... and a Friendly Name

Since the amalgamation of Mercy Gate CCH and KCIS, I have been worrying that KCIS Child Support Centre is a bit "cold" as a name for a children's home. It is a joyless name, and the kids there are full of joy.
So, I was talking to Vincent yesterday and mentioned my concerns. I put forward the idea that we could have an animal in the name and eventually settled on a giraffe.
So, the "friendly" name for the KCIS Child Support Centre will be Twiga Children's Centre.
[For those who do not speak Swahili, Twiga is a giraffe.]

... and a new Logo

OK, we have merged, changed the name and now we have a logo!

This will slowly be appearing the Child Centre website as well as the KCIS website

But bear with us - this is a lot of work

Our New Name

Having merged with KCIS, and Mercy Gate now being an integral part of the organisation, we have changed the name.

We have decided that we want to offer more than just a home for the homeless. There are children who are abused, used as child labour, children who have still not found their families after the post-election violence, and we want to include them under our umbrella.

So, the new name for the children's home is KCIS Child Support Centre. It may not be the mos imaginative, but we hope it tells any child who needs help that we are there for them.

Merger

Read into this what you will, but David, from ACIS, who supported our children's home has decided to form a new non-profit organisation, Kenyan Community Initiative Support, with Vincent, the director of the home. This new organisation will be based in Kisii.

We have decided to merge Mercy Gate Champion Children's Home with KCIS and the home will be given a new name. The kids are the same, the people who run it are the same, but we will have a far stronger affiliation with KCIS, which will give far more official support to the home.

ACIS and Mercy Gate as organisations did very little for the home. Only David from ACIS really took any interest, so when he decided to form KCIS with us, it seemed like a better idea.

The directors of KCIS are also the owners of a small but growing business in Kisii, Kenanda-Steggall Exports, which will put money into KCIS and we hope that this will make KCIS less dependent on donations, which are becoming few and far between, which is not surprising, given the financial difficulties in the developed world.

Newsletter

We have decided to produce a newsletter that will document some of the things happening at Mercy Gate, anecdotes, news, etc.

We are hoping that eventually, some of the older children may be able to contribute, but that is for the future. In the meantime, we are in full swing to get our first issue out.

It will be circulated over the Internet to friends of Mercy Gate Champion Children's Home.
If you would like a copy, please contact David

More of our Children

To see more of our children, you can go to the link to another blog, Kenyan Community Initiative Support.

Our Children

We have about 35 children in our care. This number changes from time to time. Some of the children are placed with us because their parents are ill. When they are better, the children are returned to them.


Here are a few of them.


Davis, born 1999


Davis's father died in a road accident in 1999 the same year that Davis was born. His mother is unable to look after Davis or his older sister Vannessa as she has no income.

Davis has a permanent smile on his face. He works well at school and is developing well.


He likes to make things, a recent achievement was a truck that is able to empty its load by operating a lever.


Vanessa
Vanessa is Davis's sister. She is about 11 years old and very shy.

Obviously, her situation is the same as for Davis.