November 11, 2022, is an unforgettable Friday for all of us at Shem Kebongo & Co. Advocates. We finally did something we had been planning for ages. We visited the orphaned children of Humble Hearts Children’s Home in the Kosovo area of the expansive Mathare slums in Nairobi.
We had been planning the visit for weeks, but issues kept coming up at the last minute, forcing us to postpone every other time. So you can imagine the exhilaration in each of us when we finally set out that sunny Friday morning. Everyone had been looking forward to the day!
Multipurpose Visit
In addition to our core purpose of the visit, which was reaching out to those disadvantaged children, spending time with them, and bringing laughter and joy to their faces, we were also participating in Children Service Week, part of Children Service Month, slated for November every year.
The all-important service charter, recently launched by the Chief Justice, Hon. Martha Koome, at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kenya, is dedicated to highlighting children’s rights through hearing, determining, and fast-tracking cases involving children.
Children are the Future
Indeed, they are the leaders of tomorrow and a core part of society. We value them no matter their plight, and that is why we paused all our end week’s work commitment that day to bringing laughter and joy to their hearts and faces, with our main mission being:
- Restoring their sense of dignity
- Supporting them psychologically and materially through helping hands
- Brightening their day and weekend
- Giving them hope for the future
In addition to gifts and donations, we had fun games, exciting photo sessions, snacks and refreshments, meals, and one-on-one talks with the children, which created a strong bond between us, making them open up about many things. We even met infants — the orphanage houses abandoned infants too!
Crucial Life Lessons
Of course, we had an inkling of the hard life in a slum but never had an experience so close as that day. We learned that life in Mathare is exceptionally hard for children – most are former street children, at least the older ones, and that our visit had a positive and far-reaching impact on them and the entire community.
We learned four crucial life lessons that day:
- No kind gesture is too big or too small for a needy person.
- Giving is indeed better and far more inspiring than receiving.
- That we should never take anything for granted and should appreciate what we have
- Disadvantaged people in society, especially children, need all the help they can get.
The Perfect Ending to a Long Week
We considered it the perfect ending to a long week, given that we had all been looking forward to the visit. The laughter and joy on the children’s faces was a perfect ending to a tough week and the perfect start to a weekend. We plan to do this again soon and many other times in the future and hope you will join us too!
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