Friends of Lenana
Visit from the Norgaards
It has already been a month since my partner Victoria, our 13 yr old son Russell and I left the orphanage in Lenana where we spent a week helping out in the classroom, the kitchen, and wherever else we could be of “use”. More significantly, it has been a month since we’ve been with the children of the HHF – their bright eyes, their smiles, their tremendous spirits and their lightness of being – remarkable to me when they are surrounded by such adversity. We’ve spent the weeks since our departure thinking about the kids we got to know , the adults who pour their heart and soul into to making a difference for these children, and about how and when we can get back to Lenana!
We decided as a family that we would spend some part of our African holiday “giving back” during our visit. We made contact with Hanne just before we left Canada and got Lucy’s coordinates. Never having done this type of volunteering before, we weren’t sure what to expect, but thought we were ready for anything! What we didn’t anticipate was how quickly and warmly we would be welcomed. From the moment Lucy greeted us out at the road and walked us in to the HHF compound we felt part of the HHF family in Lenana. And, just having met Hanne and Ted last week, we get a sense of where this comes from! We also didn’t anticipate the impact that the children would have on us – they stole our hearts! I think we all experienced levels of joy mixed with sadness – it is impossible to overlook the surroundings in which HHF is operating. The future is bleak for many adults in the slum, and the environment is full of danger and risk for children. This, for me, was tempered by the real impact that Hanne and Ted (and family) are bringing at a “grass roots” level to these children – nutrition, clean water, health, education, and love. These add up to hope and opportunities and ultimately, a future beyond the confines of the Lenana slum.
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While we only volunteered at HHFL for only a week, we’ve come away with an experience that will stay with us for a lifetime. It is an experience that will spur us on to do more with HHF – having seen the real impact HHF is making in the lives of these vulnerable children. We will get back to Lenana, and until then the children and adults of HHF will be in our hearts!
Andrew, Victoria, Russell Norgaard
Innocent impressions: A 6 year old’s perspective
Written by Matthew Hardie, son of Jennifer Hardie
(Click to download Matthew’s school presentation entitled “Matthew’s trip to Kenya: Why I learned that we don’t need everything on earth”)
I’m Matthew Hardie, I’m from London and I’m six years old but I live in Dubai. My family has been sponsoring a little boy called Muli for the past two years. Muli and I have been writing each other letters for two years and I was really excited to meet my brother Muli.
Before we came to visit, my mum and I decided to do some fund-raising for the children. I decided to make 200 cupcakes and cookies and sell them during my school holidays in my mum’s office tower and we raised 2,940 UAE dirhams, which is 60,000 Kenyan shillings or $800 USD! Everyone in my class at school also collected things for the kids – pencils, crayons, reading books, note books, painting things and stickers. My mum’s company also raised money for the kids, in total we gave Hanne & Ted $4,400.
At first I thought that the slum where the children lived was going to be really dirty, not safe and that the children would have no beds and there would be no buildings around it and that all the children would be sad because they had no mums and dads and that made me feel bad. When I arrived I was extremely surprised because they were very happy, the children who live at HHF have a really nice room with beds and they have schools. And as soon as we arrived I was astonished. And also extremely excited, and as soon as I hopped out of the car I ran to go and find Muli but he was right in front of my car door!
Muli showed me his bedroom and he only had one toy. His toy was a big dolly with two pony tails, that he sleeps with. The next thing we did was we went out to play. I was pulling a rope and the other children were trying to catch it. And I sat in a wheelbarrow and they pushed me around! Afterwards a bell got rung and me and Muli stood in front of the whole HHF and they all sang for us for about one hour. And I handed out two footballs, one to Muli and another to Alice. And then we went to go have some lunch and I had a hamburger and Muli had half a chicken and Esther and Stephen had half a chicken. And Hanne was like: “can you eat all this?” and they said “sure!” and they ate everything on their plate but I left half of my hamburger and some chips and they asked if they could take it home and Hanne said yes so they wrapped it up and took it back to HHF and Muli shared it with his friend Little Brian. Brian looks like he is only 8 years old but he is actually 12.
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At HHF we saw 125 children. Some had no mums and dads and Hanne found them and she helped them and she made a project for them to live in, and she got some helpers to help her and then it just appeared like that and they got some beds. Some of the kids have no mums and dads because they died. In the hostel they sleep all together and their beds are all in one row and they are all friends together and they never argue. In the day time when the kids wake up in the morning they play. Then they go to school, only for one or two hours. Then they come back to Hanne Howard Fund and they play because they always play. Then they have lunch and then they play again then they have dinner then they play again then they jump in the water to have a bath then they go to bed.
