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I recently arrived back home from visiting Bright Hope World partners in Kenya. When I arrived at Auckland airport, my wife and parents were waiting and my kids came running up to me and nearly bowled me over. It was great to be home.
While in Kenya, I visited a children’s home in Kariobangi that is part of the ministry of Mathare Community Outreach (MCO), led by our partners Daniel and Magdalene Ogutu (see here). Bright Hope World have been partnering there with MCO since 2000.
Kariobangi is a (very) low-income residential estate in Nairobi. It is a place of deprivation and an incredibly difficult place in which to eke out a life. It is a particularly challenging place for children, especially for children affected by HIV/AIDS.
The Kariobangi Children’s Home was started in 1997 with the objective of caring for and supporting orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS, of which there are many. MCO started with just six children, but now look after nearly 60. Bright Hope World began supporting the home earlier this year.
Rodgers is the man responsible for managing the home. He and his wife (and their own children) live at the children’s home. As Rodgers talked, I thought about the sacrifice that he and his family had made to live at the home and care for the children. It is far from a nine to five job! Rodgers showed us around the dormitories, other facilities and playground (a dusty car park). It is basic, but to the children who live there, it is home and they are cared for and loved.
Home means different things for different people – a place to belong, a place where you are loved. Home should be safe. Kariobangi is not a safe place, especially as violence has recently erupted over the Kenyan election results. Yet, despite this, the children that live within the gates of the Kariobangi Children’s Home are safe and have a place where they belong. They may not have much, but they do have a home. And that means a great deal.
It is an honour to partner with the people of Mathare Community Outreach (and our many other partners) who sacrifice so much for the good of those who are vulnerable.
Mike Kemps
Kenya Partnership Facilitator
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Bright Hope News
As we mentioned in our last newsletter, we have summits coming up in Invercargill and Auckland.
These are a great opportunity to hear about what we do, and hear some very encouraging stories from our partners.
The two remaining summits this year are: August 26 in Invercargill (Rosedale Chapel at 212 Bourke St) and September 2 in Auckland (Baptist Tabernacle at 429 Queen St)
You can find out more about these events here.
Next year we hope to run summits in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and back in Christchurch…and maybe one or two others! We’ll keep you posted.
And finally…you may have heard that we had a real issue getting our latest batch of La Mai coffee out of Thailand (a very stressful event). We’re pleased to advise we are now fully stocked, so we’re waiting for your orders .
Life Change Story – Judith Akullu, Uganda
Prayer and Praise
This is Judith Akullu. She lives and works in Lira, in the north of Uganda. Judith is a 35-year-old widow with three children who are 16, 14 and 10 years old. When her husband died in 2008, she found out she was HIV+.
In the left hand picture, taken in 2010, she was making a living by getting medium sized rocks and breaking them down – day in, day out – into smaller rocks to sell for roading. It was incredibly hard and poorly paying work. On a good day, she would earn about USD1.50.
In the right hand picture, taken a couple of weeks ago, Judith is heading up a successful coal business. She has received and repaid numerous small loans from our partner in Lira, and is now doing well financially, and from a health perspective.
The government has recently outlawed the sale and burning of coal - even though the people have no alternatives for cooking - and Judith has had her entire stock confiscated twice. Yet, because of her careful financial management, Judith is still able to keep trading and making money until she can find an alternative product to sell.
Read more about Lira Widows’ Loan Programme (UGA06) here.
We greatly appreciate your prayers for us and our partners.
- Pray for the people of Kenya and Nairobi in general as violence as post-election violence has taken numerous lives in areas where our partners live and work.
- Pray for Judith and the many Ugandans that make a living from selling coal, but are being stopped from doing so. Pray for wisdom as to what new products to invest in.
- Praise for the safe return of many team members who have been travelling in the last two months.
- Pray for the two summits we are holding in Southland and Auckland over the coming weeks.
2016/2017 Annual Report Available
Find out what Bright Hope World has been doing during 2016 and 2017 in our newly redesigned Annual Report.
You can download the report here.
Bright Hope World, PO Box 8928, Christchurch 8440, New Zealand
Phone: (03) 341 0933 Fax: (03) 341 3363
www.brighthopeworld.com
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