T
R
E
E
O
F
L
I
V
E
S
Issue No. 8 - May 2013
We would like to introduce you to an old friend with a new name…the Joy Children’s Village! Known as the Joy Children’s Home when it opened in 2011, the word “orphanage” was fitting. At that time, we brought together 18 orphans in one large home under the care of three women trained to be their “mothers.” It was an institutional model where the women and children lived together as a group. It was a children’s “home.” Two years and major renovations later, the words “home” and “orphanage” are no longer appropriate. This is now a village. It is a village made up of three families living separately in their own condominiums, buying their own groceries, cooking their own meals, keeping their own budgets. The children within each of these families live as brothers and sisters, doing chores and homework together under the watchful eye of a loving mother. It is no longer an institution. It is the Joy Children’s Village. The second phase of renovations, creating four additional condominiums, was recently completed. Soon this village of three families will become a village of seven. The home that was once an orphanage is now a village, filled with the laughter and love of women and children brought together by the saving grace of Christ. Welcome to Joy!
Kenya Pilgrimages in 2013 The summer pilgrimage to Kenya will begin June 22 when a group of 12 people from Norfolk, Massachusetts and Michigan take off for Nazareth Hospital. The team will be doing work at the Joy Children’s Village, Nazareth Hospital, Holy Family Center and in the surrounding communities. Projects include art therapy, education research, medical training and more. If you are interested in going to Kenya, there will be another team leaving October 26; registration deadline for that trip is August 11. Contact Becky Lyle Pinkard if you would like more info. becky@fpcnorfolk.org. TREE OF LIVES.ORG
1
T
R
E
E
O
F
L
I
V
E
S
2012 Korogocho Slums Project Update on a Tree of Lives initiative to bring seven young people out of a Nairobi slum through skill training. !
Korogocho is a Swahili term meaning shoulder to shoulder. With 200,000 people living within one square mile, the name for one of the largest slums in Nairobi is a perfect fit. Korogocho is a shanty town built next to a major Nairobi trash dump. With a poor infrastructure and few resources, residents suffer poor health, a high rate of HIV, crime, gangs, hunger and addictions. In 2012, Tree of Lives spearheaded a project intended to give seven young adults born and raised in this Nairobi slum an opportunity to escape to a better life by learning a trade - hairdressing and salon services. An instructor/mentor was hired and six goals were set: Complete the training, find employment in beauty care outside Korogocho, attend the mentorship program; modify lifestyle and give back...sustain this program. The results are impressive. Six of the seven successfully completed the training and have been launched on their career paths. One of the young men started a very successful pedicure business and one of the young women is now working at an upscale spa in Nairobi. Four from this group have moved out of the slum. The two students who completed the program but have not yet moved out of Korogocho are at least working in salons outside the slum, hoping to move eventually. The project made a positive impact on the lives of these young adults in ways beyond gainful employment. They continue to come together once a month to encourage each other. They have started a savings account together, each contributing about $6 per month to be used eventually for loans to purchase equipment. Members of the group have concentrated on some personal life style changes as well. Four are now attending church and one of the young ladies has become a Sunday school teacher. All six graduates of the program seem to have improved self esteem. They are all now considering the possibility of initiating their own training salon.
The Holy Family Center and Tree of Lives lost a good friend recently. Simon Murage, who worked as a nurse at HFC and several other Nairobi area hospitals, died in a traffic accident April 19, 2013. He left behind his wife, Alice, and two children, Mary Anne and Raymond, 4 and 8 years old. Simon was educated at Nkubu Medical School and was a member of ACK St. Anne Kiamugumo Church, where he served as chairman of the church youth.
TREE OF LIVES.ORG
In Memoriam Simon Murage 1979-2013
2