It might not be as well-known as other local charities, but Life4Kids Canada is doing big things to help underprivileged boys living in Kenya.
And what’s amazing about this international charity is that its roots are firmly planted in Simcoe County with many of the donors coming from the area.
It all started with Amelie Sorensen, a woman living in Midland at the time. Sorensen visited Kenya more than a decade ago and knew she had to do something to help.
“Amelie went to Africa and was really taken with the need,” says Fred Hacker, who serves as the organization’s chair and president. “It started very small.”
So after meeting with other like-minded people, she established Life4Kids Canada as a way to make the lives of abandoned and homeless boys in Nairobi better.
Hacker says that without initiatives like this one, the beneficiaries might not make it into adulthood, given how rough life can be for an abandoned or homeless boys living on Nairobi's gritty streets.
“They wouldn’t have made it to this age due to the violence that’s prevalent there. There are 100,000 kids living on the street."
Hacker says he was initially taken with the initiative after Sorensen visited his church several years ago.
“I was touched by the need,” Hacker says.
At the time, they didn’t have a charitable licence, which meant they couldn’t give donors tax receipts, so Hacker helped them acquire one.
“I helped make things a little bit more structured and became chair and president of the organization. It’s become a major part of my life. I talk to the executive director all the time.
“We now have 26 boys living in the home, we have a staff of 11. There are four caregivers at the home 24 hours a day,” Hacker says, noting the caregivers work four days straight and then are off for four days.
“A lot of these kids are traumatized,” Hacker says, noting the home also employs a therapist and a cook.
Hacker says some boys are the children of prostitutes and come from broken homes.
“But they can do remarkable things when living in a home of love and compassion. They’re savvy little kids.”
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing. In fact, just a few months ago, the organization’s very existence was in jeopardy.
The local government in Kenya threatened to demolish the rental house where the boys and their support staff lived.
The organization learned the house had been built without proper zoning and without a building permit.
On top of that, Hacker says the house was in a dangerous area where political demonstrations, rowdy patrons of a local bar and roaming gangs threatened the safety of the boys and staff.
And, to make matters worse, Kenyan authorities threatened to withdraw the licence for the operation of the home if Life4Kids did not purchase its own residence.
“They were difficult circumstances,” Hacker says. “All of the indicators were that we needed a new house.”
And so the search for a new option began.
Life4Kids was forced to move quickly. They found a lovely, adequately-spaced house available at a reasonable price in a suburban area of Nairobi.
The challenge at that point was how to raise the necessary funds since while Life4Kids in Kenya administers the home, that organization relies on funds from sister groups Life4Kids Canada and Life4Kids Norway. This time, however, the Norway arm quickly advised that it would not be able to contribute to the cost of the new home.
“Funds are needed on an ongoing basis to support 26 little boys in the home and nine other boys in higher education,” Hacker says.
“Funds compensate staff and pay for education costs, clothing, medicine and other house expenses. These funds come exclusively from generous donors, and a large portion from the Midland area. So the prospect of raising enough money to purchase a home seemed insurmountable. We needed a miracle.”
But Canadian donors stepped up in a big way with a financial miracle materializing just in time for the holidays.
Appeals to existing donors, local philanthropists, local churches, local organizations, and even a neighbourhood bake sale resulted in enough funds to purchase the home, cover closing costs and pay for renovations to the home.
The boys moved into their new home on Dec. 18, just in time for Christmas.
“We were able to buy a large beautiful house,” Hacker says, pointing out most of the $240,000 purchase price was raised in Midland-Penetanguishene area.
“There are 30 people living there at any one time.”
The boys can live in the home until they’re 17 with those leaving often starting university or thinking about a career at that age. One such graduate wants to be a police officer while another is aiming to become a teacher, Hacker explained.
The Canadian organization has no staff and nominal overhead expenses. Almost all the funds raised go to Kenya. The fundraising and operational work is done voluntarily through a board of directors, who all live in and around Midland and Penetanguishene.
While Hacker has not personally been to visit the operation, he’s hoping to go sometime in the new year.
And when asked what’s accomplished by helping out such a small percentage of those suffering, Hacker points to the parable of the starfish.
In that story adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley, an old man is walking along a beach after a big storm. He finds the vast beach filled with starfish as far as the eye can see.
The man then notices a young boy in the distance. As they get closer, he sees the boy occasionally bend down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.
The boy comes closer still and the man calls out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy pauses, looks up, and replies: “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves. When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
The old man replies, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bends down, picks up yet another starfish and throws it as far as he can into the ocean. Then he turns, smiles and says, “It made a difference to that one!”
That story really resonates with Hacker as he and other local residents try to help those young Kenyan boys get a leg up in life.
Adds Hacker: “We’re raising a future generation of African leaders.”