The next day I went back to HHF and I heard a dog howling on the way and then we got there and we arrived at HHF and we got out of the car and the same thing happened – Muli was in front of my car door! Me and Muli went to go play. And then when I guessed play was nearly over I went to go ask Hanne if I could ring the bell and she said yes. When the scouts came out I rang the bell and somebody wouldn’t stop playing so I rang the bell in their ear and said, “can you hear that play is over?” then they all came and they sang a very long song for us. And then the scouts came on stage on the red dirt and I helped them put up the stage. They did a dance and they asked me and mum and Alexandra and Sebastian to do a dance with them, and we did. And when it finished the scouts were all in a line and they asked me, Alexandra, Sebastian, my mum, Ted and Hanne if we could inspect the scouts. And we inspected them.
When we went to Hanne Howard Fund I felt quite happy because it looks like that and they seem very happy. They seemed to have forgotten about their mums and dads. It changed my life because they told me that you don’t need anything. Things like games and chocolate, you don’t need them. They are only for treats. Because they barely had anything.
I would LOVE to go back.
Bye children!
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A visit from the MacDonald’s
During March Break, the MacDonald family, who are strong supporters of the project, visited HHFL. John is the Treasurer of HHF and has visited us several times. This time, we were all thrilled to host his wife Diana, and his daughter Katie. Their visit brought lots of fun and joy to all! Below is a note from Katie sharing her experience.
Written by Katie MacDonald
Hi! My name is Katie MacDonald, I am 14 years old and over March break I spent 3 days at the Hanne Howard Fund Project in Nairobi with my family.
Driving up to the gate of the Hanne Howard Fund in Kenya, Africa I was extremely nervous about what I was going to see. I knew that the children in the program suffered from poverty and some had come from abusive families. These kids may not have had the kind of care that I had growing up, but as soon as I passed through the gate I was greeted by warm glowing smiles. Everyone there welcomed me
with open arms regardless of their age. Within the first few minutes I felt as if I was part of the family. My first thought was that the children would be unhappy and resentful but when I got there it was quite the opposite. They were enthusiastic and so incredibly happy no matter how hard done by they were.
Playing with the kids and seeing how smart and energetic they were really showed me that the kids in Africa aren’t very different from the ones in the Western World. The Hanne Howard Fund has allowed these children to meet new friends, provide a place to learn and play and most importantly create a new sense of family that they can depend on and feel safe.
The Hanne Howard Fund has provided many opportunities and hope for a better future to all the children. They now all have a reason to get up in the morning and a reason to work hard. I wish that more children in the slum could have the same opportunities as they do. They wait outside of the gate just hoping they will get a chance to be part of the family one day. This was really hard to watch, maybe with more fundraising we can open the gate to more children and change the lives of others.
Thank you Hanne and all of the volunteers and children for sharing your lives with me. My experience in the project has changed how I look at things now and it has had a very positive effect on me.
Katie
Another year, another visit!
Written by Marianne Florijn, HHF Board Member and donor
Just returned from my annual visit to Lenana. Last year I just missed the opening of the newly built hostel, so this time I went to see the two dormitories with a sitting lounge in the middle. What great progress!! I saw neatly made beds and even a walk-in closet. The hostel will be very crowded when all the kids return for spring break, but I have much faith in Mama Mary who sleeps there and keeps a close eye on her flock!
Hanne, together with Lucy and Mama Mary have initiated a stern program that when children come home from day school they cannot throw their clothes and shoes on a big messy pile, but as each child belongs to a ‘house’ (Hyena, Leopard, etc), they now have to follow strict rules such as folding up their uniform, putting their shoes neatly in a row and changing into their play uniform!
Another big improvement is the installation of the new water tank as a result of donation by KLM’s flight attendant organization called Wings of Support. Real showers in our slum! Who would ever dream! This important hygienic addition will greatly improve life for the HHFL children. The KLM crew love visiting the kids in the project and last time, they brought a memory game which we all enjoyed playing together.
My husband Eddy came to Kenya this year as well for the first time and we both received a warm welcome/farewell by the whole HHFL group! We were all dancing and finished the celebration with an old fashioned ‘polonaise’!!
