‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these’.
Luke 18 v 16
The World Health Organisation has declared that Poliomyelitis is to be eradicated. Yet, at the Africa Inland Church Child Care Centre in Kenya, they are still regularly admitting children for treatment following this dreaded disease.

The Africa Inland Church (AIC) Child Care Centre (CCC) was started in 1973 by two South African missionaries with help from AMREF flying doctor services, as a place to treat and feed children following the famine in that year. It is situated in the South West corner of Kenya, fifty miles from Nairobi in the heart of Maasai country. Children come from all over the Maasai speaking areas of Kenya and over the border in Tanzania.

Factbox What Does the Centre Do? Assessment and admission of children for treatment and rehabilitation. Referring for corrective surgery at a relevant hospital - e.g. PCEA, Kikuyu, AIC (Bethany), and Kijabe - where there are facilities for orthopaedic surgery. Provision of postoperative care and fitting of appliances i.e. callipers, boots, artificial limbs, and provision of wheelchairs and crutches. Working with parents in assisting children to receive a basic education both primary and secondary, with a view to eventual training either, academic or technical so that they will eventually get employment and become self-reliant.

Shortly after the famine was over, Georgie Orme, a missionary nurse seconded to AIC by the Africa Inland Mission, turned the CCC into a treatment and rehabilitation centre for physically disabled children. Over the years since its inception, some 500 children have passed through the centre and some still attend on an outpatient basis. Currently there are 60 resident children receiving education and treatment.

Today, not only those children with Polio and Tuberculosis receive treatment, but also children with osteomyelitis, spina-bifida, hydrocephalus, clubfeet, congenital limb deformity and deficiency, cerebral palsy etc. Due to the design of Maasai houses, many children also come in with burns sustained by either walking or falling onto hot ashes. If they are not treated immediately, infection can occur, leading to contractures requiring prolonged and expensive treatment.

The Team
Since July 1996, Georgie Orme has handed over the running of the CCC to Daniel Sapayia. Daniel is himself disabled and undertook training in making shoes, callipers and artificial limbs in Kenya, Tanzania and South Korea, accompanied on his trips by Georgie. Daniel is now assisted in the workshop by Moses Nyaoro, whom he has also trained. Moses also acts as the maintenance man for the centre. Both men are married with children of their own and are resident on the compound. Through financing from Christian Blind Mission Germany, the workshop has acquired most of the tools and machinery required for making appliances for the children. In addition, the Kenya Round Table has provided solar heating for the hydrotherapy pool.

John Kirrikai is the administrator accountant and is also responsible for the child sponsorship scheme. Anna Leseyio is the housekeeper. Simon Moiko is the night watchman. Moses Seempon is the driver, and there are currently three housemothers.

Daniel has just undertaken a course in physiotherapy, but with all his other commitments, time for this is limited.

Spiritual Needs
The Child Care Centre was started by Christians and continues today under the auspices of the Africa Inland Church. All the staff are practising Christians and show their love for God through the care they give to the children. Both children and staff attend the AIC church on the compound and over the years, many have given their hearts to the Lord. As an expression of their faith, a team of staff and children go out once a month to hold services in some of the villages surrounding Kajiado.

Running the Child Care Centre of course takes a lot of money and to keep operating for one year they need 3,000,000 KSH (£30,000). School fees, hospital treatment and transport costs are extra. However, no child is ever turned away because of financial need. Treatment is offered regardless of a family's ability to pay for it.

Finance and Child Sponsorship
Up until 1996, the Christian Blind Mission of Germany was one of the main supporters of the Child Care centre, also paying school fees for students in secondary schools and colleges. However, this has now been discontinued. A Canadian group ‘Arms of Jesus’ have for many years used child sponsorship as a way of supporting the work of the CCC, but like so many organisations these days they are receiving less and less funds to distribute. Consequently, many families are struggling to raise the fees to keep their children in school. Without an education, disabled children have no place in Kenyan society and there is no provision made for them by the government. It is the desire of the CCC that these children have every opportunity to be educated and trained so that they can become useful citizens in the future.

Personnel Needed at the Child Care Centre Physiotherapist Special Needs teacher Please contact Miss B. Watson or the CCC direct (addresses at the end of the article)

Education and Training
Children who require prolonged treatment, those from very poor families and others who are severely disabled reside in the CCC facilities and attend either the AIC girls school next door, or the PBS boys school near by. The very young (some come as babies) are also accommodated and attend the pre-school provided on the compound. The nursery has two classes for 3-4 yrs and 5-6 yrs. Angela Meteine and Jane Ntaine are the current teachers and are partly paid by parents and the CCC. Children of the school and the CCC staff and other children from nearby villages are admitted to the school so that pupils develop integration with the wider community at an early age. Currently there are 50 pupils in the nursery.

Since the CCC began, 25 children have completed secondary school, 14 having gone on to college courses and university and 24 girls and boys have completed vocational training. However, it is very difficult to get employment for these students afterwards due to the poor economic climate in the country, and sometimes due to discrimination. With assistance, they can be helped to set up their own business, for example two of the girls are now self-employed. One boy has completed nurse training at Kijabe hospital and is now in charge of the new dispensary at Kajiado. Five boys are now employed as teachers and Stephen Kimendere is now headmaster of his local primary school. One boy is an accredited accountant and one is doing research at Day Star University in Nairobi. Sadly, despite all these success stories many other children are less fortunate

If you would like to know more about the work of the AIC children’s centre, please contact: Miss B. Watson, 7 Talbot Road, Bircotes, Doncaster, DNII 8DF, UK. Tel 01302 743922.
if you would like to be part of the team caring for these children through child sponsorship please contact John Kirrinkai, AIC Child Care Centre, PO Box 416, Kajiado, Kenya