Cheaper by the Dozen

I am not sure if any of you knew this, but one of Louisa’s favourite movies is “Cheaper by the Dozen” featuring a family with twelve kids and the chaos that ensues.  Volunteering at the Mission in Action Baby Orphanage (MIA) near Nakuru, Kenya, was as close as we would get to living Louisa’s dream family (fingers crossed).  Instead of just twelve kids, the orphanage is filled with 47 beautiful, mischievous, and full of personality kids that could even get Joel to want to stay in Africa for a while.

The last 3 weeks at MIA have been the highlight of the Ferrungu World Tour thus far.  It is hard to put into words our feelings for all the children, but we do know that this experience has made us interested in adopting a child at some point in our lives (special thanks goes to Mageets for being our adopted child for one week!)

Thanks to all the donations and support from friends and family at home, MIA can continue to assist the current and future children of Kenya.  We received approximately $2,000 in donations and Louisa and I decided to do something fun with the funds.  Shoes were desperately needed at MIA due to wear and tear, growth-spurts, etc.  Also required were larger beds for the older girls that had outgrown theirs.  One-hundred shoes and four large bunk beds later, the kids are all set!  “ASANTE SANA” – said the watotos!

Lots and lots of shoes!

Tim Tam's new kicks!

Louisa and I truly believe that MIA is doing an amazing job here in Nakuru and the funds received are going to an amazing cause.  Most orphanages in Kenya are run by locals, however, MIA is run by an Australian couple who sold everything and came here to set up the orphanage with all their own money.  From what we’ve heard around town, other orphanages sometimes keep their children in old shoes, ragged clothes and un-bathed in order to make the volunteers open their pockets more.  More donations sometimes mean more money for the ‘owners’ of the orphanage, not the kids.  MIA is the complete opposite – the children come first in all aspects.  The donated dollars are going to a great cause and a great orphanage!  SO A GIANT THANK YOU AGAIN (ASANTE SANA) TO EVERYONE THAT DONATED! You are really making a difference in these children’s lives.

If anyone has questions about the costs to run the orphanage, its sustainability or about what you can do to help, please let us know and we would be happy to answer them.

In the meantime, here are some spotlights on a few of our favourite kids (are we allowed to say that?) and their heart wrenching stories:  

• Smiley – Daniel was abandoned at the local Nakuru hospital on birth. His weight was only 6 pounds when he came to MIA, but fortunately he is now the largest and most smiley 3 year old you will ever see.  He likes to quietly play and sing songs to himself and never bothers any of the other kids.  He loves hugs and always bursts out in hilarious laughter after a good tickle. He melted Louisa’s heart the other day when he said “Lulu, I don’t want you to go home”.

• Brainiac – Elli-Jo is 6 years old. She was abandoned at the Nairobi Kenyatta hospital after birth and was then brought to MIA.  She loves to read stories and sing and dance – and she does them all with such attitude!  She is the #1 student in kindergarten and one of the brightest kids at MIA.

• Sweetheart – Michelle was found dumped in a ditch on the side of road by local police shortly after she was born and was 1.5 months old when she came to MIA. She is now a beautiful 3 year old who is always happy and loves to give hugs.  She was shy at first but now loves to talk Lulu and Connie’s ears off.  Here’s the song Louisa and I sing to her every day (LINK).

• Grumpster – Peter is a recent addition to MIA.  He was abandoned and wound up on the steps of MIA.  He is a sad little boy and most of our time at MIA was spent trying to get Peter to smile. We finally broke him down and got a big laugh out of him one day, but his poutiness is what makes him so unbearably cute:)

• Troublemaker – 4 year old Miriam is the youngest of three siblings at the orphanage (Franko, Njao and Miriam).  Miriam’s father was abusive and sadly he eventually killed their mother. This was witnessed by all three children.  Luckily all three are now at MIA and are very happy!   Miriam really won over our hearts right from our first day.  Her incredibly mischievous personality and squeaky voice really separated her from the rest.  She can also do summersaults and beat up kids twice her size.  We are now Miriam’s sponsors and can’t wait to see what sorts of trouble she continues to get herself into as she grows up.

(for more information on all the children at MIA, check out their bio page here AND check out the rest of our photos here) 

As you can see, every child at MIA has their own story.  They seem to follow a common theme of abandonment, abuse and neglect.  It is very sad to hear the stories, but the good news is that these children now have a new chance at a happy life at the orphanage.

As Greg mentioned in his great blog post, there are many critics to voluntourism and its negative side effects on the kids at these orphanages.  We know we’re not solving the world’s problems by being here, and we’re not trying to. We wanted to do something unselfish during our trip, help bring some awareness to our friends and family about this particular orphanage, and raise a bit of money for some needing children; we accomplished that!  We also got to share a lot of love, hugs and smiles with 47 cute and happy kids - their smiles really do make the world a better place ;)

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