Thank you to Hanne, Ted, and the HHFL staff and kids for giving us another unforgettable visit. I will do my very best to spread the word in my part of the world – all the improvements show that the donations are being spent wisely and responsibly. However, the cost to support our growing teenagers increases each year making continued fundraising efforts a necessity.
Tot Ziens!!
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Finally, a water tank…thanks to KLM Wings of Support!
KLM Wings of Support gets us up and running. Water! Clean running water—from a tap!
Last week we achieved another milestone with the installation of a 10,000 liter water tank. It was a significant step forward in our goal to improve hygiene and sanitation for the kids.
The tank features 2 taps, for cooking and hand washing. A small electric pump runs the water from the main tank to a smaller roof top tank which in turn feeds the 2 new shower stalls below.
All of the kids and staff of HHFL send their love and thanks to KLM Wings of Support for enabling us to complete the water works—making another dream come true.
Asante sana
| The kids spell K..L..M with their bodies to say thanks! |
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Lilley, our 9-year-old volunteer raises money for HHF
Written by Lilley Salmon
I just returned from Africa yesterday after working in the Hanne Howard Fund for four days. This all started when we had a week holiday and my mother had a friend that is sponsoring a child at the project.
When this friend sent us the link to watch the movie on this website, my mother fell in love with it and decided we would go there. This was how it all started. My mother set a goal that we should at least try to make 500chf. So we had a few bake sales at school after swimming. After swimming when my mom saw my swim coach (also my teacher) she told her about what we were going to do. My teacher Ms.Nicholson had thought we could have a sponsored swim so we did. Our goal was to swim 1000 meters and get money for each lap. My mother also put up a notice for clothes on our school website and got a lot of clothes. People donated money as well as sponsored and bought things so that in the end we could have 500 chf, but we got more than that a lot more.
In total we raised…..2000chf!!
I had such a great time at the project and made lots of friends. I can’t wait to go back again.
Love Lilley
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KLM Wings of Support pay us a visit…
Hello Ted and Hanne!
I would like to thank your team for having me at the project! I had a great time and i was really amazed what a great work you guys doing there!
I made some pictures which I would like to share with you!
Keep up the good work!
With kind regards,
Tabitha
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Focus on a Helping Hand – What a Difference a Year Makes!
Ron and I spent 8 days at the project in November 2008 and we were privileged to return this November for 3 weeks. We could not believe our eyes when we got back this year. There were so many changes.
The first major change was the hostel all along the right side. Last year this area was occupied by a church and some tenants. The church section was the low-point of the property and on rainy days the church would fill with water. No matter how hard they bailed the water out,
it only came back. There was just no drainage from that area. Now there is a whole line of brightly painted HHF buildings with a concrete sidewalk all along, with built-out sections of closet to give storage and a little privacy between the boys’ and girls’ hostel. There are a couple dozen beds in the hostel but they are only full when the boarding school kids come home for holidays. They keep the area really clean and tidy and there is a well-used lounge area when you first walk in.
Another major improvement over the last year was the addition of electricity. They can now use children’s’ music tapes and CDs in the tiny tots program. The hostel kids can read and do homework after sunset. Nairobi is very close to the equator so sunset is around 6:30pm all the year. Hand in hand with the electricity come the computers. Ted and Hanne brought 2 laptops with them last year and 2 more this year. Ron and I took 2 this year and someone else donated a desk-top computer with a printer for the office. One of my jobs this year was to get Picasa, Word, Excel and the Encarta encyclopedia programs loaded on all these computers. They can do homework on Word and they will surf Encarta for as long as they are able. With Encarta they start out looking for something like a history fact and then follow the links to all sorts of interesting things, like we do on the internet, but without actually being connected. This past week some of the older kids compiled some get well messages for Ron and then had the staff send it as an email. They have 2 digital cameras and a number of them can edit the photos in Picasa and send them to sponsors and the HHF blog.
Ron and I are the only mzungus (white people) that actually eat at the project when we are there volunteering. I like most of the rice and bean dishes but I’m not so fond of the ugali (thick solid corn paste). Last year Hanne worked with the cooks to improve the nutritional level of the meals and Ron and I could tell the difference. There are more greens and carrots added to the sukuma wiki (like a vegetable stir-fry) and most days more than a dozen tomatoes were also added. The tiny tots get a piece of fruit with their ugi (millet porridge) before they head home for the night.
