Biwati Childrens' Home

Hello!

It has come to that point again, where I feel the inner urge to splurge. Rather than high street shops I much prefer to set up a good JustGiving page, and start raising money.

This month my focus is on Kenya. I want to work with Youth Stop Aids in Brighton to raise money for a small childrens' home called Biwati.

In Kenya there are 1.5 million people living with HIV (UNAIDS Gap Report 2016), with over 35,000 AIDs related deaths, making HIV/AIDS joint fourth in the largest HIV epidemic. More specifically, over 190,000 children in 2013 died of AIDS related illnesses. Children are more commonly infected through mother-to-child transmission, either during childbirth, breastfeeding, or during pregnancy.

Youth Stop Aids aim to end the statistics, and put an end to HIV/AIDS by 2030. They are youth-led and speak out to ensure governments, global institutions and corporations are doing their bit. They work on empowering young people across the globe. By ending the stigmas around HIV/AIDS, and raising awareness of prevention, YSA can begin the journey of ending it for good. 

Their goals include access to medicines for all, human rights and more. The one to look at specifically in this social action project is human rights. By making those aware of how to contract/prvent HIV, and abolish any abuse given to those suffering.

We want to use the YSA young, inspiration people, and combine it with the epidemic in Kenya. Looking more specifically at a school in Kenya where many of the children there are suffering from HIV/ADS. These children also live in dire poverty, their desperation for an education is tarnished by lack of uniform, improper school equipment and barely wearable clothing. The aim of this social action project is to improve the quality of lives for these children. By supplying them with new uniforms and school books we can at least give them the best chance at an education, where they can focus on education fully.

So what is the Biwati Children's home?

'Established to protect children displaced by Kenyan post-election violence in 2007, the Biwati Community School was founded in Cham gi Wadu in 2010 by a group of 10 local women led by Jayne Awuor Owino. Their goal was to provide children with a safe educational environment as well as hope for a secure future because many of these children were being exploited through forced child labour and sexual abuse.

Biwati Childrens' Home

The school comprises 100 children, 15 of whom suffer from maternal HIV infection. Whilst a large number of the children are orphans, many stay with elderly grandmothers. Some have been abandoned by their relatives and are homeless and these are accommodated group members in their own homes.

There are two retired teachers, one of whom is the head mistress, and two others are still in college. All teachers are volunteers and some did not complete their own secondary school education. However, the children are taught using the same curriculum as publicly funded schools and do the same examinations.

Biwati is funded by a table banking initiative. Members of this scheme donate ksh.200 each and these funds are used as micro loans for small community business start-ups. These are repaid monthly with 10% interest which supports the running of the school and the homing of children in the community.

The home

Needless to say the amounts are small and they desperately need your help. We are raising funds for the Biwati Community School to enable them to purchase learning materials and desks and chairs for the children to study at.' (Peter Day, Brighton University)

So I am hoping, with the help from my loyal readers, that you can share this page, spread awareness, and together we can help these children, improve their quality of life. 

~Forget Lent, Have this good deed! ~

http://www.justgiving.com/BiwatiCommunitySchool

Thank you for reading!

xoxo