Well, its been almost a week since I arrived back in Kenya after a month in the UK and it feels like a lot longer! As this is the first time I’m blogging I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Deborah Kimathi and I’m Field Director for Vision Africa in Kenya.
One of the highlights of my trip to the UK was meeting people who partner in the work of Vision Africa. These may be people who pray for us, people who fundraise for us, people who sponsor children and do all sorts of things to help the work of Vision Africa. It is amazing to see the variety of people on our team – young disabled children whose school is partnered with our own special needs school, elderly people who have a real heart for the children they sponsor, young mothers who are desperate to help in any way to provide a better future for children like their own, churches who are keen to engage with the work and raise awareness for us, professionals who commit hours at a time to further our work, students who would like to give of their time to volunteer with us and even five year old girls who want to know everything about Kenya and the children of Vision Africa! These are the people who make Vision Africa what it is and its always a privilege to meet with them. The team always has space for more people…
It’s the start of a new year here and all of our projects are gearing up for the year ahead. In Kenya, the academic year starts in January so our schools projects have all been busy with the enrolment of new pupils. One of the biggest challenges in our work is determining which children are most needy and most deserving of our help. The majority of children we interact with live below the kind of standard of living that we would expect in the UK or other Western countries. However, this number is so huge we wouldn’t be able to assist them all, and so we have to figure out who would benefit most from our help. This often means seeing the child’s home, meeting their family and exploring their background. This is no small task and keeps all of our staff extremely busy. However, it is a good process for us; it ensures that we spend our sponsors’ money in the best way possible and also allows our staff to build more intimate relationships with the children we work with, often equipping them to have more of an impact on the life of a child.
Our local staff team met yesterday to discuss our activities for the next couple of months. It’s going to be a busy but exciting time! Watch this space to find out more!
