As we all know Papa Kevin loves a bargain, he often visits the shamba at Shimo la Twea prison to buy oranges & grapefruits and has always has a chat with the staff and inmates who work there. On his last visit one of the officers asked him to come to see a brother and sister whose parents had died recently in tragic circumstances. They were living in extreme poverty, there was no food anywhere and they were not attending school. Papa Kevin felt very sorry for the orphans after seeing their ramshackle home and the mattress on which they slept, they were surviving but only just. Kaleso thirteen years old and his sister Amina eight years old needed help immediately.

Kaleso & Amina 20th Feb

A few days later Papa Kevin brought George our social worker to meet the children to arrange for them to be committed to The Good Life Orphanage. This was not an easy task, George needed the Death Certificates of the parents along with a letter from the village chief confirming their sad story. Once all these were in place the next step was to approach the Department of Children to arrange a court hearing.

Kaleso & Amina 02

Luckily the DCO recognised their plight arranging the hearing and committal order immediately. Wednesday 13th March was the date and George along with Abbas was on-hand to ensure all ran smoothy. Kaleso & Amina were very nervous but understood they could not continue to live as they had been doing since the death of their parents. After the committal order was granted they returned to the village to say goodbye. They showed the GLO staff their appalling living conditions, this was visible to the naked eye but this brother and sister have suffered physiologically as well, something we have to be very aware of at the orphaange.

The Kitchen

The house

On arrival at The Good Life Orphanage they were welcomed by everyone, they were then weighed and had a quick medical check, next step was the issuing of some new clothes and they met their new Mama in Keogh House. They received a full medical check the following day at the nearby clinic which confirmed that they were malnourished but otherwise in good health.

Little Amina

Mama Lucy is a friendly and loving lady, she understood they were frightened but gave them a big hug and an even bigger lunch. She mentioned the sadness in their eyes, they have been through so much and it is very easy to see that Kaleso & Amina have witnessed things a child should never see.

Papa introduces Kaleso & Amina to Mama Lucy

After lunch Papa Kevin brought them down to the school to meet the other children in Keogh House and introduce them to Mr Pius and the teaching staff, unfortunately they have not attended school so will have to be assessed to see which class they will join next week. They were amazed at their new home, at St Bernadette Mary School and also they were very shocked at how confident the orphanage children are when they were introducing themselves.

Papa introducing the new children to school

It will take a little time for them to adapt to living at the orphanage as they are older and since their parents died have been “free spirits” as such with no supervision nor boundaries. We hope the despair in Kaleso & Amina eyes will be replaced with smiles and joy very soon.

Sad eyes

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