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Bishop Luigi Locati Children's Home is enlisted as a non-profit charitable organization whose purpose is to teach and support orphans and children from destitute homes whose guardians are unable to take care of them. They additionally take care of and support the vulnerable children from the county of Nairobi and other parts of the country as well. These children's home was started in the year 2005 immediately after the demise of Bishop Luigi Locati. The late Bishop Luigi was a decent friend of the founder, Mr.
Ricardo Lizzier. It was, in fact, the late bishop Luigi who welcomed Mr. Ricardo when he first came to Kenya. Upon the arrival, Mr. Ricardo started working in Meru where he was helping the general population of Meru by installing a water line.
After this, he was sent Masai rural Training center, in Kajiado County by the late president of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta to help the people of Kajiado County with water line installation. He worked there till 2005 until he dared to begin different projects that he had always wanted to initiate.
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Mr. Ricardo started with first building a primary school known as St. Mary's primary school which he gave to private individuals to run later on. The second project he embraced was a church known as Madre Teresa church of which he had procured a 10-acre church which he donated to build a church and primary school. It was amid this time the late Bishop Luigi Locati passed on and subsequently, Mr. Ricardo chose to continue running with the great work the late Bishop had been doing which is caring for poor kids.
In 2005, the children's home was started by feeding the needy children outside the home by giving them porridge and mandazi outside the home and feed them. The children's families at the time who were staying at the home at the time were contacted and families asked whether the children's home could deal with them since the parents at the time could not.
The initial number of children was 120 and at the time the home was able to run from Mr. Ricardo's annuity. The home is registered under the ministry of gender as a C.B.O but is currently underway of being registered under the Ministry of Labor.
Mr. Ricardo began getting health complications in 2008 and by 2010 he went to Italy and remained there to seek further treatment. A trustee of three men was formed to help take care of the day to day running of the home while he sought medical attention in Italy. These three men were Mr. Thomas Otiato, Mr. Leonard Amelia and Mr. George Githua.
The committee designated Mr. George Githua as chairman of the trustee and it was shortly after this that unfortunately in December of 2012, Mr. Ricardo passed on while he was still he was still in his home country Italy.
The Home has 30 children who are full-time boarders. These children are educated by the Home and attend the following institutions: Royal International Academy, Roysambu Primary School, Mugona Girls' Secondary School, and Kiereni Secondary School.
The Home is registered as a community-based organization (C.B.O) in Nairobi whose vision is, "Focusing to make the world a better place for children to live a responsible life and the development of the community." Their stated Mission is, "To rescue, rehabilitate and make education available and accessible to orphans and vulnerable children- OVCs in the community". Their Motto is, "To make the world a better place for children."
Bishop Luigi Locati Children's Home objectives:
The home invites well-wishers, religious organizations, charitable organizations, and the surrounding society around them to contribute spiritual, mental and financial support to the children. They are allowed to visit as much as they would want and bring with them valuable gifts to the children's home.
Bishop Opera Luigi Locati children's home is a welcoming home for non-privileged children and lost children too. The children are brought to the home by Kasarani police if they are found on the streets. The staff is very accommodative and helpful. Mr. Thomas the home director is mostly known as 'Uncle' by everyone in the home. He gave us the rules to be followed in the home and a tour on the first day.
We were introduced to the other staff members of the home. Madam Selina; she has been a member of the staff since it began and Bishop Locati was alive. She lives in the home with her two children; Nyambura and Tony, who play well with the other children. Mama Marlon is the second staff member and she also lives with the children; Libby and her two twins: Gavin and Gallanah. The two women were very graceful and ready to help us with the duties given in the home. They made us tea and gave us cookies during our breaks. We helped them make lunch for the children.
The children are happy and well taken care of by the staff. They have children from the age of 2 to 18 years. The children love, enjoy helping and welcome all visitors into their home. One eventually feels like a member of the large family of Bishop Locati Children's Home
I was picked as the head of the other students in the home. The students were 12 and we were told to find out what other activities would help the home develop better even after we left. We had a duty roster that changed weekly. We did our duties in pairs and had to coordinate timelines with our partners. My first duty was cleaning the office. It had to be cleaned first because the home received guests throughout the day. The next duty was cleaning the hall; this had to be done before 10 am because the Children's home rented it out to some elderly students who came daily to learn.
After two weeks; my partner and I moved to clean the dormitories. This activity included; washing the floors, cleaning the windows and making their beds too. The girls' dormitory was bigger than the boys' dormitory because the population of girls is higher in the home. The kitchen duty was led by Mama Marlon and Madam Selina; we helped them to clean the kitchen, make tea and porridge for the children, sorting the rice and beans that would be served for lunch, fetch the water to be used in the kitchen.
We also cleaned the Children's Home compound; we had to rake the leaves from an old tree that shed daily. We had to water the vegetables that they had planted around the compound. We had pick litter around the compound and sweep. This was done after every two days. We washed the corridors around the kitchen, the office, and the library. The library had to be cleaned and the books on the shelves arranged well. In the library; we also had to clean the chairs, the tables, and the large windows. I also washed the seat covers of the sofas in the library. The children had their study time from 10 am to 12 pm. We had the chance to tutor them once they closed school for the holidays. We taught them Mathematics, English, and Science.
