KENYA: 'BOTTOM OF PILE' AIDS ORPHANS SEE HOMES TORCHED

Already traumatised by losing parents to AIDS, 14 orphans saw their homes burned to the ground this week as violence spread across Kenya.

'These kids were already at the bottom of the pile,' said John Smith, International Director of Spurgeons. 'Now they have to sleep at the school we run, though there have been threats that this too may be torched. Gangs of angry young people are threatening to burn the school thinking that this will send a message to their government, but the only people it will affect are the vulnerable children who will then have no school.

It is worrying to see TV images of violence and mayhem just a few hundred yards from our work. The children, aged between two and 16 years, are part of the Spurgeons Academy in Kibera. Established in 2003, the school offers primary education for 380 AIDS orphans and secondary education support for a further 60 children. John Smith is in constant touch with Kenyanito, programme manager at the school.

'We need immediate help to fund new accommodation for these children,' he said. 'Kenyanito is a founder of the project and is doing a fabulous job in really difficult, dangerous conditions. Although lessons should have re-started this week, they have been put off until next Monday at least. Please continue to pray for all the children and staff at this trying time.'

Spurgeons Child Care Kenya was established and registered as a charity in 2003. It took over the management of the former Aids Orphan Centre Kenya (AOCK) at the request of the local managers.

To find out more about the work of Spurgeons Child Care, visit the website >>>

Notes:

• Spurgeons was founded in 1867 when Anne Hillyard, a London widow, read an article by famous Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon and donated £20,000 to found an orphanage for fatherless boys.
• Spurgeons maintains a distinctly Christian ethos with 100 current projects working with children and young people across the UK and more in a number of locations internationally.
• Spurgeons' expertise, alongside well-developed systems and procedures, place it in a unique position to support churches as they seek to serve the children and young people in their communities.

Issued for Spurgeons by Stephen Goddard Associates