We provide a loving home for abandoned babies in North Western Kenya.
We now have 32 children who have been with us since infancy and up to the age of fourteen years.
Why are there so many abandoned babies? Sadly in this part of Kenya, children who are born as a result of rape or incest are viewed as cursed and as bringing a curse on anyone who looks after them. So young unmarried mothers are forced by their families to abandon their babies. They may be left under a bush, by the river, on doorsteps, or anywhere. Tragically many die of exposure before they are found, and thousands of babies die like this every year.
A few babies are found and rescued in time, and at the Julius and Dora Children’s Centre we save those we can. There is desperate need, because no other orphanages or children’s homes will take abandoned babies, as babies are so difficult and costly to care for.
How do we Help?
The Julius and Dora Children’s Centre rescues and cares for these abandoned babies, and provides:
- A home for the children: For the first six years we rented a house in Kakamega while we raised funds for building. Thanks to our supporters we have now completed a purpose-built home for the children on land which was donated in nearby Maseno. The children were very excited to move there in January 2014.
- Health care: Some of the children needed hospital treatment when they were first found and rescued. There is no National Health Service in Kenya so we pay for all the children’s medical care and a voluntary nurse checks the children regularly.
- Food: The children eat simple and nutritious local food, much of it grown in our own garden.
- Education: We now have our own Nursery and ‘early Primary’ School for the younger children, run by a brilliant and dedicated teacher, Grace. The local Government Primary school is terrible, with each class having over 150 children where they learn nothing, so we are sending our older children to fee-paying Primary / Secondary schools. School fees and extra charges in Kenya, add up to a significant cost (about £950 per child per year). However, with high unemployment in Kenya, it is vital to give our children a good education so they can have a chance in life.
Who runs the Julius and Dora Children’s Centre?
Floice Adoyo (nicknamed Flossie) is the Co-ordinator and ‘driving force’ behind the running of the Children’s Centre. It was her parents, Julius and Dora Adoyo, who bequeathed the land on which the Centre has been built. The children adore her and call her ‘Mum’. She supports herself by doing consultancy work for the Kenyan government and international charities in agricultural development, so that she can give her time voluntarily to the J&D Centre.
The day-to-day running of the home is done by three very committed paid staff – two full-time women who live with the children, and one man. They do all the practical housework, cooking and caring etc. and are very good at playing and singing with the children, teaching them skills and basic reading.
The local Vicar visits the children weekly and teaches them Bible stories. Other volunteers and members of the church (e.g. the Mother’s Union) are very supportive, visiting, spending time with the children and sometimes bringing extra food.
How are we Funded?
The Children’s Centre is entirely funded by the generosity of individual donors. This is coordinated by the trustees of the “Friends of Julius and Dora Children’s Centre, Maseno, Kenya”. This is a registered UK charity, chaired by Flossie’s sister Eugeniah Adoyo who is a vicar in England. The charity’s trustees all work voluntarily to raise the money to send to Kenya for running the Children’s Centre. So apart from the inevitable financial institutions charges, every penny directly benefits the children.
