Faraja Children's Home; a call for help

I feel like in the last week I have neglected the real reason I came to Kenya. I came here to volunteer and do my best to make an impact on the community. Every weekday for the last week and a half I have gone to Faraja to work along side Ben and Abi to do our best to make a difference in the run down orphanage. To be honest though, when I think about everything the kids need and that Moraa needs to help run the orphanage I become so overwhelmed it makes it hard to focus on any one thing. So, therefore, I am asking for your help. I need some new perspectives, new thoughts, and some hope for these people. I'm asking you to read up on Faraja Children's Home and give me your thoughts and opinions. Any help is much appreciated.

Faraja is ran solely by a woman named Moraa (Mor-ah) and has been in existence for about seven years now. Everyday Moraa manages to take 'mom' to a whole new level. The days start off at 5:30am when Moraa wakes the kids for breakfast, from there she helps the all get ready for school before sending them off for the day. This is when the real work starts. It may seem like the hard part of running an orphanage would be when the kids were actually home, but that would be incorrect. While the kids are at school Moraa has the laundry of 36 people to do (remember there are no washers/dryers here, in fact Faraja has neither electricity nor running water), clean the home, visit with social workers, she also has to wash the dishes from breakfast and start preparing lunch for the kids who come home midday, feed and water the chickens, and collect what few eggs they've laid. Again, you might think that was the hard part... and again, you're mistaken. When the kids get home from lunch Moraa ensures that they have a speedy meal and make it back to school for their afternoon lessons. From there it's a whole new pile of dishes (by now I'm sure you've gathered that there are also no dishwashers), and afternoon chores. When the kids get home in the evening she has to tutor the ones who need tutoring, counsel the children who need counseling because they've lived more screwed up lives than most people double their age, ensure that all of the kids are bathed and make dinner for the rowdy bunch of 35 orphans before bedtime at 9:30pm. In the beginning I assumed that was the hard part of running a foundation like Moraa's; the physical labor and grueling hours. But I couldn't have been more wrong. The hard part is not knowing where the next meal is coming from, having to find time to make the 45 minute walk into town to beg for donations and food, arguing with the government as they try and give you more kids but down right refuse to give you any funds or aid in raising them.

Faraja Children's Home is currently receiving no income other than the few hundred shillings a week she is able to make from selling the chicken eggs that her kids don't eat (a bag of chicken feed costs 2,100 shillings so you can see how counterproductive that is). The home is 100% dependent on donations and charity, and in a country where everyone has a sob story those are not always easy to come by. I remember the very first time I met Moraa she seemed so pleased that Ben, Abi, and I had come to work that day. “Oh good! I can go to town and beg now,” is essentially what she told us. Not before she insisted on taking a cup of tea with us and getting to know her new comers, however. I have never before seen hospitality like this woman. “How are mom and dad,” she asked me within minutes of shaking my hand. Only after I assured her they were well would she excuse herself to the kitchen to bring us a hot cup of chai. It took exactly that; one cup of chai tea in Faraja's rundown living room, for me to realize just how much Moraa loved everyone of these orphans she calls her children.

There are currently 35 orphans living in Faraja. Kepha is the youngest of the kids being just 18 months old, he sticks around the house all day reeking havoc in the most precious way possible. Being gone from him for just two days during the weekend makes my heart ache and I appreciate his snotty nose hugs every Monday through Friday. Marry is the oldest of the gang at 17 years old and is 2^nd in charge behind Moraa. The other 33 kids vary in age, but all of them are more grown up than any numeric value can convey. Many of them have lived rougher lives than I'd wish on anyone. They are scrappers, kids who have the priorities of adults. And anyone who has grown up with siblings knows what it's like. You've got to be a little tougher; that's just fact. Now imagine your siblings just so happen to be a few dozen African orphans?

One might think that with all of this adversary and conflict in their lives that the kids of Faraja would be ornery or unkind. But this couldn't be farther from the truth. They are the definition of family. I enjoy watching the way the children interact with each other because they're love for one another is so apparent. I've seen them share food that's given to them even when they know there is a chance another meal couldn't come for a few days. And their respect for Moraa is transpiring. While the last few paragraphs may sound like a concoction for depression, this also is untrue. I've never met someone so optimistic, hopeful, and caring as Moraa. Her attitude reflects on the kids and the atmosphere of Faraja is always welcoming and positive. Days when I want to ask Moraa “what next,” I just bite my tongue. I know her answer, “God will provide.”

The needs of the Children's Home are innumerable; starting with basic needs (food, money, medicines) ranging all the way to school books/uniforms and new mattresses. Trying to benefit such a place in just 6 weeks seems a daunting task. One I am not sure I am up to, honestly. I never in a thousand years imagined my time working in an orphanage would have involved so much cooking and cleaning and so very little time actually spent with kids (they are at school the majority of the time I am at work, though Abi and I have started staying later in the day to hopefully do some tutorials). Ben has spent nearly two months at Faraja now and is working very hard on a grant proposal to send to some major organizations here and possibly in America. With his success he would bring Moraa an income that would help her with all of the needs of her giant family.

One thing that Outreach Weekend taught me is that projects are best when they are made to be sustaining. Meaning, that while I could stick around here and do a little work at Faraja and hold some flashcards up for some kids, what am I really doing? Soon as I leave it will all be for naught. I want to do something for these kids... something that lasts.

A past volunteer set up a chicken program; meaning set bought chickens and a chicken coop in hope that she could sell the chicken eggs in order to make some money. Which was great in theory, but when things got harder for Moraa the chickens have become difficult to feed which means they stop producing eggs. It is, however, this type of mentality I'd like to have. Some thoughts I've had include writing profiles on all of the children, and hoping to get independent sponsors for them. But where? What about the kids who don't get sponsors? Is there any point in bothering with the profiles? I thought about trying to set up some kind of steady tutoring program (many kids over the age of 13 can't even read), but that seems like such a moot point when they might well be distracted from hunger while being tutored. I hope to go home and do some kind of fundrasing at home, but even then it's not sustainable. Ben and I have been writing to different companies and organizations asking for sponsorship and donations but our luck has been... well... shit.

Here's where you come in. I am asking for you help. Any kind of help I can get. Honestly I'd like to pick your brains more than anything. Help me help Moraa, the kids, and Faraja Children's School. Help me create something sustaining. Your ideas are golden. Feel free to respond in the comments, via email (portia.duke@gmail.com), via facebook (add me with my email) any way you want. If by chance you would like to make a physical donation of some kind you can also contact me at any of the following and I will of course ensure that it's used with every bit of integrity possible.

I would also like to take a second to say thank you to everyone reading my blog, I know there is many people who I have never met who've been keeping up and that means a lot to me. I would also like to thank all the friends and family who helped make this possible, all in your own ways. Your support and company on this journey has been invaluable to me. Thank you, everyone.