care and support that Footprints can give her, we know she will be happy amongst our other children, im sure Hadija will ‘mother’ her !! So lets hope and pray we can fulfil our commitment to this little girl get her back to good health and enjoying her childhood !!
The severe drought over hear has given us so many problems and pressures, we haven’t been able to grow anything on the garden for mon ths, Uncle Patrick and I have worked tiresly to rectify pipes, mend pumps and generators buying diesel to pump water from the river, it has been our only source, it’s a constant challenge to get water from A to B with our new shower and toilets and laundry are nearly complete, we desperately need regular water supply from that river , I have researched having a borehole dug on the land but the cost is so high and even then you cannot guarantee water. 15 children, staff and volunteers using one toilet and shower, it will be so wonderful to have so much freedom when you want to shower or go to the toilet, can you imagine having to plan to go to the ‘loo Oh my gosh !!!
Since October last year we have had a stream of volunteers helping us around the home all of which we have been indebited to their support and understanding, at times when we have faced day after day so many challenges, but they have fought them with us and contributed so much to helping the children, so I thank Sara Cole from Australia, Amber Kear from London and most recently Cathy Booth, Lesley Bath from Australia Wade Jordan from Manchester and of course our very special ‘aunty’ Sally Holland. We hope many more volunteers will pass through our home and visit Footprints and the children and leave their special place in our hearts.
As you are aware this year is about making a difference to the childrens education, we really need help with their English education so we are looking for mentors to assist the teaching we have here at home, if anybody you know would consider giving their time during the months of April, August or December, when the children break from school please contact Kevin or Jenna or myself personally. We are running out of space quickly and the children are growing so fast, the boys dormitory is getting so overcrowded and George is ready to move in with the ‘boys’ so we are hoping to extend their quarters . Also in our plan is to erect a basic small structure on the shamba to teach the smaller children in a kindergarten eventually opening it to more children in the community, again if anybody with building skills would be willing to spend some time helping us build these structures I would love to hear from you, although we have always employed local people to do our work it has bought many frustrations !! I really need some help ….
As you are aware our biggest fundraising event of the year is Footprints Charity Ball again booked again for October 6th at Branston Golf and Country Club in my home town of Burton-On-Trent , although it seems far away the months are going so quickly, if anyone is interested in coming and sharing the joys and success please contact Jenna Harman, to reserve a table it is always a wonderful evening and I love being there to share the stories of the children and the wonderful contribution you are all making to this amazing home. If you are unable to make it, maybe you could consider supporting us with auction or raffle prizes ??? , in recent years we know how financially we rely on the Ball to help us survive through the following year, please I hope you will continue to support us again, thank you.
Myself and the children owe so much thanks to everyone involved in the success of Footprints, we have so many supporters, family and friends’ old ‘and ‘new’ so many who have visited us while on holiday and gone home and fundraised or regularly financially support the children, and of course my UK committee whose dedication and commitment is invaluable to me personally while im here with the children. Thank you each and everyone !!
January 2012
On behalf of our children and all our staff here at Footprints we begin the New Year by saying a huge Thank You to every one of our friends and family who sent Christmas wishes, gifts and financial support to us, we were overwhelmed. Special thanks go to William Shrewsbury Primary School and their children and staff and all our friends at St. Mary’s Church Stretton for your fundraising events during the Christmas period.
Being here with the children and seeing what a difference we have and are still making to their lives is a special privilege for me personally, but be assured although we may be many miles away from you all, I especially, never forget the wonderful people who continue to support Footprints and are keeping the vision alive, I once again thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Christmas was very special for our children (and me), although they understand the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of Jesus, they never knew about the fairytale of Santa Claus!! This year I decided to tell them how we also celebrate by the giving and receiving of presents brought to us by ‘Santa’ and how Santa knew there were 15 more important children and that maybe if they were good he would leave a present on Christmas Eve when they were asleep. It was magical; we left the carrot and water for the reindeer and of course the ‘juice’ for Santa. Their faces were full of excitement and belief. Aunty Lauren and Aunty Sarah spent days filling ‘Santa hats’ with sweets and small things for 15 children and staff. At 4 am of Christmas morning myself, Uncle Patrick, Aunty Lauren and Aunty Sara played Santa and placed all the hats under the tree 9the big one in middle of the garden) Uncle Patrick even put sand down on the steps of the kitchen area and put Footsteps in it to make it look like he’d been !!!! At sunrise Uncle Patrick blew down a PVC pipe that alerted the children that Santa had been. We all hid behind the vehicle and watched as each child emerged from their beds and saw that Santa had really been. The moment I will treasure forever. !!
We had our first trip to the beach in our new vehicle that Mama Sheila and many of you donated money to help us buy, which too was very special. It now has our Footprints logo and trademark footprints all around it!!
