Thomas Barnardos

Back to school
All the children returned to school after their April break.
Those who attend Jonathan Gloag Academy were welcomed back with a busy first week, which included them taking some exams! We are sure they all did very well and will continue to work hard throughout this next term.

Rewarding hard work
Just before all the children started school, there was a prize giving ceremony to celebrate and reward those children who have not only improved in school work but also behaviour within their houses and homework. The children were presented with the awards by Mrs Kiraithe (the home’s chief administrator), Linda Hopper (a friend of the home from the UK) and Irene Njeri (the main instructor at the home’s new project – Kelvin Kraft).
Many prizes were handed out and those who had 2 or more rewards were taken for an extra treat on the 17th. Mrs Kiraithe took this party of children to the cinema where they enjoyed watching a film and munching on snacks.

Outings
Some of the children were once again invited to see the Phoenix Players. This time the play followed the writers of a murder mystery that started to play out for real!! Definitely kept up the interest.
Much fun was had by all.

Sports Day - KCH
Well, another year, another sports day!
This year was slightly different. Not only did we have teams from within the home but we also had teams from Mashimoni and the Gloag Foundation House. So everyone was even more competitive than usual!!
The victors on the day:
• The house competition was won by Houses 6, 7 and 9. Well done those houses!
• The competition between the older children was very fierce and ended with the Thomas Barnardo House children coming out on top with the Mashimoni children 2nd.
• The staff competition was also very competitive between Office, Kitchen, Guards, Mothers and Mashimoni. The winners for the men were the Thomas Barnardo House office; we didn’t know some of them were Olympic standard!! The winners for the women‘s team was the Mashimoni ladies team.
We would like to thank everyone involved for making the afternoon such a success and keeping the competition healthy!!

First Holy Communion
On the 25th, two of our children were fortunate enough to be able to take part in their first Holy Communion at Don Bosco church. They both looked very grown-up and even had a treat after the ceremony. We thank all involved for enabling the children in what has become a very important day for them.

Walking: good for all
The 24th saw some of the children take part in walk to raise awareness of The Mater Trust – a trust which raises funds for children with heart problems, supported by Dettol. They left Thomas Barnardo House to begin the walk at the Nyayo Stadium and walked in one large circle (around 10km) till they arrived back there around 1pm.
Well done all of those who took part and to those who supported them throughout.

Visitors
One of the many visitors this month was Harry Nash from the UK. He comes from the Rotary of Banff (in Scotland).

Deceased
We are sad for losing Teacher Teresa of Mashimoni who was the class teacher in Class 1 following a short illness. We will miss her and share the family’s grief.

Music festival
The Suswa girls participated in the annual district festival. They attained first position in the zone and second in Kajiado District. Well done Girls!!

Football
These are the winter months of Kenya. We have had to fill in with a lot of participation in events. Three football matches were played recently with other local groups, with results as below.

KCH 0 – 2 Pearls Youth Group (6/7/08)
KCH 4 – 2 Mary Immaculate (8/7/08)
KCH 1 – 1 Legi Ndgo (26/7/08)

The matches have been enjoyed hugely and well done to the team! There will be more soon and we wish KCH success!

Outings
On the 20th June all the children visited the Kenya Wildlife Service Park. They enjoyed the day, where they were able to see many of the animals in the park and relax in its natural beauty. It was a busy time of year and the chance to have this kind of trip was appreciated by all. The next day, twenty of the children visited Nairobi Chapel for the Bible Olympics where they came second out of seven teams based on quizzes, recitals and art and design activities. Well done to the Kenya Children’s Home team!

Pearls Youth Group
Pearls Youth Group, based in Kibera, have been great supporters of KCH and on the 28th June they visited to perform some songs, plays and poems. Afterwards they had some fun playing football with the children. A great time was had by all!

Happy Birthday!
On the 29th June, all the children were invited to the birthday party held by kind donors of the home, Mr and Mrs Khamis. This took place in the Sorsbie Hall after choir practice, and all had a great time at the party which involved lots of singing and lots of cake for everyone! An excellent way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Shopping Spree
On the 4th and 5th July we conducted a Shopping Spree in ten Nakumatt supermarkets. For this event we collected kind donations of food, household items and cash from shoppers which, once valued, came to over 500,000 kshs! Also we are conscious that awareness about Kenya Children’s home was raised by the event. Many people were involved, including drivers, loaders and of course the volunteers who gave their time and effort tirelessly to help at the event. We thank all who were involved massively!

Dinner and Dancing!
We were lucky this year to have another group from Kelvinside Academy, Scotland, visiting this year. Their presence and help was very much felt by everyone, and we thank them for all they did. On the 6th July all the children took part in a barbeque and dance in the Sorsbie Hall, courtesy of Kelvinside. It was a fantastic evening, enjoyed hugely by all who attended. Kelvinside were duly impressed by the children’s dancing skills and went home very happy and exhausted!

Visitors
We have had many visitors in these months, and all greatly appreciated seeing the home. All the children who met them really enjoyed spending time with them too! We have also seen the arrivals and departures of many volunteers, notably our hostess Claire Dunlop who worked at Kenya Children’s Home for over a year, who left on the 12th July to return to the UK. She is being missed already.

Sports Day – JGA
The Jonathan Gloag Academy held their annual sports days on the Kenya Children’s Home field on Friday 11th July. This of course involved a large number of children and staff from the Home. The day was a great success with Mount Elgan (red) house winning the day. Parents participated as well and won the tug-of-war. It was a great way to have fun before the pressure of exams that started at the end of July. However don’t worry – term ends on the 31st July and all the children will have a well-deserved month of holiday!

Theatre Trip
On the 26th July the children once again saw the Phoenix Theatre Group in performance. Our trips to see this group have always been very popular and everyone enjoys the excitement of the theatre. We are sure the children will continue to enjoy the plays of the Phoenix Players!