T R E E O F L I V E S

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umoja

African Boxes of Love“…. let these children know that poor and sick is

not the same as unloved and forgotten….not by

Christ or His people”

For the past

five years

the

African

Boxes of

Love

program

has been a special

Christmas project to help the poorest of

the poor HIV+ children and students attending

the Christian primary school on the grounds of

Nazareth

Mission

Hospital. Each

year more than

600 needy

children receive

the African Box

of Love which

may include a

pair of shoes

and socks, a

blanket, a

raincoat,

pencils, a

sweatshirt, and

a month’s supply of food for their family ( sugar,

rice, ugali, cooking fat and margarine.)

Distribution of the Boxes of Love cards begins

November 27th. First Presbyterian Norfolk and

five other partner churches have taken part in the

program in the past years.

For a gift of $60. a very needy Kenyan family will

be remembered and given a Christmas gift of

Love.

—Kate & Rudy Miller

One person, one family, one community...in His time

Meet RuthMeet Ruth, Director of the Joy Home.Page 2

Art TherapyTree of Lives introduces its newest ministry project…the Joy Children’s Home for HIV/AIDS orphans, in partnership with Nazareth Hospital near Nairobi, Kenya.Page 3-4

Nazareth CollegeWelcome to the inaugural issue of UMOJA, Tree of Lives’ periodic newsletter.Page 5

Issue N° 2 Winter 2012

u mo ja (noun) Swahili for unity

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My name is Ruth

Njoki, director of the

Nazareth Joy

Children’s Home. I

am a Christian

mother of two, Esther

Njeri, 4, and Bernice

Maiga, 2 and married

to a Christian man,

Harrison Thuku, who

works in an

upholstery company

and does interior

design.

While my family is

originally from the

Nyandarua District in

Central Kenya, I was

born and raised in

Banana, Limuru along with my four

siblings and educated in Nairobi. My

parents were and still are strong

believers whose number one rule

was always to dress well and attend

church without fail. To this day, I am

a choir member in my local church.

            I have worked at HFC for the

past six years. I came in as the first

social worker at Nazareth and

worked with Dr. Richard Brown to

pioneer the HIV/AIDs clinic

counseling patients, assessing

patient needs, and planning for

social interventions. My

responsibilities also include

overseeing that the patient support

programs funded by TOL are

running as scheduled and

conducting home visits to HIV

positive patients to monitor

adherence to drugs.

Over the years, I have been in

contact with a lot of children

especially those who attend our

clinic and have seen

them suffer due to

negligence by their

guardians and parents,

some to the point of

death. This often left me

with no other option but

to place some of these

children in children’s

homes. It is unfortunate

that some of these

foster homes are not

careful with HIV

management, causing

many of the children to

fail in their treatment.

When the Joy Home

opportunity came up, I

prayed that Sr. Clara

would consider giving priority to the

HIV positive children with whom I

have shared so much interaction.

This was a great opportunity for a

lasting solution for so many

orphaned children. My vision for the

Home is to see these children grow

in a Godly and African home

environment, receiving all their

basic needs and being empowered

for adulthood.

Since the Joy Home became

operational in August, my greatest

role has been to ensure that the

mothers understand the needs of

each child and that they are

prepared to attend to them, as this

will enhance their bonding. I am also

active n coordinating local

fundraising, community integration,

and the education program for each

of the children.

I pray that our mothers at the Joy

Home will be linked to prayer

partners who will pray and support

them, as these women are the key

to the Home’s success. I also pray

that God will help these children

grow out of the stressful lives they

have come from and enable them to

embrace and experience God’s love

through us.

I appreciate the love and support

my husband has shown in my work.

He waits at the bus terminal to

escort me home at the end of each

long day. I thank God for him.

Meet Ruth, the director of the Nazareth Joy Home

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An orphan is defined by the United

Nations as “one who has lost one or

both parents.” Fifteen million

children under the age of eighteen

have been orphaned by AIDS; 11.6

million of these orphans are in Sub

Saharan Africa. In some African

countries, 20% of the children are

orphans (1 in 5). In Kenya, there are

1.5 million orphans due to AIDS. At

Holy Family Center, we have nearly

600 HIV+ children, many of whom

are orphans.

A focus for this summer’s TOL

Pilgrimage to Kenya was our Art

Therapy program for children.

Believing that allowing children to

be in a safe place with safe adults

allows for their self-expression, we

sought to let these vulnerable

children, each both HIV+ and a child

of abject poverty, know that they are

loved by God and us and are not

alone despite their circumstances.

What an unbelievable blessing this

was, not only to them, but also to

those of us privileged to work with

them.

More than 50 Kenyan counselors,

teachers, and leaders were trained

in the philosophy and

implementation of the Art Therapy

program and Maslow’s Hierarchy of

Needs in order to promote the

continuation of art therapy after the

TOL team returned to the US.

