Stand by Ruiru Children Care Centre

I visited Ruiru Children Centre early this year when I had gone to donate some clothes, shoes, toys, and a bicycle my daughter had out grown. I let the place crying. The orphans are leaving in deplorable conditions. I had never heard of this centre, I came across it by total accident. This is the story behind the children’s centre;

Ruiru Children Care Centre is a home which was started back in 2008 in Kenya by Ms Ann Consolata Wangari who went by the stage name ‘Mugechi wa Damiano’. She was a popular kikuyu comedian/ MC/ Presenter with Kameme FM. It all started with a road show by local artists who were entertaining the crowd as the caravan collected donations from the public to assist the IDPs after the post-election violence. The caravan closed the day at an Internally Displaced Persons camp in Mukarara, Murang’a, Kenya

It was on this visit that Mugechi Wa Damiano encountered a number of internally displaced children who had lost contact with their parents following the post-election violence. She took it upon herself to connect the children with their families. Eventually 33 children could locate their parents and Ms Ann Consolata decided to host them at our humble aboard in Maziwa estate, Kamiti road in Nairobi Kenya.

She started the children’s home by the name Ruiru Children Care Centre. The home is registeted as an NGO. Unfortunately in 2015, Ms Ann Consolata was hit by a car and passed on. The home is currently being run by her daughter Ms. Jane Wanjiru.

The home relies solely on well-wishers. They have a total of 72 children, ages between 7 and 18 years. They have 46 girls and 26 boys. They operate from a rental house which has 9 rooms (7 rooms converted to bedrooms, living room and kitchen). Their rent is paid by a foreigner. 5 of their kids are form 4 leavers.

Challenges

1. Shortage of funds for food, school fees, firewood and utility bills

2. They have a leaking water tank with a capacity of 500 litres

3. They have a shortage of beddings and mattresses