Nyumbani Orphanage,
Karen, Kenya

A "home" for Abandoned Children

Because infants younger than a year old carry many of their mothers' antibodies, many newborns with HIV-infected mothers give a "false positive" and never actually develop the virus themselves. In fact, a full 75% of babies who test positive at birth will eventually be found not to carry the virus. Tragically, these children are often abandoned at birth; public hospitals do not enough resources to care for them; they are often ostracized from traditional orphanages; and most die from neglect within a few months.

In 1992, Fr. Angelo D'Agostino, SJ, MD, founded the Nyumbani Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. The rising number of HIV-infected children born and too often abandoned in Africa inspired Father D'Agostino to develop the orphanage. In 1997, Make A Mark joined forces with Fr. D'Agostino and helped develop staff quarters to house those individuals to care for the abandoned children. Currently, the Nyumbani Orphanage houses more than 80 children and 52 staff members.

Nyumbani – "home" in Swahili – provides a true home to the abandoned children until a correct determination of their HIV status can be made. Children who eventually test negative for HIV are placed in appropriate settings to be adopted or cared for by traditional social services agencies. The children found to be truly HIV+ are given the best nutritional, medical, psychosocial, and spiritual care available, and live the rest of their days at Nyumbani.

Nyumbani's community based outreach program, Lea Toto (in Swahili meaning "to bring up the child") supports families affected by HIV in the surrounding Nairobi communities. The Lea Toto outreach program includes free medical care, family counseling, HIV transmission and prevention education, door-to-door sensitization and promotion of behavioral changes.

With the ever-increasing rise of HIV-infected children, Nyumbani is desperately trying to expand its facilities to provide comprehensive care to more HIV+ children. Toward that end, the Washington D.C. based organization, Children of God Relief Fund, is enthusiastically and actively fundraising to help Nyumbani increase its physical space to accept the children who are already on a waiting list.

For more information, please click: www.nyumbani.org