Street Children

Miki’s London Marathon (running for street children) Training Report:

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Latest update from Miki:Miki lying on floor feeling sore after training for marathon” Dear All,
Got upto 30km today!  Not quite enough and very slow.  I wanted to feel more able to complete the marathon’s 42 km (26.2 miles) with a small measure of confidence…..  (I’ve not had enough time with due to work commitments).

Again my sincere and great thanks to those who have supported me – I really appreciate it, on behalf of the charities.
Any further donations gratefully received at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Mikirunning
Thank you!
Miki x ”

Miki, thank you and all your supporters for all you are doing for street children.

 

Keen to learn. Ex-street children with a foot on the academic ladder.

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These boys were street children. Not anymore.  They’ve worked hard at the Naivasha Children’s Shelter to pass their KPCE exams and are now going to high school. Street children don’t go to school. Unfortunately like many in Africa the Kenyan government does not pay for school fees above a certain age. One of the best ways of making sure that a child or young person does not end up on the street is to make sure that he or she is able to go to school.  This is why we are so pleased to be able to pay for a years school fees for these 6 boys (only five in the picture).
For that thanks to all Romilly’s kind, generous donors.  Good work.  Five african boys in coloured background blue doorsThank you Julius for taking the picture and Kristen for sending it.  We hope that we will have more news about these boys and how they get on at high school.

We are also grateful to Romilly’s supporters for enabling her charity to pay a years salary for a social worker at the shelter.

Miki’s Marathon                                                                                                                                  Thank you very much indeed too to all those who have donated by sponsoring Miki Jablowski’s heroic London Marathon.  So far 45 people have sponsored her. At the time of writing there are 32 more days to go. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Mikirunning

The Friends of the Street Children in Kitwe.                                                                        Christopher Mulenga, the executive chairman and our interlocuter, has had malaria and has been out of contact. Having recovered from his malaria his internet went down but I am hoping to have news from him soon.

Philemon Chilufya is not a street child. This is his home.

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This is the house where his mother Mrs Chilufya looks after Philemon, his two sisters and their children.  She is a widow.  Readers of this blog will remember that her husband, Philemon’s father, a security guard, was murdered in July 2012 while on duty at the Friends of Street Children site where Romilly’s donors had paid for the construction of two dormitories. African child in yellow top standing in front of house with corrugated iron roof and washing lineSince her husband’s death life has not been easy for Mrs Chilufya and her family. Christopher Mulenga of Friends of the Street children tells me, that they live in ‘abject poverty’. Now she is unable to find £170 to pay for Philemon’s school fees and uniform.  Philemon has done well at school and passed his exams to move up into Year 10, but the Zambian government does not provide free schooling after Year 7. Thanks to his gallant mother Philemon is not a street child, and keeping a child at school is one of the best ways of making sure that he (0r she) does not become one.

The trustees of Romilly’s charity will be sending the money for Philemon’s school fees and uniform, as well as £360 to repair the minibus generously paid for by Romilly’s donors.

If you would like to help Romilly  to give street children a chance click on the button below to donate.

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Naivasha Street Children learn to succeed

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‘Great news! ‘  Kristen Sayres of the Naivasha Children’s Shelter writes,

‘Six of our KCPE candidates (boys who completed class 7) have secured a place in secondary school! This is a huge achievement, and shows not only the dedication and talent of our boys, but also of the teachers, staff and donors who have invested in them throughout the years.

I’d like to introduce you to one of the boys, James. Kenyan Boy from Naivasha Children's Shelter, blue denim waste coat, yellow and blue football shirt, blue doorJames is 14, and has been at the shelter for three years, since he was left at a bus stop in Naivasha town. He did exceptionally well in his exam, and wants to be a neurosurgeon when he grows up. He also enjoys art, and recently drew a picture of a man with a book for a face (what he imagined when he heard the term “Facebook”).    He is very excited about attending high school, and says that he will study hard to realize his dreams.

We appreciate your continued support for these boys, and look forward to sharing more with you in the future. ‘

Kristen, thank you for sending this.

Good work, James (14). From streetchild to neurosurgeon, that is a tremendous ambition. Thank you, all you generous Romilly supporters for helping to give James this chance.

Miki races in London for Street Children in Africa

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I asked Miki Jablowski if she had ever run a marathon. She has. So she knows what it takes. Not only that, but in the last twelve months she has broken her ankle in two places and torn a ligament. If that was not bad enough she has a degenerative spine.   So hers a heroic effort for street children.

Miki training for London Marathon
Miki prepares to run the London Marathon for Street Children and Romilly

Miki feels the fear but does it anyway.

Miki works on the technical side of theatre, lighting and automated scene changing, and is currently working on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest musical, Stephen Ward at the Aldwych Theatre.

Why Romilly?  ‘Because I am very impressed and moved by the work done, by the extremely valid Romilly street children projects ;
because I have seen how large charities spend our money and I can see that small charities use our money more efficiently as their overheads are lower, have few resources – if any – for marketing.  As a result, our support is much more important to small charities.’

If you would like to support Romilly’s actions for Street Children and Miki’s heroic run please sponsor Miki at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Mikirunning

Kanji in Kitwe

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Christopher Mulenga sent this picture of the boys at the Romilly House in Kitwe.Romily's Boys learns JapaneseThey are being taught Japanese lettering, among other skills, by a young Japanese volunteer, Saito Sachie. As well as Japanese characters, the Japanese writing system contains several thousand Chinese Kanji. The mixture of these and the native Kana, makes Japanese one of the most complicated systems in the world…..so not so easy peasy japaneezy after all, but easyfundraising is, so if you haven’t done so please sign up for it. www.easyfundraising.org

COSAFA Zimbabwe team donatesThe Zimbabwean football team on a tour of Zambia visit the boys.

” Thank you for sending us to such a wonderful place”.

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Thanks to the repair of the well and the replacement of the pump, the boys at the Kawama shelter for street children run by FOSC are able to grow their own vegetables again.  Thank you,  all you generous donors,  who made this possible.  Thank you, too,  to Lucy Johnson and her family who visited the site and who sent the pictures below.

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Lucy wrote,
“Thank you for sending us to such a wonderful place. Christopher is clearly inspired and inspiring, and can make anything happen. He is much admired among teachers in Kitwe, and our friend Francis Chilufya, who is head of Riverain primary, came with us to see what Christopher has done. Riverain needs a bore hole (they owe the water company a fortune and regularly have their supply disconnected – all their money goes on water not books) and Christopher explained to Francis exactly how he had managed to knock the engineering company down to the best price, and ensured they put in the right electrical kit, pump and piping. He also used some of your donation money to get the tower painted. The bore hole has made a phenomenal difference – you can see how productive the garden is, and all the boys are so proud of it, and so happy to show us what they have been doing. Look at the tomatoes! The whole project was very moving.”  P1010278 P1010279 P1010280 P1010281 P1010283-1

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