Over the last 3 months besides Lauren and Sara from Australia, we have welcomed to our home Amber Kear from London and Cathy Booth from Australia, on her 2nd visit they have been fantastic help especially when we had staff on annual leave and at the same time Aunty Syrianna was taken ill and also Uncle Raymond, at times it was really chaotic without their help I don’t know how we would have managed!!
Our children remain healthy, only Samwell has been really poorly with ‘shingles’ he was treated in hospital and with lots of TLC he is now recovered although still under weight, but he will be ok. !! Njoki and Bakari still have regular blood counts to check their immunity levels having the HIV virus, but both are doing well with the regular medication!!
Our shower and toilet block is nearly complete and looking very impressive, we have been managing with 1 toilet and 1 shower, between 15 kids, staff and volunteers can you imagine!! I send my gratitude once again to Debbie and Falmer and her family for their wonderful contribution to make this possible, Thank You Debbie x
January 4th 2012 Footprints Academy began! In our small study area. As many of you have witnessed the children’s education at Stephen Kanja Primary School in our local village has been greatly compromised because the large class sizes, lack of teachers, learning resources, books etc. it has been a real challenge and very frustrating to the point that I felt I was letting the children down and not giving them the best opportunity in education they truly deserve. Knowing how much the children have progressed with their studies and benefited from the home tuition we gave them at weekends, I made the decision to use funds to employ Mr Kolonzo this year, full time to teach Ali, Bakari, Hadija, Jane Mary and Eliza, to concentrate on improving their English speaking and understanding, without this knowledge they cannot progress as everything is written in English. Our other 6 children, Hassan, Mutua, Kijana, Anna, Njoki and Samwell are attending a small academy in the village called Ufanisi, opened by a former teacher Agatha Buva, she is really trying hard to succeed.
My dream and vision next is that we could build our own nursery school here at Footprints those early years are so important for a good foundation and soon Dotty, Tumaini and George will be ready for school, we could then offer places to children in the community whose parents really want their children to succeed but are financially unable to do so! In the mean time our small academy is in its pioneering stage for the older children, but to hear the joy and English speaking and to be able to watch them progress is wonderful. I’m buying text books and reading books posters etc to help them I really hope it will succeed. Please hope and pray for our children that we have made the right decision for them. We still have links with Stephen Kanja P.S. so the children will be joining together for sports activities, drama, debates etc. and taking exams at the same time to access their progress. It really is very exciting. !!
We finally got notification that our Registration Certificate for registration as a recognised children’s home is ready to be collected from Nairobi. I’m so very proud Footprints has been given this recognition it has taken 4 years of hard work, commitment, dedication and financial support from many people - you all should be so proud!!
Just before Christmas we decided to visit the village and community where George, Jane, Mary and Eliza were living before their parents tragically died. I explained to Jane that she might like to take flowers to their Mum and Dad’s resting place. I thought it would be quite emotional, but important that they didn’t forget their roots …. When we arrived it was Eliza that was more emotional, the graves were unrecognisable and overgrown and not much was remaining of where they had lived as a family, it was like life had’ stood still’ l the family home remained, but the muddy had collapsed there was remnants of George’s clothes, , cooking utensils and bedding and their parents clothes. It was sad and I was too, very emotional. As George walked around oblivious to everything, it was then I realised we had truly saved his life and that of his sisters - and through the many daily challenges Footprints face we are truly making huge life – changing differences to our children.
I thank everyone again, who has supported, visited and holds Footprints and our children close to their hearts. I hope you continue to believe in our vision to save and change the lives of many more orphaned and disadvantaged children here in Africa, a part of our world where humanity is greatly needed. Asante Sana and God Bless You All. Kerry x
Jambo !! from everyone here at an every growing Footprints !!
