Irish DCs send disability equipment to Kenya

Loading shipment in Dublin

A container load of wheel-chairs, standing frames, walkers, crutches and other equipment used by children and adults with a disability is on its way from the Daughters of Charity (DC) Services in Ireland to their services in Kenya. This is the second shipment. Four years ago a similar donation was made to DC Services in Nigeria where it made a huge difference in the lives of many children and adults with a disability.

The congregation's Mission Development Co-Ordinator, Sr Geraldine Henry, who organised the collection of the equipment from their centres around Ireland said that it will be given to needy users at their centres at Thigio, Kiio, Kitale, and Chepynal in Kenya, but some of it may also be shared with other service providers in Kenya. "This equipment will be life changing for people with a disability, for some it will enable them to become mobile or even sit up for the first time" she said.

Irish-born, Sr Catherine Mulligan, who co-ordinated the development of DC projects in Kenya over the past 12 years said that in the centre in Thigio and in the other centres in Kenya "we care for children and adults who have physical and intellectual disabilities. This requires a great range of different services. For the centres and the families, mobility is a big challenge; how to get the client to the centre and home again, but also how to empower the person by helping them to be as mobile as possible. The school bus can reach most children to bring them to the centre but we have to help them be mobile at the centre moving from one activity to another. Mobility at home too is important if they are not going to sit in one place until someone carries them elsewhere".

Sr Catherine said the consignment now on the high seas is eagerly awaited by staff, teachers, physiotherapists, families and care-givers. "These very generously donated wheelchairs, walking aids, hoists, etc. will make a huge difference to those in need and will change in many ways the programmes we offer. Most of all, it will bring joy to those who cannot now move around easily. The equipment will be hugely appreciated by all. We deeply appreciate the effort of all involved in this consignment".

There is an informal twinning relationship in place between DC Services in Ireland and those in Kenya. Sr Geraldine Henry points out that "staff in the services in Ireland donate a small amount from their salary on a monthly basis and this goes to support the services for people with disabilities in Thigio in Kenya. Volunteers from our services in Ireland have also gone to Thigio and worked for varying periods with the staff and children there".

The Daughters of Charity, founded by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac in France in 1633, began their mission in Kenya in January 2002 with the opening of two local communities, one in Thigio in Limuru and another in Chepnyal in West Pokot.

Thigio is a small rural town situated thirty miles north-west of Nairobi on the edge of the Rift Valley. There the Daughters operate a large development programme across health, education, and socio-economic sectors. This programme includes:

- A nine-bed hospice was opened for people dying from terminal diseases especially cancer & HIV/AIDS opened in 2010.

- An out-patient clinic providing health services for the local community including a holistic HIV/AIDs programme. Supporting HIV/AIDS patients is a weekly mobile clinic from Kijabe hospital with nutrition and home based care provided by the Daughters of Charity services. The hall provides space for the home based care, support group(s) and is available for use by the parish and other groups in the area.

- Outreach services; home-visiting is given great importance to assess people prior to admission to the hospice, to support and identify children with disability and their families, for care of the elderly, the mentally ill and people living with HIV/AIDS

- A physiotherapist serves about 25 handicapped babies and children (mainly cerebral palsy and delayed milestones) and an equal number of adults, (strokes, fractures, muscular pains); in addition daily treatments for hospice patients and three times weekly to the elderly groups.

- At Kisima, an education unit for children and young adolescents with intellectual special needs.

- An integrated nursery programme for vulnerable children within the community and including children with physical disabilities.

- An after school programme provides lunch and tuition that targets poor children from surrounding primary schools.

- A library / learning centre that serves primary, secondary and university students with materials for study, for book exchanges, for reading magazines and newspapers; classes from nearby schools come weekly for a reading hour; on Saturday mornings an English programme reaches local primary school children.

- A Women's Promotion Centre teaching basic dressmaking and tailoring skills and assistance is given to start income generating projects.

- A computer skills programme targets youth. Basic computer packages are taught and Internet facilities are offered to the local community for a small fee.

- A large sports facility and basketball court is available where youth are encouraged to join football and volley ball teams. At the weekend the youth club offers indoor games e.g. table tennis, pool and darts as well as televised football matches. This service is one of the largest offered in Thigio. The sports facility is also used extensively by all the other groups meeting on the compound for various activities.

- A programme for the elderly provides a lunch club for the elderly three times a week. In addition they receive medical treatment when necessary, chiropody on a regular basis and simple exercises supervised by the physiotherapist. Home visitation is an integral part of the programme.

Further vocational training is offered to women who have graduated from the Women's Promotion Centre. They take a one or two year course in dressmaking and/or tailoring and sit for the government trade test.

This extensive programme of activities is typical of the work of the Daughters of Charity at their various mission stations in Kenya. They also have missions in Nigeria, Ethiopia and a number of other African countries and elsewhere in the global south.

Readers wishing to support their work can contact Sr Geraldine Henry through their website: www.daughtersofcharity.ie/