umoja T R E E
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u mo ja (noun) Swahili for unity
One person, one family, one community...in His time
Issue N° 2 Winter 2012
Meet Ruth Meet Ruth, Director of the Joy Home. Page 2
Art Therapy Tree of Lives introduces its newest ministry project…the Joy Children’s Home for HIV/AIDS orphans, in partnership with Nazareth Hospital near Nairobi, Kenya. Page 3-4
African Boxes of Love
Nazareth College Welcome to the inaugural issue of UMOJA, Tree of Lives’ periodic newsletter. Page 5
Nazareth Mission Hospital. Each year more than 600 needy
“…. let these children know that poor and sick is
children receive
not the same as unloved and forgotten….not by
the African Box
Christ or His people”
of Love which may include a pair of shoes For the past five years the African Boxes of Love program has been a special
Christmas project to help the poorest of the poor HIV+ children and students attending the Christian primary school on the grounds of Tree of Lives.org
and socks, a blanket, a raincoat, pencils, a sweatshirt, and a month’s supply of food for their family ( sugar,
For a gift of $60. a very needy Kenyan family will
rice, ugali, cooking fat and margarine.)
be remembered and given a Christmas gift of Love.
Distribution of the Boxes of Love cards begins November 27th. First Presbyterian Norfolk and
—Kate & Rudy Miller
five other partner churches have taken part in the program in the past years. 1
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Meet Ruth, the director of the Nazareth Joy Home My name is Ruth
would consider giving priority to the
and the education program for each
Njoki, director of the
HIV positive children with whom I
of the children.
Nazareth Joy
have shared so much interaction.
Children’s Home. I
This was a great opportunity for a
am a Christian
lasting solution for so many
mother of two, Esther
orphaned children. My vision for the
Njeri, 4, and Bernice
Home is to see these children grow
Maiga, 2 and married
in a Godly and African home
to a Christian man,
environment, receiving all their
Harrison Thuku, who
basic needs and being empowered
works in an
for adulthood.
upholstery company
Since the Joy Home became
and does interior
operational in August, my greatest
design.
role has been to ensure that the
While my family is
mothers understand the needs of
originally from the
each child and that they are
Nyandarua District in
prepared to attend to them, as this
Central Kenya, I was
will enhance their bonding. I am also
born and raised in
Over the years, I have been in
active n coordinating local
Banana, Limuru along with my four
contact with a lot of children
fundraising, community integration,
siblings and educated in Nairobi. My
especially those who attend our
parents were and still are strong
clinic and have seen
believers whose number one rule
them suffer due to
was always to dress well and attend
negligence by their
church without fail. To this day, I am
guardians and parents,
a choir member in my local church.
some to the point of
I have worked at HFC for the past six years. I came in as the first social worker at Nazareth and worked with Dr. Richard Brown to pioneer the HIV/AIDs clinic counseling patients, assessing patient needs, and planning for social interventions. My responsibilities also include overseeing that the patient support programs funded by TOL are
I pray that our mothers at the Joy Home will be linked to prayer partners who will pray and support them, as these women are the key to the Home’s success. I also pray that God will help these children grow out of the stressful lives they have come from and enable them to embrace and experience God’s love through us. I appreciate the love and support my husband has shown in my work. He waits at the bus terminal to escort me home at the end of each long day. I thank God for him.
death. This often left me with no other option but to place some of these children in children’s homes. It is unfortunate that some of these foster homes are not careful with HIV management, causing many of the children to fail in their treatment.
running as scheduled and
When the Joy Home
conducting home visits to HIV
opportunity came up, I
positive patients to monitor
prayed that Sr. Clara
adherence to drugs. 2
Tree of Lives.org
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Art Therapy An orphan is defined by the United
alone despite their circumstances.
Nations as “one who has lost one or
What an unbelievable blessing this
both parents.” Fifteen million
was, not only to them, but also to
children under the age of eighteen
those of us privileged to work with
have been orphaned by AIDS; 11.6
them.
million of these orphans are in Sub Saharan Africa. In some African countries, 20% of the children are orphans (1 in 5). In Kenya, there are 1.5 million orphans due to AIDS. At Holy Family Center, we have nearly 600 HIV+ children, many of whom are orphans.
More than 50 Kenyan counselors, teachers, and leaders were trained in the philosophy and implementation of the Art Therapy program and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in order to promote the continuation of art therapy after the TOL team returned to the US. Our day-long sessions with the
A focus for this summer’s TOL
children were conducted in three
Pilgrimage to Kenya was our Art
different locations: in the heart of
Therapy program for children.
one of Kenya’s largest slums,
Believing that allowing children to
Korogocho; on the grounds of
be in a safe place with safe adults
Nazareth Hospital; and at the
allows for their self-expression, we
Alamono School for special needs
sought to let these vulnerable
children. The basic premise of the
children, each both HIV+ and a child
program was to encourage creative
of abject poverty, know that they are
expression of the children and allow
loved by God and us and are not
counselors a window into any
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Tree of Lives.org
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challenges, abuse, or neglect the young
father beats her mother. Another boy’s drawings
God tells us that He causes the sun to rise on the
participants might be experiencing in their
depicted intense anger and violence. All of these
evil and the good, and He sends rain on the
homes. Among other exercises, the children
children are now targeted for group and
righteous and the unrighteous. We all must
were given a picture of a barren tree; using the
individual therapy with the counselors as well as
endure storms in our lives, but we are promised
tree as a representation of their lives, they were
follow-up in their homes.
