Compassion for Africa

Dancan Ndegwa is 9 years old and his mother developed depression when the poor husband died. The children were left in the hands of the villagers. Pastor Simon took Duncan from a village with a lot of jiggers where he had gone to preach. He was not going to school but in the streets.

Reuben Sheria was born in 1999. He is currently 9. His mother is alive but can not care for him becauase she is very sick; and lives in abject poverty. Before we took him he was living in the streets.

Daniel Ngotho is 10 years old and does not know his parents. He was wandering in the city from the time he was 4 years old and eating from the garbage, until one member of our church introduced us. He is supposed to be in grade 6 but is now in grade 2.

Esther Wangari is 14 years old. Her single mother is alive but agonizing in abject poverty. Esther was almost traded by her mother for prostitution when we took her. She loves our home and education.

Angeline Njeri is 8 years old. Her parents died of Aids and she was introduced to us by a member of our church. She was thoroughly tortured by aunty and food was a miracle.

Titus Nduru is 8.5 years old and both of his parents died of Aids. This boy was left to an elderly grandmother who is sickly. He had jitters in his hands and psychological issues. He loves school and he is being restored now by the Lord.

Josephine Mutheu is 10 years old. Her parents died of Aids and the children were left to an uncle. The wife of the uncle persecuted these children so much and stopped their schooling. Before they ended up in the streets a villager brought them to us.

Mary Wangare is 8.5 years old. Mary's parents died of Aids and she was left to an elderly grandmother who depends on her two drunkard sons. Mary was not schooled when we took her.

Mercy Wanjiru is 8 years old and both parents died of Aids. Mercy lived with her aunt who is also very poor and sick. Food was a big problem and they used to come to us for help. Since we could not help the whole family we deided to take Mercy into our home.

Dennis Irungu is 12 years old. His parents died of the Aids epidemic. Irungu and his sister Esther who are not with us were being helped by a church to survive. A pastor friend requested that we help because the case was pathetic.

Esther Kanini is 11 years old. She was brought up in a slum in Nairobi and both parents died of Aids. Her sisters who are maids (house girls) requested us to help Esther. They were concerned for her life and worried that she would end up in the streets begging for food.

Caroline Wamboi is 8 years old. She and her sister were both living in the streets after being left there by their parents. No one knows where the parents are. The parents also lived on the streets before they died or left the children. They used to sniff glue and talk vulgar street language.

Caroline Nyambura is 10 years old. She and her sister were both living in the streets after being left there by their parents. No one knows where the parents are. The parents also lived on the streets before they died or left the children. They used to sniff glue and talk vulgar street language.

Janet Njeri is 9 years old. She was left to the hands of the local government officers in Mombasa when both parents died of Aids. Her brother was accepted in a children's home for boys and that director requested the sister come to us.

Rachel Wambui is 7 years old. Her mother divorced after giving birth to two children. Rachael could not stay with her mother because she could not care for her. She is still jobless and unschooled.

Lucy Wambui is 8 years old. Her mother is sick and too poor to feed her family. Her mother is paralyzed and alone thus unable to meet the family's needs.

Mercy Wambui is 11 years old. Her mother is very poor and single. They have been living below poverty level. They came asking for food from us until we took one of the children from her since we could not support the entire family.

Lilian Nduta is 7 years old and both parents died of Aids. No grandparents were alive so she was living with an aunt. Her aunt lived in a slum and was hostile to her. She nver took her to school and hardly fed her. A pastor friend brought Lilian to us. She is doing well.

Jane Kavuu is 12 years old and was ready to go to the streets to find food from the garbage. She was brought to us by her younger brother who ended up living in the streets but he wanted Jane in a better place. Their parents had died earlier.

Peterson Kariuki is 14 years old and ended up living in the streets in pursuit of food. His mother was too poor to feed them. There were many children in the family and they had no source of income. He is a good student and has to walk 2 hours to school each day.

Ann will soon be 11 yrs old. She joined us in May. She will be in grade six next year. Ann was brought to us by the local authorities. Her mother was a single mother and died three years ago. She was out of school since then. She was staying with her aunt who was not able to take her to school.

Carol Ndanu is 13 yearrs old and in class 7. At the time of admitting Carol she was out of school and her parents were not able to educate her due to their poverty level. Her parents are both alive but are very poor and unable to care for her properly. She is now doing very well in school.

