Within this section you will find latest news and events from Thomas Barnardo House.
July is the winter here in Nairobi. So, among the numerous activities and events at Thomas Barnardo’s House, July was a month filled with sports to beat the cold weather!
On July 1, the annual Thomas Barnardo’s sports day was held. The children of Thomas Barnardo’s split into teams to compete with each other in tug of war, relay races, individual sprints, and even a funny race for the small ones which involved one balancing a potato on a spoon held in one’s hand while crossing the field as fast as possible. If the potato drops, one is meant to balance it again on the spoon before resuming to run. However, some of the littlest children thought that a silly idea and improvised. After the potato falling, soon after the starting line, the toddlers simply picked it up and ran with it to the finish! After the children completed their events, the staff, volunteers, and the young-adults in transition held their tournament. The team of young-adults in transition shone. . They are those who have completed secondary school and are now making their transition from being supported by Thomas Barnardo’s to sustaining themselves in the outside world. They were the invincible stars of the running events, winning every race they participated in!
The staff split into several competing teams: the mums and aunties, office staff, the security guards and groundsmen, the kitchen staff. One particularly dramatic event was the tug-of-war match between the office staff and volunteer girls. After a short but intense struggle, the volunteer girls could see they were beaten, causing them to release the rope. However, they unwittingly released it simultaneously, causing a sudden imbalance that sent the entire female office staff tumbling backwards into a laughing and shouting jumble of arms and legs!
Friday, July 13 was an exuberant day at Jonathan Gloag Academy when the third annual school sports day transpired. Children, teachers, and even willing parents animatedly went head to head in sack races, skipping rope competitions, three-legged races, hurdles, and other vivacious events! The school was divided into four houses, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green. Yellow house was the winner this year, coming from a slow start to eventually vanquish their competitors, earning over 100 combined points. In the fixture between the staff and the parents, the teachers came out on top this year, although not without challenge from the parents who vowed to trounce the teachers next year! The TBH children performed proficiently; many earned medals. Kevin, TBH’s class 7 student, was even personally congratulated during the closing address by head-teacher William Mulema! Former head-teacher Lucy Mwangi was an honored guest, gracing the attendees with a special word, and presenting a special shield honoring the winning house. The children also enjoyed a replenishing meal of roast potatoes, soup, and sausages!!
During July, we had visitors from Glasgow, Scotland. The Kelvinside Academy team comprising of the Headteacher John Broadfoot and his wife Cecilia together with eight leavers, and a teacher joined us for three weeks. Kelvinside Academy is a partner school with Jonathan Gloag Academy. This partnership has included class five pen pals exchanging letters across the oceans, sponsorship of a bread bakery and feeding project here at the school and in Kibera, and now, the constructive visit. The objectives of the visit were many-faceted but successful. The Kelvinside visitors gained an aggregate understanding of the children’s home and the school through hands-on participation. No job was to big or small for the Kelvinsiders; they washed dishes, chopped potatoes, fed babies, taught drawing, English, music, drama, and sports, tutored students during homework, helped clean houses, and even built a new sandpit for the young ones! One especially poignant moment occurred when the esteemed headmaster of Kelvinside, John Broadfoot donned a cook’s hat and apron, and joyfully served students their lunch.
A jubilant jamboree and Bar-B-Q for the children of TBH was sponsored and organized on Friday, June 13th by Kelvinside. The night commenced with a special welcome and choir presentation for our esteemed companions from Kelvinside proceeded by our Friday night fellowship of praise and worship songs, prayer, and a message from our children’s pastors, the beloved Pastor Elkanah and Pastor Jared. After fellowship the Kelvinsiders graciously served a veritable Bar-B-Q feast. And THEN, after all that, there was even more to come! The tables and chairs were cleared away, and the dance party began! Words weren’t necessary to communicate during these merry moments; everyone’s faces shone with joy.
We are quite fortunate to have Kelvinside Academy as a partner school, and very grateful to these particular students, teacher, and administrator who came to share their love with the children of TBH and JGA, and give of their time and energy to better our school and home. The team was accompanied by two Balcraig Foundation trustees, Andy and Bette Gibb. We thank them for their effort in making the Kelvinside visit a success.
Having just completed her Higher National Certificate course in Child Care, new volunteer Emily is putting her skills to good use leading a daily toddler play-group. The focus of the play-group are brain stimulation and development of language and social skills such as cooperation and sharing. The toddlers are thrilled to do the various activities such as sing songs, dance, and color.
