Generous People Will Make It Christmas At Twiga

Originally posted on BabaMzungu

Since the beginning of 2008, I have been collecting old cell phones for sale in Kenya. Last year, this effort raised enough to buy all our kids a new pair of leather schools shoes!
I have continued to collect cell phones, but they are becoming rarer. So I put out a plea for toys and games, as we approach Christmas - and my departure for Kenya.

Orphaned kids in Kenya don't do Christmas. They go to church, but other than that, Christmas Day is just another day to survive.

Anyway, I just want to say a big thank you to Sophie, 10 years old, who lives in Newbury. She has given up her complete collection of Barbie dolls, 15 of them! Her little brothers gave 4 or 5 cars and a few other bits and bobs.

Anne, also from Newbury, gave us a load of cuddly toys, and some games, such as chess, draughts and card games and a junior Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Mia, a South African, also from Newbury gave us some games and some seed for our vegetable plot.

Our kids at Twiga are going to have one very good Christmas, even if it will be a little early - I will be back in the UK for the day.

But we still need money to feed them (and to build the much needed children's home), so if anyone is feeling generous, or wants to do some fund-raising, please feel free. Donations can be made with the PayPal button in the right margin of our KCIS blog page.

Visits from the UK - Past and Future

We were very fortunate to receive a visit from a BBC Radio Berkshire producer/researcher in July.

Nejra Chehic visited Kisii on another project, but had known about Twiga Children's Centre through our UK director, David Steggall. Nejra contacted David and it was arranged that she would visit us, see the Centre and speak to some of the children.

The result of this visit can be heard on the BBC Radio Berkshire website. An audio slide show can also be seen on their site, displaying photos of some of our Twiga children.

David will be returning to Kisii on 12th November and will be staying for about a month, when he will be shooting footage for a new video about the plight of OVCs in Kisii, and what Twiga (and KCIS) are hoping to do for them.