A VISIT TO THE CHILDREN'S HOME

Today was our entire teams first day of service. The intent behind these service days are to give a little back to the local community and develop a deeper understanding of the challenges they face.

Our team went to the Nyumbani Childrens Home, which is Kenya's first and largest facility for HIV+ orphans. Nyumbani ("home" in Swahili) was founded in 1992 by Father Angela D’Agostino who was a physician, psychiatrist and Jesuit priest.

UNAIDS, a Joint United Nations HIV/AIDS program, estimates that as many as 1,300,000 Kenyan children have been orphaned due to AIDS. In the face of these daunting statistics, Father D’Agostino envisioned building self-sustaining villages that can house two groups adversely affected by HIV/AIDS – orphans and the elderly.

Our team visited the home and met with the children, who were very excited to see us. We played with them and talked about their school work and they sang songs for us.

It was a very rewarding experience, and even though HIV is dropping significantly due to education and other programs, homes like these are still needed to help the youngest effected.