Kit’s heartfelt appeal for a very worthy cause
A charity table quiz will take place at Askamore Community Hall on Friday, November 8, to raise money for a community in Kenya which Catherine (Kit) Kenny from Brideswell, Askamore has been involved with for some time.
Kit is a psychologist who lives in Ballygarrett, and she first began helping out with this work in the 1980s.
Even then the community of Askamore got behind her and held a fundraiser in Askamore hall for a health centre to be build in the Lodwar district of Kenya.
Kit, now in her sixties, explained that the Turkana tribe live there and Lodwar is an area the size of Ireland.
‘Presently due to HIV, famine and neglect, many children as young as four and five, roam the streets of Lodwar and scavenge for food. Sexual exploitation of these vulnerable children is common.
‘In response to the problems a centre was established where children without a future were given a place to rehabilitate and develop. For the children, this meant a new home, food, safety, security and a promise of a future through education,’ she said.
At the moment there are 238 children in the centre and they get sponsored for their education and attend boarding schools from the age of five.
‘Before they attend school, they must be able to wash and care for themselves. They are organised in caring for themselves, with rotas for cleaning and cooking. The place is nearly self sufficient,’ she said.
Kit explained that social workers walk the streets nightly at around 2 a.m. to engage with any street children and from there they take steps to help the children in need.
‘They first try to find family or other relatives to care for them, as fostering is not available yet. After a thorough search by the board of management of the centre for any existing family they are then admitted to the centre.
‘Then comes the process of rehabilitation through socialization, basic living skills and an introduction to education’.
Last August, Kit spent a month at the centre helping with the organization of activities.
She saw that the children sleep on mats on the floor in separate dormitories and all cooking and cleaning is done by the children and that they are lucky if they have a change of clothes.
Kit said that she will personally bring the funds back to the centre herself after the table quiz.