91Èȱ¬

Toyamassey was only six when David and Marian first heard about him.Ìý He was living 4500 miles away at the Kajiado Children's 91Èȱ¬ in Kenya. It's a centre co-founded by Christians from Ipswich.Ìý

They've only met him once but say the decision to sponsor him was easy and he's now a real part of their lives. "I just saw a picture of this little boy and my heart went out to him.ÌýWe just wanted to give him a better start in life," said Marian.

"We've been sponsoring him for 11 years. He's just finished his secondary education and we're hoping he can find a college course for September.ÌýWe've only met him once and it was a real privilege.

At the market

"Some of the children at the home come from such terrible backgrounds.ÌýThey're either orphaned or destitute.ÌýWe have so much in this country and we just felt we wanted to help share just a little bit of what we had with them.

"They've got nothing and yet they're so happy and so contented with life.ÌýWe're privileged over there but they have something that we haven't got.Ìý

"I think we get caught up with the world's possessions in a way they don't."

Valley girls and boys

Set in the Rift Valley, close to Nairobi National Park, the home is in a beautiful part of Kenya.ÌýThe parkÌýattracts wealthy tourists on safari, but less than 40 miles away at Kajiado, a place the size of Needham Market, it's a different picture.

Mike Chester, who's a member of St Matthew's church in Ipswich town centre, is the co-founder of the Kajiado Children's 91Èȱ¬, and David said it was because of him, and the stories he told about the children in Kenya, that the couple got involved with the project.Ìý

The home was officially opened in 1997, and now has up to 80 children aged six and upwards. It's staffed and run by Kenyans but financed almost exclusively through donations, mostly from the US and the UK but much of the support comes from Suffolk.ÌýSo how were David and Marian greeted in Kenya?

"They're very grateful we're doing something for them," said David, "but it's difficult to describe our emotions going over there. It wasn't pity - we just feel really privileged to be able to help.

A baumer (mudhut)

"Some of the youngsters there have done very well. One young lady's just done a degree and she's going on to do a doctorate, and there are three or four others just starting their degrees."

David and Marian are now both directors at the children's home and say the next stage is to look at ways of helping the wider community.ÌýThere are plans to build a medical centre and create a permanent water supply either by linking to the government-controlled mains or to sink a bore-hole.

The group has already bought land and begun work but it's a long process.Ìý David's now planning to return in the hope of speeding things along.Ìý

"It shouldn't happen, but often a European face over there can help move the process along more quickly."

A health visit

David Rushbrook visited Kenya in May 2009 to find out more about the problems of health provision. 30 miles from Kajiado is a temporary corrugated medical centre they've set-up called the Manor Project.

When they got there to run a trial project they found 600 people when they were only expecting around 50. "They totally overwhelmed us," said David.

"We had a team of Kenyan doctors and nurses as well as American teams, but we had to send 150 people away. We felt terrible, because some of them were actually dying.

"But it made us all the more determined to go ahead with the project on a monthly basis until we get the main facility built. I was told by an American doctor that lots of these people probably had cancer of various sorts.

"There was a child who was going blind and a lady who had a dead baby inside her, but they were only able to offer pain relief. They weren't able to do any operations, because they were using what is a tin hut."

A well in a river bed

Another part of David's visit was to look at the water bore-hole project. He was able to meet with water board officials with a view to carrying out a geological survey on the best places to drill. It the developed world it's a job that could be completed in a couple of weeks.

However, David's aware the project will take time - what he calls 'Africa time': "It's very frustrating, but one just has to go along with it. It's Africa and things just don't happen very quickly there."

Visit the Kajiado Children's 91Èȱ¬ website using the link on the right.