Four more Scottish volunteers have just arrived: Emma, Kate, Wendy, and Samantha. The latter is a returning volunteer. She not only came back, but brought three friends with her for a six-week summer volunteer trip to TBH!
The first weekend in July held the most recent occurrence of our tri-annual shopping spree, during which members of the community are able to help Thomas Barnardo’s House while doing their shopping at Nairobi Nakumat Supermarkets. The out-flowing of love and aid from community members was astounding. The Kelvinsiders were active participators in the shopping spree, enthusiastically adding energy, good will, able bodies, and smiling faces to this undertaking. We thank both the public, and the Nakumat management for their avid support of the children of TBH.
The shopping spree was also effective at raising the public’s awareness of Thomas Barnardo’s House. In the weeks following the spree, we have had quite a number of first-time visitors to the home after learning of TBH during our shopping spree. These visitors have brought donations, volunteered their time, and toured the home and nursery.
As a special treat to help the children relax before their end-term exams, on July 29, the children were taken on a recreational visit to the Nairobi Arboretum. Surrounded by the incredible beauty of the ancient trees which were filling the air with fresh scents, it was easy to have a good time in the grassy shade. The afternoon was full of group games, treasure hunts, and sports! By 5:30 the children were all played-out and ready for the ride home. It was a wonderful diversion at just the right time.
Thomas Barnardo’s is fully supported by our friends, donors, and well-wishers. We thank you for doing your part in helping Thomas Barnardo’s House as we provide for the children under our care and meet their needs of a quality education, caring family units, clothes, food, and a safe place to grow and develop.
Back to topWe have seen many exciting events in the lives of our children as they grow. One of these occurred this month as Alice, Lesiyamon, Diana, and Susan took Holy Communion for the first time. We owe thanks to God for bringing them to this day. The children were the heads of the excitement that day as they walked through the church in their new clothes, provided for by Scottish volunteer, Cat. The younger children were really looking up to them and wanting to know how to be like them. The Sisters at Don Bosco Catholic Church were happy with the graduates of the communion class, and had many good things to say about them: “They were obedient, they listened, and they were eager to know more.” The mums at Thomas Barnardo’s are also rejoicing because the children are learning to live the Christian way. That these children graduated the communion class shows they can work towards a goal to receive it, and shows that they are consistently well-behaved.
Many of our children took part in a Bible Day where children from Ngong Hills Chapel, Mombassa Road Chapel and other churches joined together for worship, prayers, songs, and Bible games at Karura Chapel. Our children were the ones to lead all the others in praise and worship songs, and our children helped our church win at the Bible games! TBH children really participated well!
This month included an outing to the verdant Ngong Hills. The day was beautiful and joyous despite the unexpected appearance of safari ants! People really enjoyed, though there was nowhere to sit!
On the 16th of June, children from TBH were honored to present two songs at the annual Day of the African Child celebration and forum. The day was an opportunity to celebrate the African child and to clarify problems facing African children today. Present at the event was Salome, the District Children’s Officer, who addressed pressing issues of children in our community today such as quality education, children’s health, and child abuse. In her words, “the day was a success.”
Now we have a special word from the Dorice, nursery supervisor, and the Aunties of the TBH Nursery, where orphaned, abandoned, and destitute babies are faithfully cared for: “We who take care of the babies are working with dedication to rescue, to guard, and to maintain our beloved and wonderful babies with unconditional love. Our babies are absolutely gorgeous! Our mission is to keep our unit a world-class nursery.”
Mid-Term examinations went very well for the children, and head-teacher of Jonathan Gloag Academy, Mr. William Mulema, continues to acclaim the progress that TBH children are making in their school-work. Now we are looking to the end-of-term coming in August, and want to finish strong.
On the 30th of June, TBH had to say farewell to two faithful volunteers as they returned home to Scotland. Toby and Cat both worked hard and poured their time and energy into TBH for the benefit of the children. We thank Toby and Cat very much for their months of strong support.
Thomas Barnardo’s House relies exclusively on the good will of donors, partners, and well-wishers; our support coming from caring and concerned people both here in Kenya, and across borders and oceans. We want to especially honor the memory of Catherine Kinyanjui who, out of her heart of love for the children of Thomas Barnardo’s House, willed her belongings to TBH. The children and mothers held a special prayer session to commemorate her, to thank God for sending TBH such dedicated helpers in caring for disadvantaged children, and to ask God to be with her family in the time of their great loss.
Thank you for your care and support of Thomas Barnardo’s House.
Back to topThe Easter Holidays for the children of Thomas Barnardo’s were full of relaxation, celebration, work, singing, growing, and togetherness.
