“I arrive at Praise Gate Children’s Home in Kenya after an hour drive from busy Nairobi streets and unpaved roads. Children with their excited eyes and huge smiles gather around to give me a hug. I am overwhelmed immediately. I step behind the fence and notice the smell of food being prepared for lunch on an open fire outside. In another space there are lots and lots of clothes hanging on a line outside – laundry day, I am told. I am invited to step inside and try to hide my shock of horror as I see where these children spend their days and nights. Dark gloomy space with couches that would not be taken by the homeless where I come from. No floors, just dirt. Two old tables where all children cram to learn and eat. I take a look at the rest of this steel-wall space (the type of steel that is used in construction to wall-off a location). Old-decrepit matrasses in cramped space of bunk beds one next to the other. No space for personal items, just some clothes on the bed. A hole in the floor as a toilet. No electricity, no refrigerator. I can’t possibly imagine staying here one night, let alone for months or years…
I am told that the rescued children from the streets who come here are ecstatic about having a bed to sleep on and a warm meal they do not have to fend for themselves on the streets… A small 3-year-old boy is the latest arrival – found crawling on the streets and near the garbage fending for food with no one to take care of him – so malnourished that he could not stand on his legs, could not walk… I see him wabbling on his two tiny skinny legs, so excited to move around on his own…. I hand out tennis balls, which become an instant hit for the afternoon…. All kids share and play outside. There is no conflict, no fending for self. The older kids take care of the younger, as if they were the mom and dad. Everyone shares. Such a different paradigm…. My eyes water, as I watch the scene in front of me and take it all in…
My daughter Leila visited 2 years ago and came back with the dream of building a new safe home for the 80 children living here. There was a pile of bricks close by with a foundation of a new building, which could not continue when the financing died during covid. The dream was to revitalize this project and bring it to its completion. During the last two years, we supported financially and gathered further support. It was unbelievable for me to see the entire construction finished and the interior almost finished, and with the money we sent through the Integra Foundation.
The children come to visit the building together with me and with happy eyes and their huge smiles they showed me around the new building, how a light comes on with a switch, how they will have a real bathroom, and in which space who will sleep. It is just amazing that the project is almost finished and that the children will move into this safe home this year. What is still needed is the outside kitchen with open fire (the way they are used to cook in Kenya), a safe fence around the property, emergency fire exit stairs on both sides of the building, and new bunk beds and matrasses for each child. This is what is separating the children from being able to move in. I hope and believe that enough support will be gathered in the next few months to be able to make this dream come true.
I am so grateful to be able to help and support this project thanks to our clients who pay for our services, which enable us to give back and make a difference. Together, we are changing lives and giving these children a better childhood and a hopeful future – and empowering them to make a difference in Kenya.
Would you like to sponsor a bed for a child in this new Children’s Home? Visit https://bit.ly/NaDetskyDomov to make a donation.”
Miriam Lachová, CEO
Human Dynamic Europe
All windows installed together with metal protectors,
