It’s quite hard to know where to start when
writing about this amazing charity. We were about an hour late to arrive in a
small village in the Rachuonyo district of Kenya to meet Consolota Kunyada(the
director) and the volunteers who worked for the charity but it didn’t matter.
We were greeted by a whole host of smiling faces and then the singing started.
We were shepherded to some seats at the side of a football field while the
crowd serenaded us with local songs about the Mango Tree and the big man
upstairs. It was certainly the best welcome we’d received so far on our
journey.
The Mango Tree is a charity that provides orphans with healthcare, education, welfare and emotional support. It was first set up in Kyela in Tanzania in 2004(we will visit there next month) and then nearly 3 years ago Consolota and her husband, Peter, were given the opportunity to help the orphans in this area. The Rachuonyo district has the highest recorded rates of HIV and also the highest orphan rates in Kenya, so the Mango Tree’s help was desperately needed. It is no exaggeration to say that their help is doing incredible things.
Consolata talked to us about the work that is
happening to help the orphans and the work that the volunteers are doing. The
volunteers are based in a variety of villages and they are the focal points for
the children if they have any problems or need help. The charity couldn’t exist
without the help of these people, many of whom are living with HIV. To help
fund the volunteers, the Mango Tree has set up a soap and detergent making
factory. The factory is a local communal hall hired out to the trust for the
purpose of making soap/detergent for the community. I can honestly say it was
one of the happiest working environments I have ever seen. We were once again
greeted by a host of songs (and conga lines) as they walked us through how they
make the soap. Also attached to the hall is a VCT centre (Voluntary Counselling
and Testing) where people can go confidentially to be tested for HIV. They have
also recently set up an arts and crafts centre, where the volunteers are making
furniture from water hyacinth. These projects are helping to provide jobs for
the volunteers to earn from.
The charity currently funds the education of 3700
orphans in the area from primary school all the way to university. Once they
have finished secondary school, the orphans then have to serve their community
for one year, helping at local schools or with local farmers before they go to
university. Some of the older orphans
have also set up a scheme called the Mango Tree Association with the aim of
helping the Mango Tree when they are on holiday from University. They host
sports days, extra school lessons and generally act as mentors to the younger
orphans.
Here in Kenya, the Mango Tree is separated in to 3 departments; Education, Health and Community Development. The child is registered to the programme by speaking with one of the volunteers in the village. Once the elder of the village has verified that the child is an orphan, they have their photo taken and are given a number. The education department helps to fund the school fees for the orphan. The health department is on hand to help with any sickness or medicine the orphan needs and to educate the orphans on anything health related including diet, HIV awareness and Malaria. The community development department is trying to educate the local communities about more efficient crop techniques and to help them become more self sustainable with their land.
We spent 2 days with Consolata and her team and it
was an inspirational experience. We interviewed the people working for the
charity, played football with the orphans and visited local schools and their
factory. We also visited Consolata’s mum who looks after 20 of the orphans in
her home. It was truly a privilege to see such a warm and vibrant community
spirit in truly testing circumstances. There is no doubt the Mango Tree is
making huge strides in changing the attitudes of local communities to HIV and
helping to create a more sustainable future here. They still face huge
challenges (48 out of 53 people tested positive for HIV at the VCT centre last
week!) and have a lot more work to do but to see what they’ve achieved in such
a small space of time is remarkable. They want to expand the area they are
working in so they can reach more orphans. To do this they need as much help as
possible. I wholly recommend that you visit the website (www.themangotree.org) and read about the
work they are doing and what they’re trying to achieve.
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