Easter Day was a beautiful and meaningful time here at Thomas Barnardo’s. Upon returning from church and eating lunch, the children and mums met together for an afternoon celebration of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The special event began with a praise and worship song session in which everyone joined in, singing and shouting to the Lord. Mum Josephine officiated the second session, in which children from each house presented memory verses from the Bible. Those presenting were enthusiastically cheered on, and it was heart-warming to see the support and encouragement the children gave each other. Mum Jacqueline eloquently retold the story and meaning of Jesus being the spotless lamb, and sacrifice for our sins. Then, after many other activities such as an Easter-Egg hunt for the wee ones, the children finished the day with a cheery game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. All the children pressed in together and shouted, trying to help direct the one with the tail where to pin it!
The very next day, our sister home, Soila Maasai Girls’ Center visited for a wonderful day of sharing and games. Marvelous singers, the Soila girls captivated the Thomas Barnardo children with their mixture of high-energy dance and beautiful singing. The children ate lunch together then convened on the football pitch for a rousing game of footy, with the Soila girls winning the game!
AMREF once again extended a warm welcome to the children of Thomas Barnardo’s as well as two dozen other children’s homes for the premier of a hilarious yet meaningful drama presented by 20 former street children. Thomas Barnardo children watched captivated, even during the drama troup’s professional warm-up routine!
Thomas Barnardo’s children later visited Kandara Children’s Home for a sports tournament made possible by the Sibbald family. In addition to the boys and girls junior and senior football matches, the children put their hearts and souls into 100 meter and 400 meter foot races. Several TBH children excelled, revealing as-yet undiscovered talents in sprinting and endurance. The highlight of the day was the senior boys football match, which went well over an hour and a half. The battle was fierce, but when the game was over and the dust had cleared, the boys of TBH emerged victors, too exhausted to celebrate with more than weary smiles.
New volunteer Toby, of Wick, Scotland, accompanied five of Barnardo’s high-achieving class four and five students to the Brookside Dairy processing plant here in Nairobi as an educational tour in commerce The tour was made possible through the Juhudi Children’s Club. The TBH children quite enjoyed the free samples of strawberry yoghurt and chocolate milk on the tour (Hopefully they learned something as well!).
At Thomas Barnardo’s, the children are not solely assessed on their school marks, but also on their behavior and attitude in the home with the house-mothers. 26 children who scored well in both their school assessments and home assessments were taken to Village Market as a reward for their hard work and good behavior.
The beginning of May marks the beginning of the second term of school for Kenyan students, and everyone is busy getting into the school routine again after a month of holiday. The holidays were not wasted though, the students were very productive in helping around the compound during the morning, and gathering for supervised homework time every afternoon. Those children who worked especially hard each day were rewarded with time after homeworks in the game room.
The activities room, just completed last month, has been incredibly useful during the holidays, as the children used it each morning for clubs, and each afternoon for homeworks then games. The other recently completed building, the Sorsbie Hall, has just held its first wedding since renovation. The wedding party was quite happy to have such a smart, spacious, and well-lit hall.
As we celebrate the useful new buildings, and prepare the students for their return to school, we quietly and humbly thank all those who make these things possible through their generosity and kindness. Thank you, from Thomas Barnardo’s.
Back to topOver the past several weeks, the children have been busy finishing Term 1 of school. Outside of school, they have been the guests of many friendly organizations, foundations, and churches, and the choir has even been honored with several invitations to make guest presentations at various national and international programs.
The children were given the great honor of being invited to perform in a special concert celebrating AMREF’s 50th anniversary. As part of the invitation, Ken Burton, the director of the prestigious London Adventist Choir, made a special visit to Thomas Barnardo’s House to direct a choir workshop. His singing and piano playing were fantastic as he taught the children a medley of three African American spirituals and a special version of Come and Go with Me (to My Father’s House).
Don Bosco Catholic Church, where half of the children attend church, enjoyed a special presentation by TBH children of songs and Bible verses. Then, on Sunday, March 25, the children were invited to be guest performers at Deliverance Church in Nairobi at their innovative child focused service where the entire Sunday program was led and performed by children.
The breeze was blowing and the kites were flying high at a Kite Ceremony sponsored by the Japanese embassy and organized by the Juhudi Children’s Club. The children were shown not only how to fly kites, but how to make their own. The kites from that day are still seen here on Saturday mornings as children enjoy them in the play area.
A group of students from St. Hannah’s Secondary School came for a full day to do community service work and mingle with the children. Their visit provided lots of socialization between children, and both parties offered exchange in songs and drama. On both the 3rd and 24th of March the Phoenix Theatre again extended invitations for our older children to see their high –quality drama productions.
