House of Mercy is located in near Nairobi, Kenya and was founded by a single mother, Sister Rose, who had compassion for children living on the streets. She began taking in children on her own as she had space available in her home. She was soon joined by a local Pastor. The pastor's and his staff at Bread of New Life Ministries supports House of Mercy, and Sister Rose, through the generous donations of regular people.
House of Mercy is home to over 80 full time live in children. Many more orphans are able to go to the home of a relative to sleep, however these families often cannot afford anything extra for the child, so the child will come to House of Mercy during the day and go "home" at night. There are sometimes as many as 30 of these children in addition to the live in children at House of Mercy.
The house mother, Rose, is in charge and looks after the children with the help of a few local volunteers. Older children attend school during the day and the preschoolers are taught on site.
House of Mercy also operates a small school on site with two teachers. Children too poor to attend regular school come to the home to receive an education at an affordable cost. Many of them would be roaming the streets of the slum village where they live, but instead are given meals, education, and loving care by the volunteers and teachers at House of Mercy. The classrooms are small and very crowded. Children take naps on the stone floor due to lack of materials.
Description of current property:
Children sleep 4 to a bed and have no kitchen facility on the property. The "restrooms" are two holes in a concrete platform with very little privacy. The building consists of 8 rooms with a central open air courtyard connecting them. Sewage from the restrooms runs through this courtyard and can make the place quite rancid on most hot days. Pictures can say so much more than my ability to write so please look through the pictures on the next page.
Update on the New building:
A new building is almost completed and is on high ground, far away from flooding. Each child will have a bed and the girls and boys will have separate quarters. There will be a kitchen, and dining hall and classrooms for the smaller children. There will be showers and separate restrooms for the girls and boys. Al small plot of land adjacent to the building has been purchased for a playground area and garden.
To finish the new building we need to raise $28,000 to finish the second floor and the roof. Due to the tremendous need of the community, the ministry supporting the orphanage is overwhelmed and has declared this situation a crisis.
Update: December 1, 2011 will be the moving date. The children will move in but only to the finished first floor. The second floor of the home still needs to be finished.
