MERCY and Valerie are two of the most heart-warming success stories at the Kenwa Children’s Home

Both arrived weak and malnourished, in desperate need of help. But today, their smiles are testament to the wonderful care they have received. Both have been fostered by Mary Wambui, one of the home’s staff, and both are looking forward to a far brighter future.

Valerie – the youngest child at the home, at two and a half years old – came under Kenwa’s care last year, when her mother died. She is one of 23 children at the home with HIV and arrived at the home very ill, having not been given the drugs she needed.

“She was not able to walk, yet she should have been,” says Agnes Mungui, one of Kenwa’s child counsellors. “She was weak and the mother had not put her on drugs. We had to start her on drugs again.”

Mercy, four, was similarly poorly when she arrived, aged just two weeks old.

Her mother had died and her sisters were trying to look after her, but were feeding her only water. Kenwa put her on a nutrition programme, and have turned her life around.