Kitavi Mutua
21 May 2008
Nairobi — A new unique way of tackling the impact of the HIV and Aids scourge in Kenya is shaping up in a remote village in Kitui District.
Elderly mothers and orphans are being nurtured to restore the continuity of the broken families in a programme run by the Nyumbani Village.
Nyumbani, situated near Kwa-vonza market in Kitui West constituency, is a self-sustaining community centre, restoring hope to orphans and elders affected by the deadly pandemic.
Through group homes and community institutions, the village harnesses the energy of youth and the maturity of elders to create new blended families to provide compassion and care for the destitute, so that the orphaned will rise up to lead productive, safe and comfortable future lives.
Live together
The village, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, stands out from the conventional set-up of children's homes, where children are confined in an institution with a centralised authority.
Here, the orphans live together with their guardians as if in a real family setup where they are provided with basic necessities.
The distressed grandparents, who toiled hard in their youthful years to educate and bring up their children responsibly, had their hopes of ageing gracefully abruptly shattered.
After Aids claimed their sons and daughters, they suddenly found themselves becoming the breadwinners for the family.
Their offspring
Others hoped that through their children's education, a peaceful retirement was guaranteed as their offspring would, in line with African traditions, take care of their ageing parents.
Like many other parents in Africa where insurance for old age is still rare, and with few homes for the ageing, educating children serves to fill the void.
However, the deaths arising from Aids have opened a new painful chapter in the grandparents' lives. Mary Kalekye, one of the pioneer beneficiaries of the village, lost her only daughter in 2001. She left behind four children, thus reversing roles.
Mary had to make a supreme effort to put a single meal on the table for the orphans, leave alone getting money to buy clothing and pay for their schooling.
Extreme anxiety
"I found myself in a precarious situation that even threatened my own health, because I needed special care due to my age" the 79-year-old woman said.
There was little that sympathetic friends, relatives and neighbours could do to help her out.
In the middle of the extreme anxiety and desperation over the uncertain future, she was admitted into the village together with her four grandchildren in February last year after being referred by the local Catholic priest.
"I was weak and vulnerable, but now I consider myself lucky for having benefited from this home-care programme" she says, adding, she does not intend to return to her home. Mary is among 28 pioneer elderly mothers, who for the last one year, have been receiving care at the rescue facility since it was established two years ago.
Their only duty is to ensure that the African culture is maintained and that discipline is instilled in the children as they grow up.
"The orphans were enrolled at Hot Courses primary school, situated within the village, which also pays for their education, besides providing food, shelter and clothing to them," Mary says.
Unique initiative
When the Nation visited the village, other prospective beneficiaries were lining up to be considered for inclusion in the unique initiative - the brainchild of Catholic priest Angelo D'Agostino.
Four years ago, the priest modelled his outstanding vision alongside a small pilot project in Kwa-Zulu region in South Africa, which was run by Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and replicated it in Kenya with plans to cater for more than 1,000 orphans.
Impassioned about making a difference in the lives of children orphaned by HIV and, the priest approached several prospective donors and stakeholders to make his dream a reality.
Through careful planning and strategy, Fr D'Agostino and his group obtained a 1,000 acre land 14km off the Kitui-Nairobi road, and started working on the project. The land was donated on a freehold basis by the Kitui county council.
Each of the 28 households consists of mainly a grandmother and the orphaned grandchildren. There are only two grandfathers in the entire Village, who take care of their grandchildren single-handedly.
As the name suggests, Nyumbani (Kiswahili for home), it is interesting to see the destitute families living in their own houses, tilling their own land and preparing their own meals independent of each other.
About 218 children, 21 of them in different secondary schools, and one pursuing a degree course at Kenyatta University, have all found a second home at Nyumbani. About 181 are enrolled at the Village Hot Courses Primary School.
"The concept to start Nyumbani Village originated from the need to provide a family atmosphere for orphaned children who were being taken care of by poor grandparents," said Mr Nicholas Makau, the programme manager.
Separate houses
Mr Makau says the idea discouraged the drastic changing of the structures of rural home, which could negatively affect the children's future. That is why it is hosting grandparents and the orphaned together in a village, but in separate houses.
He adds that its members receive love, sustenance, health-care and education, aiming at their physical and welfare development.
He adds that the orphaned school going children are the remaining hope of their broken families and that they were at risk of abandoning the African culture, getting morally rotten and hence becoming a burden to the society. "In the absence of their parents who could have passed the relay baton by bringing them up in a caring way, they were also confronted with the big challenge of carrying on their family lines" the manager explains.
With sufficient tillable land, the beneficiaries sustain themselves through agriculture, poultry, dairy projects as well as handicrafts and external services.
The adolescents benefit from the knowledge of the elderly occupants, who in turn will benefit from the support of the younger population.
According to the manager, vocational opportunities in the form of training, tools, and start-up financing for trades, cottage industry and agriculture, will be provided to make the beneficiaries self-reliant.
Nyumbani Village so far has a community centre, a health centre, a full primary school and an Administrative Police post.
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