Dream Children’s Home is located between Ngong and Matasia in the outskirts of Nairobi City. It is the realization of the dream to care for orphaned children by Our National Women’s Ministry Chairlady – Mrs Rachel Gichia.
After telling her husband about opening their house to some orphaned children, he agreed to support her dream. So they created a space in their home to share what they have with the orphaned children. They are blessed with three children of their own: two sons and a daughter.
Mrs Gichia’s desire to care for the less fortunate started back from when she was a young girl. She was brought up in a slum by a single parent, hence witnessing how children were suffering after being abandoned by their parents due to excess drinking or poverty and orphans who were left destitute after the death of their parents. She felt in her heart that all the hurting children should be taken care of by the government, yet nobody cared about them. It is because of this situation that she vowed in her heart that if she got a job in future and have her own house, she would not live to see a child suffer after losing parents but would accommodate and live with them.
After she got married in 1988 and the AIDS pandemic was the talk of the day, children were left orphaned all over. Her heart was yearning with passion to accommodate all of them in order to relieve them from suffering. This is what motivated her to start an orphanage, to at least help one of them.
She made up her mind to take up a 4 year old girl from Apostolic Faith Church, Matasia whose both parents both died within a short space of time and no relatives were willing to care for her. In December 2004 they opened their door to this orphaned girl and made her one of their own.
In January 2005, while watching the news on the television, she saw a family of four children abandoned by their grandmother after their parents died and with no one left to take care of them. She was deeply concerned and went to Mwiki where they were living alone. The Children took her to where their grandmother was and she allowed her to take them back to Dream. The children were aged between 4 and 10 years old.
In February 2005 Mrs Gichia went to the Ministry of Social Services to express her desire to help the needy children and after hearing that children were already living in their home; they agreed to register them as an orphanage. So today the orphanage is registered under the Ministry of Home Affairs as a charitable institution.
They then put up a sign to advertise the orphanage to the public. From then, the Children’s Office, Kenya Police and the communities at large have been knocking at their door with orphaned children who have no one to take care of them. She intend to keep the children till they are 19 years old unless they are still in education.
Dream Children’s Home has now grown to having 98 children in total; 6 already in various universities in Kenya and 2 in Colleges.
The orphanage has able to built it’s own school called Lekuruki School[Lekuruki is a Masai word for a “Village”] thanks to Standard Chartered Bank – Credit Department and Kenya Build. The school is registered with ministry of Education with classes running from pre-unit to standard eight. It is just 2minutes away from the home and guarantees qualified education. The school is also equipped with 19 Computers for computer studies.
They have been receiving food, clothings, shoes, medicines, Educational materials such a books, pens, computers, Finances for expansion purposes, Chairs etc from well wishers who include:
- Apostolic faith Church Sister’s Union department – in buying the orphanage a van
- Standard Chartered Bank – Credit Risk Department – Building boys dormitories, Toilets and pre-unit to class three classrooms and donating students desks and chairs.
- Edgerly Committee – helped in finishing their house by plastering and putting doors and windows
- Volunteers and Kenya Build – girls dormitories and class 4 to class eight classrooms
- Safaricom – putting up a shade for the cows, and bought them 3 cows
- Java House – putting up a large water tank
- Friends of British High Commission – Building Workers quarters and the Kitchen led by Jackie whose husband works with British High Commission
- etc
But still there is a lot to do.
Volunteer Work:
Volunteer jobs at Dream Project Children’s Home include:
- Teaching the school going children and helping them to do their homework after school
- Help in keeping the children busy and organizing educational and recreational activities for them (games, art, music, etc.)
- Helping to keep the children’s home clean.
- Helping with and monitoring the cleanliness of the children.
- Helping with the cooking, washing of dishes, laundry, building structures etc.
- Helping the children to learn common courtesies, moral education etc.
- Making suggestions to the home manager for improvement.
Dream Children Home wishes to thank all the volunteers who have visited the home and brought in donations for the children.
Thanks to all!
You can contact Dream Children’s Home through the National Sister’s Union Chairlady, Mrs Rachel Gichia
P.O. Box 211 Ngong, Kenya
00208 Ngong Hills
No 1 Dream Avenue, Forest Line Road, Ngong, Kenya
(0720 841175)