Teule Orphanage Loitokitok, Christmas is about sharing

From the very beginning we said in our fundraising efforts that some of our money would be donated to Teule Orphanage which is an orphanage in the village of Loitokitok Southern Kenya. I wanted to donate some money to the orphans because on my previous visit to the orphanage in 2015 they had captured my heart. Those wonderful children had been brought up so well by the orphanage, they are some of the most polite, honest and caring children that I have had the pleasure of meeting so obviously the orphanage is doing something right! They are continually improving conditions in the orphanage but there is still some way to go, especially with their school, which is why I deem them very worthy.

Some of the children from Teule Orphanage, Loitokitok.

During our project work in 2017/2018, we stayed at Teule for two weeks. We paid to stay in their guesthouse as a way of giving back to them. This came out of our own pocket. But in addition we gave them £502.22 of our fundraising money. The £502.22 is to put towards making improvements to their school buildings and getting more resources for the school. The living conditions in the orphanage are good but the school is very rundown and in need of a lot of work to bring it up to a good standard. I am sure that you will agree, Education is one of the best investments so I am happy to have donated some money to a cause that will have an effect on all of the children in the orphanage rather than just one or two.

Our time at Teule Orphanage was fantastic. Most evenings, when we had finished the project work, we went and spent time with the children, playing and sharing experiences. Christmas day will always be a special memory to me because we spent the whole day with the children which made us very blessed. The orphanage is owned by Jon who is a passionate individual who has dedicated his life to rescuing orphaned or vulnerable children. Over time he has acquired a stronghold of staff who are involved in managing and running the orphanage. The orphanage is home to over 90 children (there were around 60 when we stayed because some were with families over the Christmas period). The orphanage started out as a place to rescue street children but over time they have started to rescue a range of children. Some children are orphaned but others come from extremely poor families who cannot afford to look after them or from families who are abusive etc. So there are a range of circumstances here hence why some were able to visit existing families over Christmas.

The orphanage is a home for the children but it also has it's own school. The orphans at Teule have done very well for themselves and when you talk to them they all have their own dreams, a chef, a lawyer, a doctor. They have all been brought up with teamwork at their core. All of the children have their own responsibilities to maintain their home, the school and the farm. The older children do look after the younger children too so it is one big family.

The orphanage is able to support the children through their life and education due to the assistance of donars. It is possible to sponsor a child which I think is a very worthwhile endevour and would encourage anyone to consider it if you are looking for something meaningful to spend your money on. The orphanage is proactive and doesn't rely soley on donars though, they have a number of income generating projects such as the guesthouse, a farm, beehives for the sale of honey, and the sale of water to the community (they have their own borehole). For more information see their website. http://www.teulekenya.org/.

Here are a series of pictures of our amazing time at Teule.

Playing with the children and being silly.

The farm - these boys were always on duty helping to look after the dairy cattle alongside the staff.

Dina, a truly wonderful role model and carer of the younger children.

Playing with the children could be quite tiring! During this activity some change fell out of Ryans pocket, all of the children quickly gathered round to collect it and pass it back to him. They are honest and wonderful.

It could be quite tiring for all of us!

Our Friends Edward and Kelvin also came down to orphanage on Christmas day to spend time with the children and share with them some good words. Here they are showing off their new Christmas present t-shirts.

Sharing time with people is the best thing to do on Christmas Day.

Happy Times!

Cutting up oranges for everyone to enjoy - the children of Teule are independent and able to look after one another.

Posing for some photos with a little attitude...

We gave out some small presents to the children that we had been given from donars.

In the queue...

Waiting patiently for the presents.

The children had been given some lollys by the orphanage as a Christmas treat

Happy photo - living quarters in the distance. A lovely happy place to be.

Cool cucumbers.

I hope you enjoyed the series of pictures. The majority of the time we didn't take pictures because we wanted to enjoy our time with the children to the full without being glued to a phone or camera. Christmas 2017 will always be a special one for me. On our final day, the children were all asking us when we would be back and we will be back that's for sure!

My favourite thing about our Christmas in Kenya was the emphasis on family, friends and community. Emphasis is on enjoying yourselves and being with one another and creating memories. It is nice to be away from a Christmas based around presents which is how I feel it can be in the UK sometimes. Not among everyone but among a lot of people anyway. Ryan and I didn't exchange any presents with each other this year (we thought that being blessed enough to be in Kenya was enough) but we exchanged lots of happy memories. Presents might give two minutes of happiness but memories last a lifetime.

Thanks to Teule for hosting us! We love you. X