More Information

LINKS BETWEEN BUUF AND THE GIVE HOPE GROUP

Victor Mansure, who teaches music history at Appalachian State University and who has been an active member of BUUF for many years, and Lynne Mansure are the children of the late Arthur Mansure, who served as a Methodist missionary in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in the 1950s.  In 1962 Lynne went to live in Kenya where she has been ever since.  Earlier this year, she was invited to ASU as a visiting scholar and in December she spoke to BUUF members about the Give Hope Group which she helped to found in Kenya. 

 THE GIVE HOPE GROUP – HOW IT STARTED

In 1985, Lynne moved from Nairobi to Ongata Rongai, a small community located just outside the city limits.  Later on, having retired from her position as a Supervisor in the Ministry of Education, she became increasingly involved in community activities. In 2001, she joined with several other women leaders to found the Give Hope Group.

 Being a community-based organized with very limited means, the Give Hope Group chose to begin by sponsoring a few disabled and orphaned children.  Dick was the first child we sponsored.  He was ten years old and deaf.  He had never been to school so Give Hope sent him to the Kitui School for the Deaf where he has consistently placed top of his class ever since. 

 The second child we sponsored was Damaris.  She suffers from cerebral palsy and is also an orphan.  Give Hope sent her to the Masaku School for the Physically Disabled where she is doing well.  In addition to the above children with disabilities, Give Hope also assisted several children orphaned by AIDS.  Those were the simple beginnings back in the year 2001. 

 ONGATA RONGAI – WHERE WE ARE

Ongata Rongai is one of those communities which has evolved outside the Nairobi city limits.  People from the city have flocked there attracted by the chance to buy a small piece of land and put up their own homes.  Since it has mushroomed without the benefit of town planning, rich and poor live in close proximity.  Many of the poor live in a slum called “Kware,” a corruption of the English word “quarry.”   The area was, in fact, at one time a quarry. Once the building stones had been extracted, the quarry workers took the rough stones which remained and built themselves makeshift structures.  Kware is the area where most of the Give Hope work is done. 

 DISABILITY IN ONGATA RONGAI

Having started our project by sponsoring two children with disabilities, we soon became aware of the problems of persons with disabilities, both adults and children.  Since no other organization was tackling this problem in Ongata Rongai, we decided to mobilize a group of adults with disabilities and about 15 such persons were the founder members.  They were later on joined by a number of parents who had children with disabilities.  This group meets once a month to share their problems and offer one another moral support and possible solutions.

 CURRENT ACTIVITIES

Children

We have been fortunate enough to interest one organization in our work and they have agreed to sponsor several children with disabilities.  This assistance normally takes one of three forms:

• Education:  Children who are blind, deaf or physically disabled are sent to special schools.
• Therapy:  Children who were born with cerebral palsy or similar conditions are given physical therapy.
• Corrective surgery:  Children with birth defects (e.g. those who are clubfooted or knock-kneed), who have been in accidents or who have been burned, are sent for corrective surgery.

 Adults

Despite the fact that it has been less easy to obtain donor support to assist adults, we have nevertheless managed to help several of our members.  We have, for example, linked them up with other organizations. One of our members, an amputee, received an artificial leg from the Jaipur Foot organization while several other members received tricycles from the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK).

 Being able to earn a living is, of course, the most important thing for any adult.  One of our members, Andrew, was particularly fortunate.  Not only was he given a tricycle by the APDK, but he was also provided with a pay phone from which he can earn his living.    We also assisted three of the young men to receive training in cell-phone repair and they are now operating their own businesses.  Thanks to one of our kind donors, Lena, who is blind, was given a knitting machine and she is now able to make sweaters.       

Comments regarding this web page are always welcome.  Email Richard T.