Orphaned Girls in Kenya Get Help From Irishman in Boston

Thomas Keown, in Boston since 2001 from his native Kilkeel, Ireland, founded One Home Many Hopes, a charity to help orphaned girls in Kenya. (NEWz courtesy photo: Thomas Keown)

Story Location

Mtwapa

Kenya

The following edited excerpt is from the monthly Boston Irish Reporter.

They say it takes a village to raise a child.

For 33 orphaned girls in Kenya, their village spans the globe, thanks to the work of one local Irishman and a group of Boston volunteers - founders of the new charitable organization, One Home Many Hopes.

Kenya is a on the brink of breakdown. More than 1000 people were killed and 300,000 displaced by violence following the contested presidential election in December [2007].

In the midst of this chaos stands a home that represents hope and courage to build a future for these young girls and, in time, the country.

Thomas Keown, from County Down [in Ireland] and a Bostonian since 2001, traveled to Kenya last year. There he met Anthony Mulongo, founder of an orphanage known locally as Mudzini Kwetu.

After speaking with Mulongo and listening to the stories of the girls, Keown vowed to return to Boston and solicit support for the home where education and a loving family ethos aim to break the cycle of poverty.

"I had traveled a lot and seen great need and misery in India, South America and Africa," said Keown. "But I was never so motivated to do something about poverty until I met Anthony and the girls in this place. The tangible love made sense to my heart and the long-term vision to my head."

Keown began organizing steadily, creating One Home Many Hopes to support Mudzini Kwetu. He invited anyone he encountered, from his church to the football pitch, to be a part of the project.

The story of the girls inspired people across the globe to help form the organization, including Web developers in Detroit, graphic designers in Dublin, and a law firm in New York City.

His first goal was to raise $5,000 from friends and friends of friends during December. The great generosity of supporters, like local Irish entrepreneur Colm Allen, helped far exceed this target.

Allen was the first donor to One Home Many Hopes, providing funds to set up wireless Internet at Mudzini Kwetu and enabling communication with Keown. On St. Patrick's Day, he will throw a fundraiser for the cause.

"It was a no-brainer," said Allen. "The first time I met Thomas, he told me what he was doing and the rest told itself. A little bit here goes a long way there and we always celebrate St. Patrick's Day anyway."

This support could not have arrived at a better time. Mulongo reports that food is becoming scarce and prices inflated.

It costs roughly $40,000 to keep the doors of Mudzini Kwetu open, providing the girls with food, clothing, education and medical care. Mulongo is doing the best he can, but help is needed.

The girls have ambitions that would not be conceivable without One Home Many Hopes.

Gift Hawa, Mudzini Kwetu's first child, seven years ago felt her infant brother die on her back in the street. Gift recently traveled to Wales through the Global Schools Program.

Salama, a child bride at the age of 10, endured physical and sexual abuse but is now attending school for the first time.

Sopra Nduvge aspires to be a pilot. "I get to go to school," she says, "and play and clean and practice so when I grow up I can do everything."

The powerful effects of rehabilitation and growth at Mudzini Kwetu are evident in the transition of Khadija. At the age of 12, she and her two young sisters scavenged the streets for food after their mother died of AIDS.

Kenyan police eventually placed the girls in juvenile prison, a common fate for street children.

Authorities deemed Khadija "destructive," but Mudzini Kwetu advocated for her release to their care. Khadija now helps initially-hostile new girls settle into the home by showing the same love she received.

One Home Many Hopes plans to build a school and kindergarten on the grounds of Mudzini Kwetu and start a college fund for the older girls.

"It is a long-term strategy," explains Keown. "The girls will themselves become agents of change to help alleviate the extreme poverty from which they have been rescued."

He hopes to see each girl receive a quality education and become leaders of their generation.

"Young lives are at stake all around the world," says Keown. "But if we all give a little, no one has to give it all."

For more information on One Home Many Hopes and the girls of Mudzini Kwetu, visit www.onehomemanyhopes.org or contact Thomas Keown, director, at thomaskeown@onehomemanyhopes.org.

Source: BostonIrish.com

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Three of the girls at the Mudzini Kwetu orphanage in Mtwapa, Kenya. (Photo from onehomemanyhopes.org/girls.html)