In September, Gavin Aitchison spent five days with Christian Aid in Kenya, witnessing its work with HIV victims and meeting those on the front-line in the fight against the virus. Here, he meets the young orphans and victims being given a second-chance in life.

CHILDREN’S laughter reverberates around the home, in every corridor and every room. It’s the sound of happiness; the sound of salvation. But Susan is at her wits’ end.

She loves her work here and she loves the children, but the lack of resources is agonising. Officially, there should be 40 children here but the current total is 49 and a further 50 cases have had to be turned down in the past year.

“We have no more room,” says Susan, with palpable frustration. “We are at capacity and stretched. We have one bed shared by three small ones.”

Susan Ndung’u, 26, is the coordinator here, at the Kenwa Children’s Home in Muranga, a village two hours’ drive north of Nairobi. It is an unassuming building off a rural dirt track, but it is a haven for those who call it home.

All 49 children here are victims of HIV, most having been orphaned by the virus and some having been infected themselves. Many have been abandoned and have no idea who or where their families are.

Life in the home is unmistakably happy though. On the day we visit, 18 of the youngest children are having lunch, sitting in bright plastic chairs around low tables, in high spirits and keeping the staff on their toes. They are full of beans in every sense; excited about the strange visitors and nourished by the simple meal before them.

It is an endearing moment; one that belies the children’s experiences. Many are, mercifully, too young to fully grasp the fact, but they have endured untold sufferings and neglect.

More often than not, they have arrived here weak and malnourished, unknown and unloved, and though they don’t know it, this is their only hope.

“We find them in places where they have been left to die, and where no one takes care of them,” says Susan. “That’s how they end up here.”

The home opened in 2006 with four children but has grown rapidly. It’s a Godsend for the dozens of boys and girls who have been saved, but a never-ending challenge for those in charge.

Susan is accustomed to sudden emergencies, children regularly arriving in terrible health, denied vital medication.

“Most of them when they come here, especially the young ones, are also malnourished,” says Susan. “Out there, nobody shows affection for them. The nutritional support we give has played a big role; the medical care also.”

The home is a wonderful place, a sanctuary where the children are safe, valued and loved. But there is no doubt it is too small. The room where the children are eating is an iron extension to the stone building; the small office doubles as a much-needed counselling room and study room; and in one of the dorms, 11 boys share seven beds, the younger ones sleeping head-to-toe.

“With more space, we could accommodate up to 200,” says Susan. “The most important thing here at the moment is the space. With the space, we could serve a greater need.”

There is land nearby that Kenwa could use. They would like another three acres so they can provide a playground, more dorms, more study space and a kitchen garden. But the monthly budget for the home is £280 and even one acre would cost around £10,000. “We do not have the money to purchase the land,” says Susan, resignedly – and she knows the consequences of that.

“In the Muranga region this is the only home that caters for HIV children, and there are situations that need to be rescued. But because we do not have the capacity, we have to reject.”

Susan, who has one child of her own, joined Kenwa in 2007 so has seen first-hand how children’s lives have been turned around here.

“Most of these people were dying,” she says. “They have lived in places where no one would care for them. They did not have even a roof. They did not have clothes. Nobody took them to school. Through Kenwa, their needs are met – their right to education, their right to life. Most had been denied the right to life. Due to stigma, no one wanted to associate with them.”

There are nine staff in all here, and their working day is relentless. Susan gets up at 5am to get water from the well and from then on it’s non-stop: cooking, cleaning, overseeing homework, making beds and administering medication, in between umpteen other jobs.

It’s a hectic life and the staff often struggle to make ends meet, but as Susan wanders around the home the sense of love is overwhelming.

The shelving units are packed tightly with clothes donated by well-wishers and the dorms are covered in educational posters, pictures and prayers.

On one corridor wall are the words to a simple but humbling poem, entitled Life Is A Gift, while above one bunk-bed are an alphabet chart, a drugs education message, the Lord’s Prayer and, poignantly for those with no such experience, a picture of a model family with the various relatives labelled.

Many who come here have endured tragedy and for many, their situation remains tough. But affection is triumphing over affliction. And the Kenwa Children’s Home is proof, were it needed, that hope too can be infectious.

York Press: Christian Aid logo

• Kenwa is supported by the Anglican Church of Kenya’s development services arm, which is part-funded by Christian Aid. This year, Christian Aid’s Christmas appeal is focused on HIV, marking the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the virus.

If you would like to donate to Christian Aid’s Christmas Appeal, or would like to find out more about its work on health and HIV, visit christianaid.org.uk/christmas or call 0845 7000 300.