Mercy Nduta is 6 years old and in pre-unit. After the death of her mother, who was a single parent, she was taken by her aunt. Later her aunt abandoned her. Her grandparents took her but were not able to care for her. She never went to school until she was taken to Cana Rescue Center.

Diana Mutheu is 9 yrs old and joined us in June. She will be in grade

3 next year. She is an orphan whose parents died five years

ago. She had been staying with her grandmother since then,

but the grandmother is now unable to care for her because of

old age.

Urelia (Yush) Adambwa is 9 years old nad in class 2. She has 3 brothers and 1 sister. After the death of her father, the mother was denied by the family and they had nowhere to go. The mother got sick and there was nobody to take care of the children. After the death of the mother, Urelia was taken by Cana Rescue Center where she started going to school, received food and love.

Quinta Akinyi is 9 years old and in class 1. Her mother died and she was left under the care of her father who was a drunkard. The girl never went to school and used to go for days without food. She was taken by Cana Rescue Center.

Ann Mukami is 8 years old and in class 1. She is an orphan and was left under the care of her grandparents. The grandparents were very weak and old and could not work or care for the child's basic needs. She was taken to Cana Rescue Center.

Susan Wanjiru is 9 years old and in class 2. She has 5 brothers and 2 sisters. After the death of their parents they were taken by their grandparents who later decided to abandon them. Later their big sister took them but started mistreating them up to the time Cana Rescue Center took them.

Jane Atieno is 10 years old and in class 2. Her parents got divorced and she was left under the careof her father who was jobless. Because of lack of care Cana Rescue Center took her.

Grace Wangari is 14 years old and in class 6. She has 7 brothers and 4 sisters. She was orphaned after the death of both parents and went to stay with her big brother. Her brother was jobless and therefore there was nobody else to care for her. Due to the extreme lack of her necessary needs she was then sent to the Cana Rescue Center.

Marion Ondisa is 13 years old and in class 5. She has 2 brothers and 2 sisters. After the death of their parents they were taken by their grandparents who were jobless and had no money to take care of the school fees, food, shelter or clothing. Cana Rescue Center agreed to take Marion.

Esther Mbithe is 13 years old and in class 6. She is an orphan and has 2 sisters. After the death of both parents she was taken by her grandparents who took care of her until they became too old. She then was taken to Cana Rescue Center.

Mary Kaloki is 13 years old and in class 6. She has 7 sisters. After her mother's death she was left with a very ill father who could not work or care for the children. Mary never attended school. Because of lack of care she was taken by Cana Rescue Center.

Ann Wanjiku is 14 years old and in class 6. She has 5 brothers and 2 sisters. After the death of her parents they were taken by their grandparents who used to take care of them. Their grandparents were jobless hence it was hard for them to have food, clothing and shelter. Ann was mistreated by her relatives and was also raped by her brother. She was taken by Cana Rescue Center where she cuold be given an education, basic needs and the love she missed.

Cynthia Akinyi is 11 years old and in class 5. She has 2 brothers. After the death of her father is was hard for her mother to care for the children since she was without a job. She took the 2 brothers to their grandparents and was left with Cynthia. She began to mistreat her and made her go without food for days. Cynthia then began to work for her neighbors to earn a little money for food but they also abused her. She was then taken by Cana Rescue Center.

Merab Khayeri is 12 years old and in class 5. She has 2 sisters. Her mother divorced their father when they were little. We are unsure of what happened to the mother but the father was unable to care for the children because he was jobless. Cana Rescue Center took Merab to care for her.

Rhoda Mwikali, 6 yrs joined us in January this year. Her mother died two years ago due to Aids. The father is HIV positive. We took her becouse she was malnourished and very sick. She is in nursery class and she has improved greatly. She was tested and she is negative and we are trusting God for her health.

Celestine Awour is 13 years old and and in class 4. After the death of her Dad her uncle offered to take care of her since her mother was jobless and had other children to care for. Her uncle turned out to be her enemy as he raped her several times. She was rescued by Cana Rescue Center.