Firstly let me apologises for the disruption to the website, as many of you will have noticed we have lost a lot of data and photos from our website this is unfortunately due to server issues beyond our control. We hope to rectify as soon as possible, but maybe some the date has been lost !! Very frustrating and I can only apologise. I will try and update you with news from Footprints since beginning of the year. We now have a total of 15 wonderful children , all whose lives have changed dramatically since being here with us at Footprints, Njoki, 6 yrs Hadija, 10 Ali, 14 Bakari 13 and Hassan 6 were our first five children last April 2010 then came Baby George 15 mths and his sisters Jane, 15 Mary 11 and Eliza,8 next came Kijana 6 and Anna 5 after Christmas we welcomed Mutua 6 and Samwell 5 approx and his sister Tumaini 2 approx lastly in March we had our ‘ little angel’ Dorothy aged 2 on June 9th 2011. All our children’s ages are a guessing game as none except Anna has a birth certificate, something we are trying very hard to get as its so important for their future. All the children are settling in well and Footprints has a real sense of ‘family life’, very busy as you can imagine with 15 children between the ages of 1 and 15 yrs !!! All but the 3 small children are at school and progressing well, only the older children finding it difficult as they have missed so much education before coming to Footprints, but hopefully with the English extra tuition we give them here at home on Sundays with Mr Kolonzo, they will soon catch up, already I can hold conversations with the children, as many of you know I like to ‘talk’ !! and being able to understand their needs is wonderful for me personally !! George is growing so fast now and walking and running everywhere, he is into everything just wants to investigate all he touches !! He is eating most of our food now and wants to feed himself, oh what a mess !! He’s very cheeky and funny but of course adorable ! All the older children are changing and fast becoming’ little adults’ we gave them all roll-on deodorants etc ! can you imagine … it smells like beauty salon every morning and night in the bedrooms ! Hassan and Kijana are in competition with each other for No 1 position in the class at school, they are both very ‘bright’ Hassan was no 2 last term Kijana no 4 so exciting to watch ! Samwell has recovered from all the septic dog bites he came with it was really painful for him, he had to make lots of adjustments when he first came like how to use a toilet !! and eat at the table but now he is settling in well he is a joy to have around .. The home itself is full of life and all our staff our still with us although we have a new house mama called Aunty Irene who started last month to help with the little ones, she is lovely and her English is really good !. We are fast outgrowing our little vehicle and whenever we go out we have to do 2 trips !! we hope and pray with continued fundraising and everyone’s continued kind donations we will hopefully be able to exchange our little vehicle for a small minibus ….. it will give the children so many more opportunities to see different places . The rainy season is upon us and our shamba is full of vegetable seedlings so with lots of rain we shall have plenty of ‘greens’ later in the year. Our chickens are producing lots of eggs many we are eating and some we are letting the hens sit on so we have more chicks !! Our water tanks are filling very quickly with the precious rainwater which we so desperately need, the only negative is the rain stops us drying all the washing that our lovely housemothers have worked so hard to wash - 15 kids clothes, bedding, towels a big task to wash by hand, Aunty Racheal asked me if we could treat them to a dryer !! not sure the solar would cope with such a thing - nice thought though !! I’ve now become a member of the PTA at Stephen Kanja the primary school where all our children attend, we have a new headmistress called Madam Sara she is so positive and focused to achieve goods results for the children so we are working together to hopefully make some positive changes for the school to help it progress.
So as Footprints continues to grow and make changes to our children’s lives, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your belief and support, the home is a wonderful achievement but a life long commitment to the children and without your help it will not survive - please help me continue to live out the vision by providing our precious children, whose lives before Footprints were unimaginable , with not only their basic needs, but the love , care and the sense of belonging to a family life they truly deserve. Asante Sana - Kerry
April 2011
It is a year since Footprints took in the first children. All of the children are well and happy and have been singing and dancing during the Easter holidays. In April we visited the Diani Reef Hotel where the management kindly let the children use the beach to play and swim. They had a fantastic time!
The children have been learning Tae-Kwon-Do from a boy who goes to the local secondary school. Their tuition will continue and they may be able to compete in local competitions! We hope this will be a great way for the children to learn a different discipline and meet new friends.
A huge’ THANK YOU’ to our supporters who are helping us to reach our goal of being able to buy a ‘Matatu’ (minibus) this year. Having a minibus will benefit us in so many ways; Taking the children for daytrips and also transporting day guests from the hotels on the coast to Footprints in the Shimba Hills. The children aren’t a tourist attraction but guests enjoy the chance to experience the ‘real’ Africa, seeing how life is different without electricity and running water! Footprints seems to stay in our guest’s hearts long after they have left, and many have donated on their return to the UK.
March 2011
Footprints Orphanage now has 15 children in its care. The most recent to join us are Matua, an 8 year old boy whose mother sadly died during an epileptic fit; Tumaini, 2 years old and her brother Samwell, 4 years old, who were living in a nearby village and were very malnourished, especially Samwell who was suffering from terrible dog bites all over his legs; and 2 year old Dorothy whose mother was only 14 years old when she was raped, and died just 2 months after Dorothy’s birth. She has been living with her wider family and community but everyone agrees that this little girl deserves a better start to her life.
George is 1 year old and has taken his first steps and spoken his first words! He is a handful for the housemothers and needs to be watched at all times; With George, Tumaini and Dorothy all under the age of 3, as well as laundry for all of the children, we now employ 3 housemothers who do a great job of looking after the children and a huge thank you go to those people here in the UK who have pledged a monthly donation to help towards their wages.
January 2011 – Happy New Year from Footprints
It’s incredible to think that this time last year Footprints was just a group of unfinished buildings. Now it is home to a happy family of 6 staff (‘aunties’ and ‘uncles’) and 11 joyful and healthy children. Kerry spent Christmas in Kenya with the children and introduced them to the idea of a Christmas tree and Santa Claus. Christmas morning was spent singing and dancing at the local church followed by the children’s favourite dinner, chicken and chapattis, at home. Julius the cook dressed up as Father Christmas and handed each child a small gift of some pencils and crayons.
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