Other activities that were given to us included collection and arranging of firewood that was donated to the Children's Home. They also received many bags of maize that was needed to be sorted and this took a whole week. We had to dry the maize, remove from the cobs, dry it one more time and then put it back into the bags for storage.
In our small discussion groups which took an hour; we discussed how to better the lives of the children in the home.
During their holiday time; we divided the girls and boys into the group and had a hygiene talk. We discussed how to keep the environment and ourselves clean so as to avoid getting diseases. They also had the opportunity to ask us questions that they needed clarification on. We also took them to their dormitories and taught them how to properly make their beds well and arrange their clothes on the shelves provided.
We took time to discuss drugs and substance abuse with the older children from age 13 to 18. We told them about the consequences of misusing the drugs and warned them about taking things from strangers around them especially since they live in an urban area in Zimmerman. They shared their life stories with us and how some of them got to the home.
We had a small party for the children just before they did their KCPE exams; we bought snacks and juice for the children. We had music so they could dance and sing for us. We also played a few games with the children; the boys played football while the girls played hopscotch and ball games.
On the last day of community service; the students decided it would be a good idea to take the children for an educational trip to USIU-Africa because they were eager to see how university looks like, what the students actually learn and to see the school in general. We took a lap around the school compound; started with the Science center, they saw the laboratory and were amazed by how the classes were big and clean. We then headed to the Student center and they took the time to walk into the gym, they saw the swimming pool and we even visited Mr. Hussein, the Community service coordinator. He was happy to receive the smiling children.
We went to the Library and they even took books off the shelves and read some. They were amazed by how silent the library was. We then went to the Business block and they had the opportunity to join a master's class that was ongoing and were given words of encouragement by the master's students. We took a turn at the Cafeteria because the children wanted to know where the students ate their meals. Our last stop was the Lilian Beam center and they got to see the computer laboratories and even visited the USIU-Africa radio station. The children were more encouraged to read and excel so as to come and study in USIU or any other university they might want to go to.
During my time at the community service site; I learned how to appreciate the little things in life. The children were always happy and welcoming even though they lived in a Children's Home without their biological parents. They appreciated everything given and done to them. They behave like a blended family always fighting and making up by the end of the day.
I also learned the children's home system works. Thomas took us through a rough course of how the children actually get to their home. Some of the children got to the home through abandonment by their parents; some of them were runaway children while others just got lost and were taken to the Home by the police.
A few life skills I acquired through the community service are:
Bishop Luigi home did not have many incidences; the children are well behaved and have respect for their elders. One time a lost child was brought to the home by the Kasarani Police Station then his mother came to pick him but she was not able to because she had no birth certificate to show evidence that the boy belonged to her. The director had to send her back to the police station to come with the required documents.
Another incident that happened was a girl was taken back to their rural area because she is 18 years and the Children's home could no longer take care of her. Unfortunately, the family did not accommodate her and Mr. Thomas had to come back with her. She is now stuck and does not know what to do. She now helps Madam Selina and Mama Marlon around the home.
United Nations have the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a document that includes the history of human rights. It was drafted by representatives of different countries with different legal, culture and languages. The fundamental human rights are universal and have been translated into 500 languages worldwide.
During my community service, I witnessed most of the rights being followed by the Children's Home and their staff members. The children are on a schedule; they wake up by 5 am during school days and 6:30 am during the holidays. They first begin with breakfast prepared by Madam Selina or Mama Marlon; then they carry out their assigned duties. By 8:30 they are done and get a chance to play or wash their clothes. From 10 am to 12 pm they are to proceed to the library for a quick reading session; they do their homework and read storybooks. From 12 pm to 1 pm they have entertainment time, they are allowed to watch television that is mounted on the wall. They have lunch at 1:30 pm in the hall. In the afternoon; the children have free time, they arrange their clothes, oil each other's hair, play games and even take naps on their beds. The children are treated well and enjoy being in the home. They appreciate all the love and protection given to them in the Home.
In an article written on Daily Nation on October 2018, it was title; charity or commerce? The article went further to know if the orphan homes were using the money donated to them well or they benefitted just the people who ran the homes. New children's homes were being registered in the country rather than more adoptions and this posed a concern to the international bodies and also President Uhuru Kenyatta. Another problem that the document highlighted was the misuse of donor money; some children's home asks for as much as 5000 Kenyan shillings to sponsor one child yet the home remains in bad conditions. The president is trying to stop these homes from benefitting from their international donors and using the money well to help the children.
Community service is a needed course in university and the money contributed to the course should be used to help the institutions that the students go to. This course helps the students understand more about serving the community at large and how to relate to people from different cultures and backgrounds. Bishop Locati needs more financial help to take all the children in the home to school and enable the KCPE students to be able to go to good high schools.
Bishop Locati Luigi Children's home needs to hire a child psychologist to speak to the children especially the ones who have gone through psychological torture. Others have been abused by their own family members and that makes them run and become street children. They need guidance on how to integrate themselves to the world after they actually leave the home and not be confused about their purpose in life and eventually turn to drugs or crime.
Donors and well-wishers should get annual or even monthly reports of how the money they donate is being used in the children's home. This will allow the donors to know what to donate next to make the children's home better for the children. By not being accountable; some home gets too many donations example Bishop Locati Luigi Children's home once got too many sanitary towels and they all expired at once and were not useable.
Bishop Luigi Locati Children's Home. (2019, Nov 29). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/bishop-luigi-locati-childrens-home-essay
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