Safe Housing Kenya Project #31029

Provide Home for Abandoned Kenyan Infants

by New Life Home Trust

Project Report | Jan 22, 2019
Preventing Communicable Diseases

By Pam Amundsen | Project Leader

Anyone who has raised or watched children knows the illness can be cyclical. Our little one gets sick, and before we know it her sibling is sick, then we get sick. These types of diseases, often called communicable diseases because they travel from person to person by direct contact with an affected individual or the individual's discharges or by indirect means, are often preventable.

Because illness is common among young children, those in the child care setting are likely to be two to three times more at risk of getting sick. In our homes across Kenya, we work so hard to create healthy environments that keep our littles healthy so that they can thrive in our care. This project is specifically raising money to help make that happen, through the purchase of hygienic mats, crib covers, mattress protectors, additional furniture for our baby unit, and some needed updates to our medical facility. All of these purchases are focused on preventative care because we know how important it is.

Studies shows that illnesses contracted as an infant or child can impact your health long-term. We've witnessed the evidence of that first hand, when babies rescued after being abandoned in extreme weather conditions have a hard time fully recovering. Though we have incredible staff nurses and doctors, and many friendly doctors who volunteer their services to help keep our medical costs low, the most cost effective way to treat any illness is before it begins. Adding preventative care measures help decrease our overall budget and keep our babies healthy for life.

With your help, we can prevent illness before it takes hold and prepare for any future need by updating our existing medical facility. Join us in keeping our babies happy, healthy, and thriving, by contributing to this project, becoming a fundraiser for this project, or inviting your friends and family members to give a small gift on behalf of these incredible children!

Hygienic Mats Save Lives

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Oct 26, 2018
Giving Together

By Pam Amundsen | Project Leader

LOVE

Ever wish you could change the world?

What if I told you that by donating to this project you are doing just that?

Let me explain.

At New Life Home Trust we're focused on the details, like what makes Baby Amelia laugh or how much Baby Joseph is growing, and the big picture, like how saving one infant can literally change the course of the whole world.

The first infants that New Life staff rescued are now young adults who are making an impact all across the globe. But that kind of change starts with each of us deciding to make a small sacrifice on behalf of the bigger picture.

And it means rescuing babies from vulnerable circumstances and keeping them healthy until we find a long-term home for them. Also, did you know that over 70% of New Life infants are adopted or fostered and another 20% are reunited with biological family? We've spent 25 years working to change stigmas in Kenya around adoption and find homes for these incredible little humans.

While this project is focused on an end goal of improving health outcomes for the infants in our care by keeping thme healthy on a daily basis through additional equipment in our Nyeri home, it's also focused on the bigger picture: changing the long-term health outcomes and quality of life for abandoned Kenyan infants.

And because we have that long-term goal in mind, we'd love your help reaching the goal for this project by becoming a monthly donor and inviting a friend, family member, co-worker, or neighbor to join you. The idea is that you give a little each month, your neighbour gives a little each month, and together you change the world.

Your commitment to seeing this project through means infants like Baby Amelia can feel safe enough to laugh all the time and Baby Joseph can get the extra medical attention that he needs to keep growing strong and healthy. And so that all of the babies we rescue can have a future impact.

Because sometimes changing the world is as simple as giving a little, together.

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Jul 16, 2018
A Place of Hope

By Pam Amundsen | Project Leader

Playtime on the Hygienic Mats

Did you know that New Life Home Trust was one of the first children's homes in Kenya to take in infants infected or affected by HIV and AIDS?

When New Life Home Trust began over two decades ago, it was just a small group of concerned people wanting to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable infants and, in particular, in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In the early 1990s, seroconversion was a fairly unheard of concept. Hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of infants impacted by the disease and had little hope for their survival. Many abandoned infants who initially tested HIV-positive wound up dying from malnourishment, much too early for seroconversion to take place. Many had parents who passed away from the complications of AIDS, leaving their children as orphans.

It was a season of despair that brought people together seeking solutions. New Life Home Trust created a modest solution - a sanctuary for abandoned infants infected or affected by the crisis. As New Life staff took infants into their care, they began to notice that many of the babies who came in HIV-positive ended up testing negative for the virus after just a few months. New Life infants experienced a conversion rate of at least 80%. This incidence baffled even the medical community at the time to the extent that the Kenya Institute of Medical Research (KEMRI) conducted a study to test the phenomenon and concluded that it was actually true.

Almost 25 years later, we have witnessed the fruit of our labour with nearly every child reunited with biological family members or adopted or fostered by loving parents, and a 90% seroconversion rate amongst infected infants. What an incredible opportunity we have had to be a place of hope amidst a time of despair. As Desmond Tutu once said: "Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." Your continued support helps us save the lives of the most vulnerable and continue to be that light for abandoned infants.

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