How it happens

This morning I received an email from our orphanage director in Kenya. Stephen wrote "We have a very desperate cases of two boys. They were happily leaving with their parents but unfortunately their mother passed away. Since they were left with their father, things were not very bad even though he was also sick. The father died recently and they were left alone at a place called Meru, very far from Timau. They had heard about their grandmother who is staying at Timau slums area and they came to look for her." He went on to say their grandmother is not fit to care for them and they need a place to stay.

Last year when I was in Timau, Stephen introduced me to the similar case of brothers, Alvin (pictured) and Kevin. They too had lost both parents and were in desperate need of shelter and care. At the time we had 26 boys in the home and having 28 would really stretch us. Then reality sunk in. If we don't take in these boys, nobody will. We made it work. Although it wasn't in our budget to care for them, we said yes.

Now Alvin and Kelvin have 26 other brothers around them, support from their caretakers and doing well in school. Here we are again. Somehow Stephen has made space for 2 more. He asks, "I do deeply feel troubled about their situation. If you would please allow us to take them in as residential orphans, this will not only help them get a new home but also their lives will be out of danger..."

This is how HALO has grown. I know saying yes will mean more work, more commitments from our donors, more mouths to feed. It means we will provide food, water, shelter, clothing, education, art therapy and vocational training until they are able to live on their own. But how can we say no? This is why every dollar counts. With the help of our donors we are able to take children from living in fear of where their next meal will come from to living in a safe haven of support.