Charity Namata is 4 1/2 years old. Both parents are still living in a village 30 miles NE of Jinja in Kayunga District. They live below poverty level. By religion they are Anglicans. Charity is the 3rd of 4 siblings. Her youngest sister of 3 years has an abnormality, a swollen head. Doctors keep siphoning off the water from her brain. It has cost the parents all the meager income they would have earned. Charity has fit well into her new home. Once so far her mother has come to visit her. She was happy to see Mum but did not care to go back to the village with her Mum. Teachers say she is an attentive listener in class. They also compliment her hand writing skill.

Cissy Nakato is 5 years old and has a fraternal twin sister Julie Bebirye. Following the death of the mother, the father dumped the three weeks babies at the home of an American missionary lady. Unfortunately she too didn't live long. She passed away when she had returned home for treatment. A YWAM team working with AIDS patients in the village learned of the fate of the children and they brought them to us. Since then we have identified the father. We have learned that the twins are the 7th and 8th of his 8 children. They have tested free of HIV although their father is evidently struggling with AIDS and his health is deteriorating. He has since visited once and he was all smiles to learn that his kids are HIV negative. He said, "Pastor I have given these kids for life. No person should ever temper with you."

Gerard Tusubira is 5 years old. His father died in an accident and his mother had to give him up because she had 3 other children and lives in extreme poverty and cannot care for him. He spent time with relatives where he was abused by the older boys. It has taken Gerard 7 months with special love and care to overcome the traumatizing memories of the former home and another 3 months to gain enough boldness to start sharing his experiences. Today he is happy, very playful and also very bright in class and in Sunday School. He is in Kindergarten.

David Kagame is the last of five siblings. After the death of both parents to AIDS, his grandma Milly Zalwango (72 years) took in all her five grandchildren. They lived in a ghetto 2 miles north of Jinga. After some time a distant relative came from Rwanda and took with them three of the children, leaving her with the youngest two. Edith, the senior house mother, learned of the struggles of the old lady and presented the need to us. We prayed and felt the need to take David. David still remembers the ghetto very well and he is always happy to go visit grandmother and his brother but he does not want to spend the night there. He is 6 years old and has not attended school previously therefore he is behind. His teachers feel that he will catch up and are working with him to do so.

Julie Bebirye is 5 years old and has a fraternal twin sister Cissy Nakato. Following the death of the mother, the father dumped the three weeks babies at the home of an American missionary lady. Unfortunately she too didn't live long. She passed away when she had returned home for treatment. A YWAM team working with AIDS patients in the village learned of the fate of the children and they brought them to us. Since then we have identified the father. We have learned that the twins are the 7th and 8th of his 8 children. They have tested free of HIV although their father is evidently struggling with AIDS and his health is deteriorating. He has since visited once and he was all smiles to learn that his kids are HIV negative. He said, "Pastor I have given these kids for life. No person should ever temper with you."

Mariam Kisakye was born in a seemingly stable home. She was one of four siblings. Her father was an officer in the National Resistance Army, and a trainer of the political commissars in the National Political School. He started having severe headaches and had contracted cerebral malaria and never recovered. The mother after receiving money from the government, from her husband's death, left the children and ran away with a new lover. Mariam's paternal aunt is Edith the house mother. Mariam and her younger sister Martha also live in the home and attend school nearby.

Martha Kisakye is 9 years old and was born in a seemingly stable home. She was the last of four siblings. Her father was an officer in the National Resistance Army, and a trainer of the political commissars in the National Political School. He started having severe headaches and had contracted cerebral malaria and never recovered. The mother after receiving money from the government, from her husband's death, left the children and ran away with a new lover. Martha's paternal aunt is Edith the house mother. Martha and her older sister Mariam also live in the home and attend school nearby. Martha is very bright and always scores among the top five in the class. She is in grade 4.

Rebecca is the granddaughter of the house mother Edith. Rebecca's mother is a single mom and has left her with Edith to care for, therefore we want to help this child also with food, clothes and schooling. She is 6 years old.

Shamira Namwase is three years old and will begin school next year. Her syllables are yet to become clear. She was born to Moslem parents and is the 3rd of 4 siblings. Her father died of AIDS and her mother is HIV+. After the father's death her mother left their rented house that she could no longer afford and went to live with her old grandmother. Shamira's mother has never been to visit as her health is gradually worsening.