New Images from Vumilia

Vumilia's latest visitor

Kathy Tate-Bradish, a long-time supporter of Vumilia is currently in Kenya, teaching and training women about HIV/AIDS and sex education.

Read her personal blog, and see some of her photos at:

http://andformynextlife.blogspot.com

Vumilia Girls singing and dancing in Kabras

Great progress on the site so far!

The Dormitory Building (later to be converted into staff housing).

The chicken coop

The new seed beds

The future for Vumilia...

As I'm sure many of Vumilia's supporters are aware, the Vumilia girl orphan's home has been asked by the landlady to move from their premises. Nick, Rose's husband, has helped design a simple, low-cost building to accommodate the 24 children temporarily, which can be built quite quickly. Work has already started on this building on a land owned by Vumilia at Bukhaywa. It was started in December, and the foundation, floor slab and walls to lintel level are complete. Toilets have also been built.

Although the budget is not huge, fundraising is still ongoing for the construction and any donations that can be offerred would be a huge help.

It is hoped that this site will eventually become the permanent home for Vumilia, and this building, which will eventually be used for staff housing, forms part of a master plan. The vision is of a 'children's village' which will comprise of 10 individual homesteads, each unit a home for 8 girls of different ages, and a 'mother'. The village could also include an educational building and a computer lab, classrooms, library and a home science facility.

With the help of a local firm of architects a site plan has been developed, with a complete set of drawings, specifications, bills of quantity and costings, all of which have been submitted to Kakamega County Council for approval. All of this will of course take time and money, and will be built stage by stage over the next few years.

If this vision can be achieved, Vumilia will have a permanent home and the girls will have somewhere they can return to for the rest of their lives.

Mama Priscilla – an update from Mary McVay

I recently visited Mama Priscilla, the grandmother of Vumilia, and got an update on her situation. Mama Priscilla is a widow with land in her late ‘60s. When a neighbor informed Vumilia about her, she was weak and hungry, with symptoms of AIDS, and she was isolated and depressed, just staying in her hut with no company. Her only child – a son – was not in communication with her because he blamed her for his father’s recent death from AIDS. Were it not for neighbors leaving food near her door – afraid to come in - she would have died.

When I first met Priscilla, she had been with Vumilia for two years. She was physically strong and a core leader of the community-based health care volunteers, a very energetic woman with high spirits. The other women look to her to start the singing, to keep the group motivated. However, she was still not in touch with her son and not really able to farm because of lack of capital to pay laborers and buy inputs. She was often short of funds, but

full of love and hope.

Two more years later, I visited Mama Priscilla again. This time, she was really on top of the world and excited to update me. She showed me around her small farm where she was growing a wide variety of healthy crops – bananas, African leafy vegetables, fruit and yams, as well as the staple maize and beans. The food looked like a lot for one person so I asked, “What do you do with such a grand harvest?”

“It is to feed the desperate people in the community, the people who were abandoned like I was. I go all around on my own, now, visiting new villages, telling people I am positive, finding the ones who need help and bringing everyone to the truth – that you do not have to die because of HIV. No, you have to live, and live well!”

Her house – a traditional mud home – was in very good condition, and on her land was a brand new, very modern home. “This,” she said proudly, “Is my son’s home. He comes every few months now, with the grandchildren.” I had tears in my eyes as she asked, “You remember? Rose found him in Nairobi and talked to him, and he came and we talked and now, we are so close again. God has answered my prayers!”

“What does he think of all the work you do about HIV in the community?” I wondered.

“Ha!” She exclaimed. “Where do you think I got the money for the farm? And, he even adopted two children when I could not find a home for them. They are there even now, with him in Nairobi, staying just like his own children. Thanks be to God, God is very, very good! Ha-ha!”

Mama Priscilla’s story - just another example of how a little support can go a long, long way.

Mary McVay

Help make this a very Happy New Year ! Donations needed to construct permanent home for Vumilia Girls:

The Vumilia Girls’ Home has been located on rental property in a dusty town. Not only is the facility running down – with pit latrines filled to capacity and nothing but three-stone fires to cook on – but now Vumilia is being evicted. Fortunately, about a year ago, Vumilia received a generous donation to purchase a beautiful piece of land – boarding the indigenous rainforest on one side, a small sugar cane farm on another, and a spring and stream on the third side. The land is terraced for farming, lush, and isolated from the somewhat rough atmosphere of town life in a sugar growing area.

Now, we need urgently to construct a permanent home for the girls before the lease is up. Our immediate goals is $25,000 to build housing, sanitary facilities, a kitchen and dining/learning room to house our current 22 girls. We have raised $14,000 so far - $11,000 to go! These funds will launch the development of a permanent home for 80 girls at a time. The vision is to house the girls in small, traditional units of 8 children of different ages and a “mother.” Wherever they go in life, the girls will have a home to return to, and their smaller family to connect with. The site development plans call for more extensive development over time, including a proper education building with a library, computer room, development of the farm and more. Most of us are so fortunate to have a wonderful home for the holidays, please join us in giving others that sense of home!

How to contribute:

We are grateful to the African Children’s Haven for supporting Vumilia as one of its projects. African Children’s Haven acts as a fiscal agent for Vumilia in the United States, and is also a great partner. Its founder, Ed Sulzberger, has years of experience in international development and in supporting community-based NGOs.

If you are based in the U.S. and wish to make a donation to Vumilia, please do so using the following details:

1. Make check payable to: African Children’s Haven
2. Write in the subject line: Vumilia Fund
3. Mail to:
African Children’s Haven c/o Mary McVay, Vumilia Fund Manager
826 N. Lombard Ave
Oak Park, IL 60302
4. Questions? Want more information? Contact Mary McVay mary@mcvay.us, volunteer fund manager in the US.
You will receive an acknowledgement of your gift along with a receipt.

You can also donate on-line through the African Children’s Haven website, although additional handling fees are deducted from your donation:

www.africanchildrenshaven.org

Please visit the African Children’s Haven website to find out more about them and their support to children in Africa.

Donating in the UK

We haven’t yet got a UK Agent but you can contact ruthrowan@hotmail.com to get details of a Vumilia Holding Bank Account.

I look forward to hearing from you with any questions or comments,

Sincerely,

Mary McVay

mary@mcvay.us