Umoja Orphanage Kenya – The Dream into Reality
Umoja means ‘Unity and togetherness’ in Swahili, and it is a RAWCs project.
The Umoja Orphanage Kenya Project began in late July 2011 with a passion, by Bundaberg Mother, Grandmother, Rotarian, and teacher Cathy Booth, to help children in Kenya who were abandoned, chronically neglected, and orphaned in Kwale County, which is situated on the East Coast of Kenya. Cathy is a member of the Bundaberg Sunrise Rotary Club in District 9560.
Cathy had volunteered 3 times at different children’s homes in 2010 and early 2011 in Kenya, and saw the enormous need to assist children. She couldn’t walk away and do nothing. She set about at her own expense visiting many children’s homes in Kenya and Tanzania on another trip, doing her due diligence to see what worked well, and what wasn’t going to happen in the haven she was creating for children. The Umoja Project is a project of Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS).
After purchasing 15 acres of fertile land with a large waterhole, and nothing else, she set about bringing volunteers, mostly Rotarians to the project to assist with its infrastructure.
In those initial beginning years it was incredibly difficult raising funds for what ‘might happen,’ but to Cathy’s mind and planning, it was always going to happen, even though so many doubted it could be done or would be done, especially whilst she was still working full time in her profession and only returning to Kenya during school holidays and taking long service leave, and then leave without pay when it ran out, to make the passion a reality.
Every day is a new challenge and frustration as only Africa can be, however the project has now recently celebrated its 10th birthday and between the years 2013 – 2019, 134 volunteers (with a large number of Rotarians from District 9570) have been to the project to volunteer, some several times. Cathy did not take in any children until most of the infrastructure was completed, and the farm was created. Umoja Orphanage Kenya opened on the 30th July 2016, exactly 5 years to the day since Cathy began the project.
Currently the project has 5 acres under crops and the children’s compound is within 2.5 acres, which is separate from the farm. Cathy set up 3 models to assist the project to help with sustainability.
1. Child sponsorship program
· This assists with carers wages, children’s clothing, staples unable to be grown, medical, school fees, school uniforms, school books and excursions the children undertake from school.
2. Farm with farm animals
· Umoja has its own dairy cows, beef cows, goats, sheep, and chickens all which provide meat and milk for the children.
· On the farm capsicums, maize (which is then turned into flour), tomatoes, sukuma wiki, spinach, cabbage, cucumbers, kale, carrots etc are grown.
· Also on the farm is a separate fruit forest containing orange trees, lemon trees, guava, mangoes, paw paw, avocado etc.
3. Safari hire of our vehicles
· Up until 2019 hiring out of our vehicles to safari companies allowed us to support Umoja with 100% of vehicle hire profit going back to Umoja.
4. Safari Company
· 2021 saw the Kenyan Government change the rules and no one in Kenya is now able to hire out vehicles once the country opens up again, (you must have your own safari or tour business). Now Umoja has registered its own safari company ‘Surprise Tours & Safaris,’ with the same thing happening (100% of net profit being returned to the project) when it is launched very soon to tourists when they start coming to Kenya. Rotarians from all over the world will be given a discount.
The Umoja Project is much, much more than a children’s home. We hold free health clinics for the community with Rotarian volunteer nurses when they come to volunteer with well over 2000 people having been treated at our clinics at Umoja. We have trained countless local Kenyans in agriculture practices and on each volunteer tour, the volunteers train locals in the projects they are working on. ‘Days for girls’ workshops have been held at schools and our community educating villagers on the use of the menstrual kits which were all donated to us. Over 1000 kits have been donated. Umoja prides itself by using all local contractors with constructions, locals employed, and single mothers in dire straits prior to working for us to take care of the children. The ripple effect has helped local businesses as well. We are in a rural area.
Umoja has 2 children’s houses (the second is just waiting for volunteers to come and paint inside and out) then 12 more children will call Umoja home. Also on the project is 2 chicken sheds, and a huge livestock shelter, 2 greenhouses, the farm, fruit forest, 2 boreholes, numerous water tanks, a caretaker’s cottage, office, 2 bedsitters and a 40 foot container full of $50,000 of donated goods awaiting to be opened and sorted when volunteers return. This includes a brand new donated tractor. We also have another container which is a storage facility. A workshop was also constructed early this year for our farm hands.
Prior to covid-19 Umoja employed 14 staff. We have only 6 staff at the moment. Housemothers care for our 11 children which include 2 sets of twins. We had 12, but were able to integrate one little girl to her extended family this year, which is the outcome we wish for all our children. The youngest came to us when they were 5 months old – twins. Most have been abandoned and all are doing very well at school. Umoja was never going to be a big project that was difficult to maintain and upkeep, and Umoja is well respected in the community for the great work that they do. Covid has been exceptionally difficult for us, but we have kept going one step at a time with our Manager Patrick being with us since day 1 of the project.
Our greatest urgent needs at the moment are:
· 2 more greenhouses to assist with growing sheltered crops due to the harshness of the heat (and our worst drought since opening)
· Donations to purchase more furniture and soft furnishings for our 2 houses as the first house’s lounge, kitchen table and chairs etc., are in need of replacement. All items in the first home were donated from Australia and sent up to Kenya in the first container in 2014.
· Donations to assist with feed for our livestock as we have had to purchase food for them twice weekly as no food from the long drought on our land.
· Always donations towards insurances, electricity, security guards, vehicle upkeep, registrations, maintenance etc is always needed and appreciated.
ROTARIAN OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE IN 2022:
All volunteer expressions of interest please contact cathy@umojahome as it is hoped 2 teams will be going to Kenya in 2022. Cathy hopes to return in February as she has not seen the children for 2 years. All donations can be made through RAWCS at http://umojahome.com/kenya/donate/
Cathy also is available to do GUEST SPEAKING via Zoom to give you more information on the Umoja Project.
boothy58@bigpond.net.au