Some will argue that this burning
passion in me, to ensure accessibility of quality education, is motivated by
the circumstances I have been through; yes, they may be right…but only partly;
I strongly believe that every human being is born with intrinsic dignity; The
ideal he/ she deserves respect regardless of where they are born, raised, their
social standing in the society not to mention their religious belief. I
strongly believe that by promoting access to quality education, I will be promoting
human dignity among these people, whom life seems to have mastered the art of
playing poker on them. What else can we do for them if not empower them through
education?
It was a group of friends, who had
come together in unity of purpose, to improve the condition of children
orphanages in two counties of Kenya, by offering sustainable solutions to the
challenge of food, school fees, clothes, shoes…name them. I must say there
exists a genius in this part of the world; genius in creating sustainable
solutions to social problems facing children in orphanages. The person who
designed the initiative and decided that donating various plant seedlings
ranging from fruit seedlings to wood-tree seedlings, and calculated that it
would only take a mere 5 years for these orphanages to start enjoying the
fruits of their labor; paying school fees, comfortably buying food and clothing
for themselves, besides, gaining experience enough to make them sustainable
citizens who can initiate projects on themselves, was a genius.
It was long journey to Josphine
Wambui orphanage; long because it was actually long, and long because there was
a lot of dust. Every part of Kenya is very dry right now and this probably
explains why we reached at Josphine Wambui covered in layers of dust; I was
thanking heavens for convincing me to wear navy blue and black from head to
toe. My experience at Josphine Wambui did not reach a climax until I listened
to her talk. She talked after her husband. She started by complaining that her
husband had refused to speak on her behalf, that he had refused to introduce
her to the visitors, yet they were in this together. Then she said that people
actually thought she was crazy. Her siblings, who were seated in our midst, had
travelled from the capital city to come and confirm if really this couple was
not crazy... I wondered why? I had to speak to her… telling you the next 10
minutes were marked by impatience and curiosity would be an understatement.
A couple of years ago, Dorothy was
seated at the fireplace in her bungalow in Nairobi after having a sumptuous
meal for dinner. It was a cold evening. During such cold evenings, Dorothy, her
husband and 4 year old son would join her at the fireplace where they would
‘pass’ the evening hours as they beat the chilling cold. However, on this
particular evening, Dorothy received a revelation; for the first time she
realized that they had only one child, yet she had always wanted to have other
children especially through adoption but she had not yet started the procedure.
The reality that Dorothy and her husband had only one child struck her so much
that she wondered what really it is that they were looking for in this world,
in terms of wealth, since they already had enough wealth to be inherited by
their only son Emmanuel.
Dorothy and her husband had worked
for 14 years each and had made a sizable amount of investments in real estate,
stocks, and savings; enough to guarantee them a comfortable lifetime and be
inherited by their son. Dorothy shared this insight with her husband, who
completely agreed with her reasoning. Dorothy recounted her story about how she
was bed-ridden for 2 months yet neither her wealth nor any amount of money
could make her rise up from the bed; yes, she stayed sick and stuck in bed for
that long…
On this chilly night, Dorothy and
her husband agreed that they had, after all, been chasing vanity of vanity. It
had been fourteen years of waking up early, beating traffic jams, and toiling to
make money…now they had it, they even had their own rental apartments as is the
dream of many employees, but all this was vanity. Imagine working your entire
life and making a lot of money, only to leave it as inheritance to your one
child? The more I listened to Dorothy’s perspective about wealth as vanity, the
more it dawned on me that we should find a greater motivation other than
wealth; a greater motivation that is our purpose, which we can say, one day,
made us live. A purpose greater than money that we would be ready to die for,
to live a legacy that we helped mankind, that we helped affirm dignity in an
individual who had been tormented by the ghosts of life and deprived off
dignity. Mother Theresa of Calcutta knew this too well…
Dorothy and her husband tendered
their letters of resignation in January, 2015. They were determined to live a
purposeful life by being parents to orphans; they packed a few of their belongings
and in the company of their son Emmanuel left for Josphine Wambui’s Orphanage;
somewhere in the dusty rural Kenya, to offer their parental love and guidance
to the 25 children at the home. Their son Emmanuel would become the 26th.
Believe me; they left everything else they had worked hard to buy in Nairobi
city. To add salt to the injury, they sold their sleek car in exchange for an
old one that could fit the humble lifestyle of a rural area in Kenya.
As I write this article, Dorothy,
her husband, and son Emmanuel are living at Josephine Wambui’s Orphanage. Their
purpose is simple; to transform the lives of the orphaned children through
their parental love and guidance and to manage the children’s home. This couple
is committed; one month down the line, the children are already enjoying eating
tomatoes, vegetables, corn, and milk produced in the orphanage’s farm courtesy
of Dorothy’s husband. Dorothy has also been hard at work helping the children
in their studies, building self-esteem in them, and teaching them the basics of
hygiene. Wow…what can I say? My friends and I look forward to spending a whole
week at the children’s home; playing with the children, sharing our
perspectives about life and dignity, besides catching up with Dorothy…
An Article by Gladys Muthara,
Champion for Quality Education,
Volunteer Blog Editor, Ukabila Zi Society,
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