that God is with us. Through the implementation
asked to draw
of the Art
people, places
Therapy
and things that
program, it is
represent the
our prayer that
blessings of
our young
their lives and
friends in Kenya
then to draw the
will feel God’s
things in their
presence in
lives that are
their lives and
not good. What
that they will
we gleaned
prosper in the
from this and
light of His love.
other exercises
By Jim Wood
was astounding.
Photographs by Alex Burrows
As the children interacted and worked on their art, stories of abuse and neglect slowly emerged. One young boy, explaining his creation, expressed his hope to grow up and be a father who does not beat his children as his father does. A girl drew a picture of a man and woman, newlyweds and happy; she said her hope for this newly married couple was that the husband will not beat his wife like her
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It was not only the children who opened up during our sessions. One of the counselors, who had been trained to lead a group of children through the program at Nazareth Hospital, said that this was the first time in his life anyone had asked him how he felt. He is 21-years old.
Tree of Lives.org
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PERSON, ONE FAMILY,
ONE COMMUNITY… IN
HIS
TIME.
At the time the inaugural issue of our newsletter went to press, the latest project of Tree of Lives was a dream in the works; now it is a reality. On July 29, 2011, the Nazareth Joy Children’s Home, an orphanage for children impacted by AIDS and abandonment, opened its doors, welcoming 18 children and 3 trained mothers into residence. God is good. Among those first residents were Joyce and Emmanuel. Joyce received 12 weeks of training in nutrition, housekeeping, and the psychological needs of HIV+ children to prepare her for her role as a “mother” to orphans at the Joy Home. When I met Joyce on the grounds of Nazareth Hospital earlier this year, I asked her, “Why, Joyce? Why are you doing this?” She responded simply, “I have nothing. All that I have to offer is myself.”
Nazareth Nursing School When did the vision for a nursing school at Nazareth come to be? The vision started even with the Consolata Sisters; Sr Leonella Sgorbarti (who was killed in Somalia) had the vision to start a nursing school. This vision was actualized by the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (FIHM)
were a total of 22 basic KRCHN students plus 2 from the Distance Learners. Any one or two students that stood out? Why? Out of the 22 students who did the final exam, 4 of them passed with Credits.
when they took over. The process of starting the
One out standing student is Elizabeth Simiyu.
Nursing School started in 2004 and by
Through out the training period she was
September 2005, the first group of Distance
performing very well. It is good to note that she is
learning students joined.
one of the poor students being sponsored by the
What were the biggest challenges then and now? • Finances for the infrastructure • Meeting the Nursing Council of Kenya requirements of a training Hospital. Nazareth had to make some adjustments
Tree of Lives. Another student who also stood out was Pauline Achieng. She is also an orphan like Elizabeth and was being sponsored by an organization called Good Neighbors. Note that the tree of lives was sponsoring 5 students; 2 of them passed while 3 of them have
Emmanuel was abandoned at birth on the grounds of Nazareth Hospital, and he spent his first five weeks of life orphaned in the pediatric ward. Today, he lives at the Joy Home, not as an orphan, but as a son, the son of Joyce.
• Tutors retention
September 2005 with 30 students. This time it
while two went to work at Nazareth Ruiru
In Matthew 18, Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me.” The Joy Home is large enough to welcome 60 children of God. We invite you to partner with us as we work to fill the home to capacity, glorifying God by providing a loving Christian home for his forgotten children.
was upgrading through Distance Learning from
Hospital.
…one person, one family, one community … in His time.
2007 also with 30 students.
In Him,
• Students’ financial status When did the first class begin and with how many students?
certificate to Diploma i.e. from Kenya Enrolled Community Health Nurses (KECHN) to Kenya Registered Community Health nurse (KRCHN) In 2007 the College was allowed to start Regular program i.e. Basic training of KRCHN. The first group of regular students joined in September
How many nurses graduated and when was that date? Since it’s inception, a total of 157 nurses have qualified i.e. 135 Distance learners and 22 basic training nurses.
Jim Wood
to repeat some papers. How many remained at Nazareth to work after graduation? Eight students were left to work at Nazareth
How many other Nursing Schools, similar to Nazareth, are there in Kenya? There are 34 Nursing Schools. Did Nazareth graduates have the highest marks? Nazareth had the highest Mean Score of 66.4%; placing us in position one in the Country. Was the school recognized...for what specifically? The school was recognized for being position one in the Country while it was the very first group of Basic students to qualify.
The first group of Basic KRCHN graduated on 19th August 2011 through a colorful ceremony graced by His Eminence Cardinal John Njue (senior most catholic ordinary in Kenya). They
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