The children went on the 31st of March for a Fun Day at Bunks and Biddles school in Karen organized by the House of Grace Church children’s ministry department. The day was complete with a bouncy castle, fun games, and lunch. In addition, House of Grace Church sent us away at the end of the day with generous donations.
Our first tri-annual Shopping Spree of this year was held on Friday and Saturday, the 30th and 31st of March at six Uchumi supermarkets. During Shopping Sprees, members of the community are offered the opportunity to help the home while doing their own shopping. Ungana Group was very kind to assist with volunteers in this venture.
Great progress is being made in all of the construction projects underway here. The new activities room has been completed and is being used daily by class 2 and 3 for homework, by the pre-teen group, and also by the teen group for their bi-weekly meetings and fellowship. Indeed, the activity room is a welcomed and useful addition to the TBH campus.
Now open and active, the music room is already in use for music clubs in which a dedicated group of children meet weekly to learn drums and keyboard. The Sorsbie hall is in phase two of renovation and expansion, and the roof is now being finalized. All major construction is complete on the job-training center, and is just awaiting tooling, equipment, and setup. The Kenyatima shop has opened for business and was helped again by Corrine from Alan MacKenzie’s office who visited again for a whirlwind three day stocking and decorating session.
On March 9th, Jonathan Gloag Academy held its annual Prize-Giving Day. On this day, the students who have performed well the previous year are commended on their hard work and honored during a whole-school student and parent assembly. Each class presented special entertainment for the day, from well-planned dramatic plays to songs and poems- including a showcase of African song and dance by standard 5 who performed in traditional tribal dress. The academy and home were proud to host Dr. Ann Gloag O.B.E as guest of honor for this joyous occasion. Her rousing speech highlighted victories of the past years and rallied excitement for the ambitious targets she identified and aspiration of growth and success she put forth for the immediate future of Jonathan Gloag Academy. Joining Dr. Gloag were several members of our board of governors and other esteemed guests and parents. Their presence was sincerely appreciated.
Jonathan Gloag Academy held its exams the last week of March, and the students are excited about the imminent Easter holidays. The whole month of April is a holiday here in Kenya, and the children will be involved in various activities. House chores, daily activity clubs, special assignments for helping in the thrift store, kitchen, and nursery, as well as extra choir practices will complement free-time to ensure that children have both a productive and relaxing holiday.
The bakery at TBH, whose main sponsor is Kelvinside Academy of Scotland, is an income generating project still in its infancy but which is receiving growing demand for its product, especially in the low income area of Kibera.
We thank all of our friends, supporters, and well-wishers for their help in teaching, loving, and guiding the children under our care. Happy Easter!
Back to topThe New Year always brings changes. This year we have welcomed new children into our home, seen the older students leave for secondary school, and smiled as the little ones walked wide-eyed to school for the first time. In addition, we have commenced exciting new projects and construction which will further Thomas Barnardo’s effectiveness, visibility, and ability to give care to our children.
January is back to school month in most countries. The difference here in Kenya is that the beginning of the school year coincides with the beginning of the new-year! Joining Jonathan Gloag Academy the beginning of this year were 10 scholarship children. A new scholarship program courtesy of the Gloag foundation allowed these children, recruited from various provinces around Kenya, to attend our sought-after Jonathan Gloag Academy. In addition, they now live in a boarding house under the loving care of matron Veronica, but will be joining their families every school holiday.
Besides the scholarship students, another special group of students also attended their first day at Jonathan Gloag Academy. Mum Margaret, house mother of house 3 here at Thomas Barnardo’s shares the exciting events of the first day of Kindergarten for Barnardo’s youngest school-goers:
"Those children were really longing for that day. That morning, they were excited; they were looking for their uniforms. When they got to school, they didn’t cry. They just said "Bye mom! We’ll come in the evening!" They are school pupils now. They come home saying ‘Mom! We’ve learned!’"
All the students have been getting into their studies full steam. Beginning this year, a new homework program was initiated whereby students in classes 4-8 remain together after school and concentrate on their homework until 5:30 with the assistance and supervision of the TBH volunteers. The program has been called a success by the head teacher, who says that the other students in the school have been positively affected by the dedicated hard work of the TBH kids during homework time at school. Students in kindergarten class through class 3 go home after school, and do their homework under the supervision of their house-mother. Enter House 3 on any given evening and you will find a whole family of little children sitting quietly at the table and diligently working on their homework while their mother sits close by; helping, and teaching the house toddler, William, new words.
