Baby Talk

In November 2007, the opening ceremony was held for the St. Andrews Baby Unit in the grounds of Kandara Children’s Home in a rural part of Central Province, Kenya. As a volunteer at the home at that time, I was asked to write a poem for some of the children to recite at the event. I can’t remember all of it but it started....

“Abandoned at birth, left in despair...no-one to love them, no-one to care”

After the opening ceremony, some of the youngest children from the home were moved from their dormitories to the unit to allow the housemothers an opportunity to get in to routines and find their way around the new building. The youngest of these children was about 2 years old. It was great to see them all develop and benefit from the unit where there was more time for the housemother to train them in things like dressing, washing, eating at the table etc but we still hadn’t seen the unit used for the purpose in which it was intended.
All that changed in January 2008 when a tiny bundle was brought to the home by a local police officer. After working with the local authorities to register the fact that she had been abandoned and would be in the care of the home, the little girl was given shelter in the baby unit. It didn’t take long for us to hear that she was two weeks old and had been found in the market by a passerby...wrapped in a blanket and covered in ant bites.

I was shocked at how someone could leave such a healthy young baby knowing she would be exposed overnight. When I expressed this concern I was quickly told that she was one of the lucky ones. Through fear, panic or desperation some mothers feel they have no option but to throw their newborn babies in to the pit toilets which are still in common use in Kenya. I found this so hard to believe at first but have now heard the same story from various sources and come to realise that poverty can create such desperation that large families simply cannot take the strain of an extra mouth to feed or child to clothe.

Since that day in January 2008, the St. Andrews Baby Unit has taken in more than 10 babies between 4 days old and 18months. One abandoned by the nearby river, another in a school playground. Some, including a set of twins, lost their mother in childbirth...others have been neglected or orphaned before their first birthday. For some, it is hoped that they will return to their families at some point in the future. An example of this is the twins whose father simply couldn’t care for newborn babies after the death of his wife. He regularly visits with his other children and brings milk and bananas from his home to contribute to the upkeep of the babies. He hopes that when the children are around 3 years old, he and their siblings will be able to care for them at home.

For those babies who have been abandoned and no family members traced, it is hoped that they can be adopted by loving families in the local community. This would be the ideal outcome for them. Any child who reaches three years of age without being restored at home or adopted will move to the main children’s home where they will continue to be cared for and educated.

As I spent Saturday playing with some of the babies (or becoming a human climbing frame as they all jumped on top of me!), I began to think of that poem that I had written in 2007 and realised that we do have babies who have been abandoned or left in despair but the staff and administrators of the unit are fighting to ensure that these little ones have the same chance of living a full and successful life as any other child. 

Anyone interested in supporting their work, please get in touch. As any parent is aware, it costs a lot to keep babies fed, clothed and in clean nappies (diapers). Our sponsorship program generates around 50% of the required monthly funding but we need your help to find the other 50%.

Together we can create brighter futures for these babies and show them that there are people who love them, people who care.

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