The St. Andrews Baby Unit, situated in Kandara Children’s Home, has now been open for 18 months. Set up to cater for babies and small children, the unit has proved to be a valuable asset to the local community and is now well established.
2009 has seen the unit welcome four new babies ranging from 4 hours old to about 1year. Some of these have been abandoned, some orphaned and some rescued from situations of neglect. Each case is taken to the local Children’s Officer who has to approve admission to the unit after a number of checks have been done. Although the circumstances under which children are brought to the home are usually sad, we hope that they face brighter futures once they are in the care of the housemothers who staff the unit.
Proving just what a great job the unit is doing, the first half of the year has seen the babies developing well. All of the little ones who arrived last summer are now able to sit up on their own. Grace, the first baby to be brought to the unit, is now walking, laughing and starting to try and talk. This is inspiring little Jacob to crawl about chasing her!!
Due to the new arrivals, the unit has also said goodbye to 3 of the older girls who have now been integrated into the main children’s home. They now attend ECD classes (Early Childhood Development) every day and are progressing well.
Unfortunately, as well as the highs, the St. Andrews Baby Unit has experienced lows this year. In June, one of the youngest little boys contracted pneumonia and died at the age of just 2 months. The same virus which caused his pneumonia led to the deaths of 5 other young babies in the local village. Despite being given medical attention, they were not strong enough to survive. Thanks to a generous donor, 3 heaters have now been bought to keep the baby unit warm overnight as we enter the cold season in Kenya. Vision Africa is also seeking funding for a nurse to do weekly check-ups on all the babies in the St. Andrews unit -at a cost of less than £5 a week, this seems like a worthwhile investment for us to make.
The baby unit is funded through the sponsorship of cots and additional donations which are required to allow us to provide the best care possible for these young babies. If you would like to support the St. Andrews Baby Unit, please use the contact form to get in touch.