Anyone who has visited The GLO will realise very quickly we are passionate about assisting our children’s development through educational play. This has been a little bit of a challenge as many Kenyans struggle to feed and provide a roof over their families head never mind having time to play with them, life is very difficult indeed. So with the help of some very dedicated volunteers and advice from reputable children’s organisations in the UK & Ireland we have managed to introduce a structured playtime solely with the purpose to enhance the children’s lives through play.

Children in  Joe Geeling Play park with Monica a volunteer.jpg

Each afternoon between 3pm & 5pm the younger children have playtime in our Joe Geeling Play Park, this encourages them to play together and its also a lesson in sharing which with over 20 under 4’s is a task which needs constant supervision by the Mamas & Aunties.

Enjoying the creative play

Then on a Saturday there is a three hour window where all the children, young and old get together to enjoy creative play. This is many of the children’s favourite time of the week, Luckily we have managed to create a varied timetable which covers games, singing, dancing and being “creative”. Monika who volunteered along with her husband Dan for three months started to organise this and it has progressed over the past two years with Lorraine from Learning Space NI setting up a specialised Nursery/Play Area whilst she was here in February 2012.

Michael & Naomi

Auntie Rosemary who is a qualified nursery teacher oversees this on a daily basis with the other Mamas, Aunties & volunteers all joining in on a Saturday. Its is a happy time for everyone and is encouraging many of the children’s more creative side to come to the fore. Caleb recently won the Best Artist Award at St Bernadette Mary School thanks to this.

Happy days

We would like to thanks everyone who has made this possible especially Jo, Andy, Paul, Gemma & everyone at The Mulberry Bush Nursery in Bury who have been assisting us since Day 1 and thanks to their generous annual donations ensure we are well stocked with materials so we can continue to develop this “ground breaking” concept in our orphanage. This year they raised over £5,000 again which was divided between Reach Charity & The GLO. Here is a photo of Mama Mary picking up the cheque at The Mulberry Bush Nursery Tottington. Also on the photo are Anna Livesey, Leon Jones with their son Ruben collecting the cheque on behalf of the Reach charity as Ruben attends the Kindergarten unit in the Tottington nursery. Gemma & Mehreen also appear on the photograph with a number of children from the nursery.

Mulberry Bush.jpg

Without this continued support it would be impossible to continue to progress and develop our project & for that we say a massive Asante Sana!

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