MAKINDU

MAKINDU

 

After safe passage via bus from Nairobi over about 200 km of what might, generously, be called a bumpy road with its numerous diversions for ongoing construction, we finally arrived in Makindu, a "truck stop" town in Kenya along the Mombasa Highway between Nairobi, Kenya's capital, and Mombasa, a popular coastal town. Makindu consists of rows of small stores, restaurants and a scattering of vegetable stalls along dirt paths off the highway.

After the long bus ride, finally, the reason for the long journey was evident – all of these beautiful children! Makindu Children’s Center (MCC) has been a growing, community-based organization for almost 10 years, and is now providing services to more than 400 children orphaned and other particularly vulnerable children. MCC provides cooked meals at the center, monthly food boxes, and medical vouchers to be used at the local clinics and hospital, pays for school tuition, books, uniforms, vocational training skills, crisis intervention and psychosocial support. These services are paid for by donor support and foundation grants, including a grant from USAID.
 
On land donated by the Makindu Division (local government similar to a county), Makindu Children’s Center has built a nursery schoolroom, offices, kitchen and large dining hall. Also developed by MCC is a large, community water reservoir with a distribution system that provides potable water to over 20,000 villagers.
 
We drove and bicycled to home visits with six guardian families and their children. One single grandmother was caring for nine grandchildren in a two room earthen hut. One of her grown daughters had died of AIDs and another had run away to Mombasa, leaving grandma with nine children in total. This grandmother had a warm twinkle in her eye; despite the job she'd been handed. In the home were bedrolls hanging from the ceiling, which are unrolled onto the dirt floor at night. There is no cold food storage, no electricity, no running water and she and the children must carry water in buckets from a spigot located near the center of town.
 
Once a month over 100 guardians walk, sometimes many miles, to MCC for a support meeting. There are over 250 guardians. Most of the guardians are women (originally grandparents or neighbors of the children). These women dress colorfully, most speak kiswahili and their lined faces show a calm dignity.

I was touched by their expressions of thanks for the services provided by MCC. The guardians repeatedly expressed their gratitude before discussing their own needs or concerns. Among the concerns shared by the guardians were: the need for a transitional program for older kids leaving MCC, small business development assistance, request to integrate detergent into food baskets, request to serve more children, provide more insect netting and bedding, older guardians need additional care including bedding, eye care, and shelter improvements. Some are 70 and older. These guardians are the core of support for the children. These are the nurturers who provide homes for the children.