Nyumbani Children's Home

I was asked to conduct a field audit for a ministry called Cancer Recovering Foundation founded by a personal friend in the US.  They facilitated a donation of drugs to Nyumbani Children's Home - which is actually an amazing and large ministry, with 9 centers throughout the Nairobi area and a 'village' east of Nairobi.  Nyumbani exists "to provide quality comprehensive care and support to HIV infected and affected children, families and communities in a sustainable manner"

view of the office of Director Sister Mary Owens

In the waiting area

 While Sister Mary took a phone call Denise and I waited in a pleasant, sunny room...

Close up

Denise studying one of the many pamphlets describing the different activities of this amazing organization...

 ...here is one that gives the vision, mission, history and description of Children of God Relief Institute (COGRI), which is the registered name:

Sister Mary escorted us to the building where medications are kept so that I could conduct the field audit...

Central Pharmacy where meds are dispensed to the different centers

Paul Ndungu - Chief Pharmacist

Paul is the one who receives all medications and ensures that the invoice, packing list and contents of cartons match before they are inventoried and organized on the shelves.

Some of the meds received through Cancer Recovery Foundation

 Paul is showing me which cartons were received...

 They were waiting for the field audit before unpacking, organizing and dispensing...

 Paul showing me from the other side - wow! Lots of boxes!

Kept off the floor on pallets

 Most of the cartons shown below will be donated to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) as they cannot be used by Nyumbani.  Sister Mary has already made arrangements for the transfer.

 The inventory room is kept clean and very well organized!

 

 

List that Paul compiled after checking contents of all the cartons.  This list is of medications to be used by Nyumbani and there is a separate list of medications being donated to KNH.

Paul showed me the Pharmacy order form which lists all steps to be taken for distribution and disbursement of medications...

 The order form used by the 10 centers is completed in triplicate...

I am impressed with the organization and procedures which are very necessary to ensure that all centers are taken care of and all stock is tracked efficiently

 Paul is showing me their electronic inventory system...

Sign on the wall in Paul's office

They also receive many meds from USAID which has an online tracking program...Paul has a big job keeping it all straight!

One we finished with Paul, Sister Mary took us to the manager of this facility; Protus A. Lumiti.
First he took us to the clinic, which actually was the original home for the kids built on these grounds back in 1996.

 This building housed the kids and all offices (which included Protus'!)

Reception area

 

Meet Nurse Rose, who runs the clinic!  Local doctors come in twice per week to ensure that all the medical needs of these kids are taken care of.

All the high school age children are thoroughly examined before they leave on school holiday and then again once they return from spending time with extended family (or in some cases special friends)

When children are feeling ill, they can come to this pleasant, clean and quiet room to rest, under the watchful care of Nurse Rose, until they are better

It is evident that Protus loves his work!  He has been with Children of God Relief Institute (COGRI) for 20 of its 21 years in existence...that speaks volumes!

This was the original building, built back in 1996 when these grounds were secured - and is now the medical clinic

 Plaques recognizing the many organizations which have helped to fund COGRI

 

 

Next we visited the 'cottages' where children from 2 up to 13 years old live with a 'house mother'.  There are two 'mums' who alternate for each cottage so that the 14 children who live with them can begin to connect and bond with their 'mum'...a sense of consistency is critical for the psychological and emotional well-being of the children.

 I love the playground area!  I was a bit disappointed that the kids were not out playing though

The children are in school, but this is Mama Agnes - one of the two mothers who takes care of the children of this cottage...

Those tables come together each evening to form a dining table where the kids all take meals together....

 As you can see the rooms are kept very clean...

 Lots of toys and comfortable bedding...

Protus showing us the medications each child must take...one box is for morning and one for evening.  The littlest ones have acclimated quickly to the routine, considering it a normal part of life...

 This cottage is named St. Joseph!

 Sweet smile!

Josephine's heart is touched by this little guy who is not feeling well and so is staying home from school today...

 Next stop is the preschool...the older kids all attend public schools in the area...

 

 

 The kids discover immediately that Josephine has a tender heart!

 

 Denise chatting with the teacher...

 Protus engages with the children

 This little guy was something else!

 Sweet faces...

 This picture speaks for itself...

 Kids are assembled to sing for us...

I video taped the 'production' - maybe the film is in this blog? That is, IF I figure out how to upload it!

 Little Moses is enjoying his toys!

 Fondly gazing up at Josephine, whose eyes are fondly gazing back...

Well, I tried to upload the vido, with no luck...but I will keep trying and if I succeed I will put it in a separate blog post :)

Sister looks a bit dubious?

 At the end of the visit, the kids assemble back into the classroom...

Shot of the graveyard...at one time they buried a child every month, but now the majority of the children live healthy lives, thanks to all the well-wishers who support this organization.

Next we visited the Respite Centre...this is where children from the community based centers (Lea Toto) who are very sick (malnourished usually) can come to be rehabilitated...

The children receive 5 nutritious meals every day and stay, on average, for about 3 months...

They can then be returned to their parents who receive nutritional and medical information on how to properly care for their children...

This is Salome who is caring for several children right now...

 Josephine's heart is clearly moved by this precious one...

 

Nurse Rose preparing medications

Nurse Rose visits the children regularly to monitor their health...

 Protus never seems to miss an opportunity to connect...

 

This is what love looks like...

 Sweet...

 

Denise and Protus enjoyed chatting with each other as she shared about some of her experiences with HIV+ women and children and he eagerly shared all about Nyumbani!

 

 

 This is such a peaceful scene...

Approaching the youth center where the kids 13 and up are completing Life Skills training this week...

 The grounds are beautiful!

 They were in the middle of some sort of ceremony so we did not want to disturb them...

 It seems the kids wrote something on papers that were then burned in a can...

 They were arranged in a circle and singing praises to God...

 Next stop - the Diagnostic Laboratory...

 Quite an impressive building, built in 2011 to replace the first laboratory built in 1998.

 This banner lists the different diagnostic services offered...

The lab serves all 10 centers affiliated with COGRI as well as the local community.

The idea is to make this laboratory self-sustaining and eventually to be able produce income that can augment the expenses of the other programs...

 Sister Annie proudly explains all about what they do here...much of it went right over my head!

 Computer center...

There are 9 labs housed here...

Documentation chronicling the process of becoming ISO certified.

 Walking back to Sister Mary's office...

Sister Mary at her desk...preparing to print a document written by Paul about their receiving and inventory processes.

 While she is working I looked at the many photographs around the walls...

Mary meeting the president of Kenya...

Me and Sister Mary!

While we waited for the cab arranged for us by Protus, we visited the 'gift shop' where I saw these posters...

 I would have loved reading each one of them!

 But we picked up plenty of fliers so we gathered much information!

 

Denise grabbed my camera to take this shot...this place requires many workers to keep it running smoothly...

 A couple of "poster pictures" Denise shot

 

What an amazing morning we spent finding out about a wonderful organization doing much-needed work.  I am especially grateful for the lives that are being forever changed as these precious people invest in children who are all too often considered expendable by society at large...