A number of the older kids are now finished high school. It is now their turn to give back to the project. They will work for the next year and these young men and women should become valuable staff members passing on their knowledge to the youngsters. Dismas, Duncan, Simon and Kennedy were a great help to Ron when he was building the office shelving.
It might sound like these are not great accomplishments but some of the activities that we would do at home in an hour take a day or 2 or 3 to get done in Africa. Hours and hours of work have gone into all these changes. Hanne and Ted can be so proud of all their children. You should have seen the project come alive when Hanne arrived this year! Singing and dancing and lots of hugs and tears of joy. It is truly an amazing place.
A note from our volunteer, Karline Rose
It was rather undecided what I should do with my gap year before furthering my university studies. However, a life changing opportunity arose and I find myself reaching the end of this experience at the Hanne Howard Fund, Lenana. It is here in the Lenana slum that I have worked as a volunteer for two months helping to educate and interact with the children from such a needy and great cause.
Upon arrival at the Hanne Howard Fund, the first thing that struck me was how warm and welcoming the staff was. Open and interested to the fact that I had been brought up in South Africa, I began to tell them countless stories of ‘The Bafana Bafana Country!’ I noticed that despite the harsh conditions and lack of sophistication and modern facilities, each little face smiled and seemed utterly content with life. It is through and with these people that I taught music, assisted in teaching the Tiny Tots Mathematics and English, played soccer, braided African hair for the first time, shared Kenyan meals and learnt to appreciate the simple things in life.
The Hanne Howard Fund had 16 recorders donated to them a while back. I therefore used these together with my piano knowledge to teach music to the older kids on Saturdays. Music, in the words of Plato, gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, light to the imagination and life to everything. I thoroughly enjoyed my interaction with these teenage pupils and although they and I differ in many ways, music proved that we are the same in heart and spirit. I am sure that they will continue to progress musically with the help of the staff members to whom I also taught the basic skills.
What impressed me profoundly, too, is the level of teaching in the Tiny Tots department. No parent, no matter what culture and level of society could ask for much more than the foundation and love that these kids receive through the program. Everything is done to see that they are exposed to a variety of medias and academics to ensure for a balanced base before beginning with their big school journeys. I congratulate the staff on their level of commitment and enthusiasm and remind them that their work is helping to remove the ceiling above these children’s’ dreams…there are no more impossible dreams.
Before I came to the Hanne Howard Fund, I felt rather identityless. I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant to be a UK born English and French speaking South African from a Belgian mother and a Zimbabwean father. I have learnt so much about life by being in a foreign place and I thank the staff and the children of the fund for an eye opening experience and a Cinderella ending to my gap year. And to the special children that I will never forget, I pray for great things in your lives. A famous poet once said that poverty is the stepmother of genius. I wish geniuses out of you all.
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Karline Rose
Volunteer 24 May to 24 July 2009
There and back again by Christian Mario Lohr
A lot of things can change in three months.
That was the first thought that passed through my mind as my taxi dropped me off at the entrance of the slum leading to the Hanne Howard Fund.
I’m pleased to report that it’s all for the good though. When I was told that Hanne had already left for Canada for her yearly trip I was curious to see the changes the last few months had brought and also how things were holding up without Hanne’s guiding hand. Diego, Riyad and I had often discussed the implications of Hanne leaving for a longer period of time and had agreed that there was a danger of things unravelling without her presence.
I know a lot of people will think that this is a discriminating statement towards the local staff but sadly there are certain truths that cannot be refuted. An outsider is resistant to certain pressures that a local person would be faced with and receives more respect. That doesn’t mean that it’s easier. There are incredible cultural barriers that have to be overcome and there’s always a chance of things going wrong. But for a Fund that is just starting out the factors mentioned above are incredibly important. I’m sure that in years to come the Board will be perfectly capable of running the HHF but until then Hanne is vital for the survival of the center.
To my relief our fears were unfounded. The HHF is in great shape. So many things have improved over the last three months that it was almost impossiblegate to take it all in. The first thing that struck me when I arrived was the new look of the gate. Now with the words “Hanne Howard Fund” written in bright and friendly yellow letters on the black gate it is finally possible to find the HHF. Before it was almost impossible to find the HHF without knowing exactly where to look for it. A small change but an important one. To further increase public awareness there are plans to put up signs along the main road.
Christian is part of a team that is making a documentary on Lenana and the HHF called “Kenya’s Path”. To read the rest of Christian’s story, click here