Polish aid

The Children’s Centre was established in 2017 thanks to the determination of the foundation and funding of the Polish Aid programme’s project.

The construction of two new rooms for the children living permanently in the Children’s Centre has made it possible to separate the younger children from the older ones and to accommodate the new children. Now forty children can live in the renovated and furnished four bedrooms, and each bedroom has its own bathroom. There are carers’ rooms next to the children’s bedrooms.

Rooms with bathrooms have been constructed in the ground level of the Centre’s building, and these will serve as a isolation rooms if one of the children falls ill.  The rooms have been painted and equipped with the necessary equipment. Additionally, on the ground level there is a laundry room with a drying room.

On the first floor, in the rooms facing the balcony, an emergency exit has been built in accordance with health and safety rules.

The part of the Centre intended for children in daycare has been renovated, and the rooms previously occupied by the nursery school have been adapted. A new roof was fitted, the walls were repainted, and tiles were applied. A sanitary area with four toilets, nappy-changing tables, sinks and bathtubs for bathing the youngest children has been installed between the rooms. Toilets for the Centre’s staff were constructed next to the building. The entire area where the daycare centre is located has been fenced off. A playground has been created in the courtyard.

Sanitary facilities were built for children attending the school operated by the mission. As a result, children wash and disinfect their hands after coming to school.

An important part of the project was to provide the mission and its charges with personal protective equipment, soap and disinfectant liquids.  Soap dispensers and disinfection stations were purchased.  Protective packages consisting of soap, disinfectant and protective masks were distributed to the mission’s most needy charges. They were given to elderly people, school children, children coming for meals, and to poor patients. The packages provided for pregnant women included, in addition to personal protective equipment, a layette for the newborn baby – nappies and a blanket.

The fact that thanks to the project, almost 40 people have found work is hugely encouraging, and in the current situation, this has been a great help to the local community. Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, many people lost their livelihoods, people with no food stocks or savings began to suffer from hunger. Besides, the restrictions imposed because of the pandemic did not allow people to migrate to the big cities to earn a living there. The opportunity to be employed in construction and cleaning work at the mission enabled local people to survive this difficult period.

Strengthening the potential of the Holy Family Children’s Centre and Mission in Kithatu to protect charges, patients and staff from SARS CoV-2 infection.

 

The story of the development of the Children’s Centre thanks to a Polish woman – sister Dariana

 

Sister Dariana Jasińska is a Polish woman who already knew in the novitiate that she wanted to go to the missions. In 2001 she went to a mission centre in Zambia, it was a centre for the elderly and sister Dariana worked there as a nurse. In 2004, the sister was relocated to Kenya, initially, she did her internship in a Kenyan hospital to obtain her professional license, then she was sent to a missionary post in Kithatu.

In 2005, there was a mission in Kithatu that had a small health clinic. Besides admitting patients, the sisters had about 20 children under their care in the so-called “adoption of the heart” programme. In this way, they helped children from poor families to pay for school, buy school stationery or food.

The sisters noted that although the children attended school, they still could not read or write. At a large state school, no one cared whether a child was learning the curriculum, had learning difficulties, was hungry or sick.  

Initially, the sisters established a nursery school at the mission. In one room, equipped with a carpet and chalkboard, they held classes for the children. Then, for those who finished nursery school education, they gradually started primary school classes. At present, at the mission there is an eight-grade day school with a nursery school, attended by 380 children.

The sisters are committed to ensuring that the school’s quality is high so that the children can continue their education at secondary school and then at college or university. Among the graduates of the mission school in Kithatu are a teacher, a nurse, a carpenter, a painter and a hairdresser.

Children attending school get two meals a day. These are often the only meals they eat in the day. For the most needy children, the sisters provided breakfast before school so that they could participate effectively in educational activities.

The sisters also wanted to help children under the age of 4 who were not in institutional care. One day an 8-month-old girl with Down’s syndrome came into their care. The girl was on the verge of exhaustion. Balanced, regular meals and rehabilitation led to the girl starting to walk and communicate with her environment.  To care for more young children, the sisters created Day Care – a daycare centre.

During their visits to the clinic, the sisters performed screening tests to identify children in need of special assistance. Many children were ill because of malnutrition, and those who needed help most were admitted to Daycare by the sisters. In the beginning, eight children were placed in the centre, and after the centre’s expansion as part of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ development cooperation project, up to 80 children may be accommodated there.

For the sisters working in Kithatu, the most critical mission is to care for the children, to watch them change – to see them grow from intimidated, sick and hungry children into happy children. Once, one of the mission’s charges told sister Dariana that the Children’s Centre, together with the nursery and school, were “a miracle for our village”.