Hadleigh, Suffolk URC

During July & August 2009, 4 members of our church, helped to make up 2 groups of work parties to 'New Hope' Kenya, an orphanage with 140 plus children run by Anne Chege. We went supported by Hand in Hand a Christian charity based in Essex & we were all challenged by the experience.

Hand in Hand respond to the needs & problems caused by poverty & injustice throughout the world, particularly where it affects children. In the year 2000 the charity began supporting 'New Hope' on a regular basis. 'New Hope' is 40km north of Nairobi on the edge of the Great Rift Valley. The orphanage was founded by Anne who was taking children into her own home in Nairobi. She was offered a property by a Christian woman, with 4 bedrooms which was larger, this was soon outgrown & now on a voluntary basis she runs the purpose built orphanage with her husband.

Anne is a most remarkable woman who has a great awareness of others needs, she supports those outside of the orphanage too, sharing food & recourses. She also provides facilities within the orphanage for locals in the community to have a small training & business centre.

I believe Anne is the person closest to a saint that I will ever meet in my life time. She is an extremely modest woman, who says she is just doing what God has given her the gifts to do.

The children are brought up in Christian faith, so helping them to know Jesus Christ as their Lord & Saviour. Self reliance is promoted, they are given training & experiences to help them along in life. The children are encouraged to be socially responsible..

Each child is given the basic necessities in life, food, shelter, clothing & education at primary school. Further education is subject to funds available.

Anne strives to make 'New Hope' sustainable, by growing as much of their own food as possible. At present she has a mushroom hut to help their income & is also in the process of setting up a small fish farm that could boost their funds.

Our visit took a year of careful planning mainly by Hand in Hand. All we had to do was get ourselves prepared, follow medical advice for best protection whilst out in Africa. We were close to the equator & up at the height of 4000 metres. Part of our role was to create daily activities for the children, get involved with daily devotions & work as a team on projects set for us. I choose to make sock puppets with the children as one activity, but where did the majority of socks end up?...........on the children's feet. Some had no footwear at all.

As soon as we arrived at New Hope the children's hands were in ours & we were welcomed as part of their family. The children crave & love contact. When you are one of over 140 children, with 8 adults on site to help care for you, there is not much spare time to play!

The experience was, a mixture of emotions, humbling, uplifting, very rewarding, but most of all God's love was felt. It oozes from the people there. They live for God, they praise God all day long, they are thankful & want to share what little they have. It was wonderful to be alongside the people of 'New Hope'. My faith has grown & become stronger through them.

Since returning home I have been thinking & praying for my new friends at New Hope. I & the others that travelled out from our church have been actively raising awareness & funds, to help with the many needs of the children. Our 'orphanage meal' held after a Sunday service at our own chcurh, was hopefully an eye opener to others & a focus on life in the orphanage.

For anyone who has the inkling to go & be part of showing God's love, this is a brilliant hands on way. A truly rewarding experience too.