Clean Water Kenya Project #21051

Clean Water For 50+ Rescued Kenyan Infants

by New Life Home Trust

Project Report | Mar 16, 2017
Walking for Water

By Pam Amundsen | Project Leader

Libby on the First Leg of Her Walk

A recent article from IRIN describes the current situation in Kenya: "Kenya’s longest watercourse, the 1,000-kilometre-long Tana River, provides the country with 60 percent of its electricity and Nairobi with 80 percent of its drinking water. But the river’s water availability per capita is only a fifth what it was 50 years ago. The Tana is being drained by the nation’s fast demographic growth and the government’s ambitious development plans." As a senior staff at New Life Kilimani recently put it: "As more and more buildings go UP (like the new 18-storey one directly across the road from us), so the water table goes DOWN!"

With the many health issues that arise from unclean water, the necessity for a pure and constant water supply at our New Life homes, especially for treating recent recues babies, remains urgent. A clean, safe, and reliable water supply means life -- for drinking, cooking, warming bottles of milk, washing babies, cleaning diapers and clothes, keeping the homes clean and the floors mopped that the babies crawl on, keeping the rescue vehicles clean and hygienic for the vulnerable babies we bring home to New Life, in addition to water for playing and keeping cool near the equator ... the list of how clean water is used in the daily life of caring for 50+ rescued infants is LONG.

In response to the growing urgency in Kilimani, one New Life supporter devised a plan to walk the distance of Kenya across her home town of Aberdeenshire to help us continue to offer our rescued infants new life and access to quality medical care. The furthest distance across Kenya, from the northeast to the southwest, is 1,131km. As the water crisis grows, Libby plans to complete her walk across Aberdeenshire in chunks, specifically to raise money for our borehole in Nairobi.

Libby described New Life in this way:

"The amazing thing about the work of New Life Home is that the majority of the babies who are rescued are adopted into 'forever' families, and most are adopted by local Kenyan families. Right now New Life is fundraising to secure their water supplies. Each home has its own bore hole, but with much new construction happening round and about, the water tables are being disturbed and diminished."

We cannot continue to offer a lifeline to abandoned Kenyan infants if we are not adequately prepared to care for their needs. Your donations help keep our water supply clean and sustainable, and ensure a good, healthy new life for beautiful little babies. Please consider donating now or joining supporters like Libby who are creatively engaging others in a conversation about water, life, and the opportunity we hold to provide life on behalf of the most vulnerable.

Precious Newborn Rescue

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Dec 15, 2016
Because of You

By Pam Amundsen | Project Leader

Pool Play Time

Thanks to the generosity of all who have given, we are more than halfway to our fundraising goal! Over the last month, we received new donors who contributed on Bonus Day as well as a major contribution. Additionally, we had a UK volunteer that used her time preparing for her visit to raise funds via GlobalGiving. As a GG fundraiser, Amanda raised nearly $400 before arriving in Kenya!

We are so grateful for all of you who have contributed to our Clean Water Project and who are invested in our work. It’s currently winter in the Southern Hemisphere, which means we are getting plenty of warmth and sun. Our toddlers have loved time in the pool to cool off and our staff rests easy knowing that progress is being made on our new water tank thanks to you.

We use water everyday is so many ways. It serves not only as a tool for hydration and carrier of sustenance, but also as preventative medicine that keeps our babies clean, well-fed, and healthy. Babies like India (pictured below) who come in needing serious medical care are safe in our home – receiving the best care available, along with a clean water source, to prevent her vulnerable state from declining further.

We know that you are investing in this project because you care too – about the health and wellbeing of once abandoned Kenyan infants. We'd like to invite you to become a GlobalGiving fundraiser for New Life or consider becoming a monthly donor until we reach our goal – all new reoccurring donors in December that commit to giving for at least three months will be matched 2-to1! Invite family and friends to give to New Life this holiday season or ask your company to sponsor a portion of the remaining funds as part of their year-end giving.

However you plan to spend the holiday season, we wish you well and are incredibly grateful for the support and care you’ve shown New Life Home Trust this year. We could not complete the work of rescuing and offering new life to abandoned Kenyan infants if it weren’t for the big-hearted support of people like you worldwide. Thank you!

Baby India

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Oct 6, 2016
Water Is Life

By Pam Amundsen | Project Leader

Baby Sadie Upon Arrival

When rescued infants come to a New Life home, they frequently arrive malnourished or in need of serious medical attention. Oftentimes, a rescued infant is abandoned in a harsh environment that will affect whether or not that child survives and thrives in our care. Although we regularly receive infants that were abandoned in a stable environment, such as a hospitable room or on someone’s front doorstep, we have heard numerous narratives of babies being rescued from pit latrines, along riverbanks, from the bush, or out of a garbage dump. If left at night, infants can also suffer from hypothermia.

Because New Life Kilimani is a registered Medical Centre, we are able to provide on-going, quality treatment that literally brings new life to these rescued infants. But to offer this service we must have an unfettered supply of clean water. It affects the clothes and clean diapers that child will wear, the food he or she will eat, the treatment received, and his or her long-term, overall health. Indeed, many of the preventable and life-threatening illnesses that children receive in developing nations such as Kenya are a direct result of an infected water supply.

The little girl pictured above, Sadie, was born prematurely in a nearby hospital, but her mother absconded from the hospital room shortly after delivery. She was caught by police and put on probation, but repeatedly abandoned Sadie, eventually deciding to give her up for adoption.

By the time Baby Sadie arrived at New Life Kilimani, she was severely malnourished and still very underweight and unhealthy, with several other serious health issues. Within just one month, Sadie has made slow but steady progress and transformed before our eyes! Baby Sadie recently recovered from pneumonia, she has become a plump, healthy weight, and has begun respond to caregivers, giving her first smile just two days ago.

It’s babies like Sadie that remind us why we work so hard to raise money and to ask for people to cover the costs of our essential needs, like steady access to a clean water supply. Because without your help, we cannot provide the lifesaving, quality care that these rescued infants need. You make the difference; whether you give a lot or a bit, whether you tell the whole world or just one friend. We are able to witness the transformation of new life in babies like Sadie because you care and because you give.

Baby Sadie After 1 Month!

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