Menu
Woman finds aid, supplies for African orphan sleeping station through Fort Scott resident
Through the efforts of one local man and a woman from Africa, a group of orphans will learn to hope again.
Kenya resident Jane Imbuye, who has been visiting the United States for about three months, has been in Fort Scott for about a month working with Charles Lifer, a local humanitarian, to gather supplies which will enable her to open a sleeping station in Kenya. The sleeping station will provide a safe place to sleep for about 20 AIDS orphans in her home country.
Imbuye, who currently operates a feeding station, which provides two meals a day for orphans, decided to expand the amount of assistance she is giving the orphans she comes into contact with everyday. The creation of a dormitory equipped with beds for the children to use at night and the ability to provide these orphans with needed nutrition, will enable them to go to school and possibly change the course of their lives, Imbuye said.
"They (orphans) can't go to school when they are hungry," Imbuye explained. Adding that all school children must wear uniforms, these orphans cannot afford to buy uniforms. The sleeping-feeding station would help provide these school essentials.
According to Imbuye, Lifer is working diligently to provide the beds, mattresses, food and any other needed items, for the sleeping-feeding station.
"He (Lifer) came to Africa for humanitarian ministry ... He was so impressed with what we are doing he said he was going to assist us to do a few things. That's what he's doing," Imbuye said.
Even though the equipment for the sleep station is being donated, Imbuye said she cannot send it to Kenya until she raises about $8,000 to cover the shipping costs.
At this time, Imbuye, who is scheduled to leave the United States on Tuesday, is spending much of her time packing and preparing the donated items for shipping, hopeful that the shipping costs will soon be raised. Imbuye said she realizes she cannot complete this mission alone.
"I have given out of my own pocket. I have given until I can't give anymore. I can't do this alone," she said.
Having a passion for the children in her country who have been victimized by the AIDS epidemic, which has swept in and taken from these children both mother and father and in some cases aunts, uncles and grandparents, Imbuye said it is her desire to make a difference even if it is in the life of just one child.
"We want to help children to have a change," she said, "because they are the future of tomorrow. Can anyone make a difference to one child? That is my goal. If one person can help just one child, that child will make a difference in another child," she explained.
According to a written document prepared by Lifer, there are about two million AIDS orphans in Kenya resulting in the homelessness of about 850,000 of these children. Though Imbuye receives donations from others in her home country, it is not enough to sustain her goal of 20 children.
Imbuye also counsels AIDS infected parents, according to Lifer. In most cases, parents who are dying because of the disease ask Imbuye to take care of their children after they have passed away. In each case, Imbuye promises to do the best she can.
Imbuye is also the founder and coordinator of the Women to Women Self Help Group, which was created to empower women, vulnerable children and the less privileged to become self-sufficient. In doing so, the group unites women from different professional backgrounds to accomplish the task and provide hope for living, according to a Women to Women flyer. Imbuye explained women play a big role in their families and providing this service for them in turn helps the children.
Speaking about her determination to help the innocent victims of the AIDS virus, Imbuye said, "I am very ambitious for these kids. I want a dormitory to give them a place to sleep, uniforms to permit them to go to school and two meals each day. I am certain in my heart that my God will show me the way to realize my ambition."
Anyone who wishes to help Imbuye and the orphans she is trying to sustain can contact Lifer at humanitarians@webtv.net.