A MESSAGE FROM CHARITY

“Welcome, welcome!” This is a song sung in jubilance by kids when they come back after a long holiday in their rescue centres. They are deeply joyful to be back to school; that a new term (semester) has come. They want to meet up with their friends in school, and their teachers, to join new classes when it’s a new year, and to progress with their school routine, which is more busy and fun than in rescue centres.

To me, it’s a hustle of time: arranging their transport, getting their fees in the school accounts, buying them the personal stuff for use at school, (including toiletries, stationary, new uniforms or replacing the old ones), making sure that all things are well coordinated to avoid the kids having a delay in learning. I am grateful doing this. I have done it for more than five years! So each semester / year gives me more room for experience!! 

There is also the issue of back-to-school transport, meaning I have to coordinate with the driver and negotiate the priceswhich are very unpredictable. The drivers usually complain of the distance and it is their peak time in business, which is a challenge to me. The second challenge is that these kids are not from the same rescue centres and do not attend the same school. No they are from different institutions and go to two different schools. So when they open both schools on the same day I have to visit four different places. That takes a whole day. To try cut down the price if they are not going back to school on the same day means extra charges. 

We also deal with kids who live with their families. At times the family is not able to bring their kids to school—the issue being the bus fare—and I have to send money or, if the family still is not available, I have to travel to get the kid and bring him or her to school on time. As said earlier transport is the greatest challenge for now. But taking a positive perspective, it is a time I get to travel with kids, they share details of their school life with me, as well as their rescue life, their dreams, their futures, and, of course it is a moment of my days that makes me smile, as I listen to what they want to become when they grow up after school. It’s amazing, they make me to perform my duties perfectly and make worthy my dream as a Mugumo Project founder in Kenya. 

In academics, they are wonderful. Many kids in our organization are above average!! You can’t even believe how well they score on everything—One child scored 500/500! Only 1% perform below the average. There is great ambition among themselves as I have been rewarding them. The best and the most improved kid, I even take them for a treat out of school as a way of motivating them and also volunteering to stay with them in my house. They fight for this chance! They are also talented with other gifts like drawing. They are very creative and beadwork, especially the Machakos kids.

This progress is always encouraging. I will not give up my dream to see them being self-reliant and contributing Kenyans. This is a promise around which we stand and will wave a flag of victory together.

Kudos to all the sponsors from Canada, the United States and New Zealand, plus all the well wishers who never give up when called on for fundraising events to help see the dream becoming a reality.

Thanks so much. May God bless you.

 Charity Nyathirah

Director of Operations