All the former class 8 students were accepted in various boarding schools, and were enthusiastic about joining boarding school for their high schooling. However, since secondary school did not begin until late in the month, they assisted the home in many various capacities and proved themselves extremely helpful before they left. For example, on January 4, most of the regular staff were participating in a team building day, leaving the running of the home to these older students. From the entry points to the Westminster office, to the kitchen, they were in charge of the posts. They did superbly well, a good show! They showed that they are becoming reliable and responsible. (Though we did find that they ate lots of bread in the kitchen!)
Throughout the month these older students helped on a regular basis. For example, Mack and Patrick served lunch every day at the junior school, Francis assisted our grounds staff in keeping the premises clean and orderly, and Maggie served as our receptionist, answering phones, giving tours, and helping in the office. Maggie shared her thoughts on leaving home for the first time to go away to secondary school:
"I am very happy to finish class 8 because it was our last leg of primary school. Finishing this does not mean the end though. No. School continues till the end of your life. I realized that education has got no end. ‘EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS’
Now I am preparing to go to high school at Lockwood Girls High. Many pupils wanted this opportunity, but they don’t have. I am grateful to have it. When I go to secondary I will believe in God that everything is possible through JESUS CHRIST. I will really do my level best. I will be independent.
When I grow up I would like to be a journalist or a pediatrician. It does not include laziness with your academic. When I reach at my career I would like to help Barnardo’s as it helped me, and life will continue from there!"
In addition to saying good bye to our secondary students, Jonathan Gloag Academy had to say good luck and farewell to our headmistress of four years, Teacher Lucy Mwangi. She was the star of the night amidst all the Jonathan Gloag Academy staff and most of the Barnardo’s staff went with her for her farewell party at the Panafric Hotel. The night was a joyful time of friends gathered together, but saying goodbye was not easy; she will be really missed.
Among the events of January, we had a helpful visit by Corinne and Nicola from Kaithness, Scotland, who came for two weeks and spent much time and energy setting up a new shop. This shop within Thomas Barnardo’s is part of an innovative project called Kenyatima. Wendy, our faithful volunteer, describes the program in full:
"We are opening a shop within Thomas Barnardo’s which is part of an innovative new project called Kenyatima. Kenyatima means Kenya our country, and Yatima, ‘orphan’ in Swahili. We invite visitors to come to Thomas Barnardo’s for a full-guided tour of our family houses, baby nursery, school, and small income generating projects. Then the visitors come back to the café and shop, where they can relax with coffee or tea, and browse through the store stocked with popular items from the Nairobi markets. In the shop we have Kazuri beads and pottery- hand made items from a company that has given training and jobs to many Africans, as well as beautiful kikois which are like throws that you have for the beach, or wear instead of a Cardigan, or to do as the Africans do, wear them as skirts! We have different kinds of carvings, beadworks, scarves, handbags, sunglasses and other sought-after items available here without the hassle of the street markets. The best thing is that visitors will know if they come and buy something here, the money they are spending is going back into helping the children of Thomas Barnardo’s.
At the moment, we have set up the shop the whole project should be ready in the beginning of March! We look forward to making the visitors feel welcome here at Thomas Barnardo’s!"
As well as the new tour facility, we now have a dedicated computer room, a music room with guitars, keyboards, and a drum-set, and a new activity room which will be used as a tutoring room for students with special needs, and as a youth club where the children can read, relax, play pool, or visit together on the weekends or in the evenings after homework and chores.
Yet another project under construction as we speak is the new Skills Center. There, people from the community will pay a certain fee to learn a trade. Here in Kenya, even those with college degrees may find it difficult to get a job in the area of their degree. So, they will learn a practical skill here and apprentice within Thomas Barnardo’s and Jonathan Gloag, assisting in their area of training; we will benefit as they benefit! Any of our children who want to learn a skill or trade will also be able to, but they will attend for free, their expenses being covered by the fees payed by outside learners.
Our final and largest construction project, which is also underway, is the expansion of Sorsbie Hall into a full assembly hall for Jonathan Gloag Academy. Amidst all this, weekend sporting activities of football, basketball, and exercises continued to take place thanks to the coaches and the support of the Sumerian Foundation, and the Phoenix Theatre once again extended their warm hospitality to invite our older students to see an afternoon matinee.
The year has begun quickly and is gaining momentum with each day! Because of the support and innovation of friends, donors, and well wishers, Thomas Barnardo’s House is able to offer increasingly self-supporting and sustainable care, housing, and training facilities to the needy children under our care.