Our day-long sessions with the

children were conducted in three

different locations: in the heart of

one of Kenya’s largest slums,

Korogocho; on the grounds of

Nazareth Hospital; and at the

Alamono School for special needs

children. The basic premise of the

program was to encourage creative

expression of the children and allow

counselors a window into any

Art Therapy

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challenges, abuse, or neglect the young

participants might be experiencing in their

homes. Among other exercises, the children

were given a picture of a barren tree; using the

tree as a representation of their lives, they were

asked to draw

people, places

and things that

represent the

blessings of

their lives and

then to draw the

things in their

lives that are

not good. What

we gleaned

from this and

other exercises

was astounding.

As the children

interacted and

worked on their

art, stories of

abuse and

neglect slowly

emerged. One

young boy,

explaining his creation, expressed his hope to

grow up and be a father who does not beat his

children as his father does. A girl drew a picture

of a man and woman, newlyweds and happy; she

said her hope for this newly married couple was

that the husband will not beat his wife like her

father beats her mother. Another boy’s drawings

depicted intense anger and violence. All of these

children are now targeted for group and

individual therapy with the counselors as well as

follow-up in their homes.

It was not only the children who opened up

during our sessions. One of the counselors, who

had been trained to lead a group of children

through the program at Nazareth Hospital, said

that this was the first time in his life anyone had

asked him how he felt. He is 21-years old.

God tells us that He causes the sun to rise on the

evil and the good, and He sends rain on the

righteous and the unrighteous. We all must

endure storms in our lives, but we are promised

that God is with us. Through the implementation

of the Art

Therapy

program, it is

our prayer that

our young

friends in Kenya

will feel God’s

presence in

their lives and

that they will

prosper in the

light of His love.

By Jim Wood

Photographs by Alex Burrows

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O N E P E R S O N , O N E F A M I L Y ,

O N E C O M M U N I T Y … I N H I S

T I M E .

At the time the inaugural issue of our newsletter went to press, the latest project of Tree of Lives was a dream in the works; now it is a reality. On July 29, 2011, the Nazareth Joy Children’s Home, an orphanage for children impacted by AIDS and abandonment, opened its doors, welcoming 18 children and 3 trained mothers into residence. God is good.

Among those first residents were Joyce and Emmanuel. Joyce received 12 weeks of training in nutrition, housekeeping, and the psychological needs of HIV+ children to prepare her for her role as a “mother” to orphans at the Joy Home. When I met Joyce on the grounds of Nazareth Hospital earlier this year, I asked her, “Why, Joyce? Why are you doing this?” She responded simply, “I have nothing. All that I have to offer is myself.”

Emmanuel was abandoned at birth on the grounds of Nazareth Hospital, and he spent his first five weeks of life orphaned in the pediatric ward.  Today, he lives at the Joy Home, not as an orphan, but as a son, the son of Joyce.

In Matthew 18, Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me.” The Joy Home is large enough to welcome 60 children of God. We invite you to partner with us as we work to fill the home to capacity, glorifying God by providing a loving Christian home for his forgotten children.

…one person, one family, one community … in His time.

In Him,

Jim Wood

When did the vision for a nursing school at Nazareth come to be?

The vision started even with the Consolata

Sisters; Sr Leonella Sgorbarti (who was killed in

Somalia) had the vision to start a nursing school.

This vision was actualized by the Franciscan

Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (FIHM)

when they took over. The process of starting the

Nursing School started in 2004 and by

September 2005, the first group of Distance

learning students joined.

What were the biggest challenges then and now?

• Finances for the infrastructure

• Meeting the Nursing Council of Kenya

requirements of a training Hospital. Nazareth

had to make some adjustments

• Tutors retention

• Students’ financial status

When did the first class begin and with how many students?

September 2005 with 30 students. This time it

was upgrading through Distance Learning from

certificate to Diploma i.e. from Kenya Enrolled

Community Health Nurses (KECHN) to Kenya

Registered Community Health nurse (KRCHN)

In 2007 the College was allowed to start Regular

program i.e. Basic training of KRCHN. The first

group of regular students joined in September

2007 also with 30 students.

How many nurses graduated and when was that date?

Since it’s inception, a total of 157 nurses have

qualified i.e. 135 Distance learners and 22 basic

training nurses.

The first group of Basic KRCHN graduated on

19th August 2011 through a colorful ceremony

graced by His Eminence Cardinal John Njue

(senior most catholic ordinary in Kenya). They

were a total of 22 basic KRCHN students plus 2

from the Distance Learners.

Any one or two students that stood out? Why?

Out of the 22 students who did the final exam, 4

of them passed with Credits.

One out standing student is Elizabeth Simiyu.

Through out the training period she was

performing very well. It is good to note that she is

one of the poor students being sponsored by the

Tree of Lives.

Another student who also stood out was Pauline

Achieng. She is also an orphan like Elizabeth and

was being sponsored by an organization called

Good Neighbors.

Note that the tree of lives was sponsoring 5

students; 2 of them passed while 3 of them have

to repeat some papers.

How many remained at Nazareth to work after graduation?

Eight students were left to work at Nazareth

while two went to work at Nazareth Ruiru

Hospital.

How many other Nursing Schools, similar to Nazareth, are there in Kenya?

There are 34 Nursing Schools.

Did Nazareth graduates have the highest marks?

Nazareth had the highest Mean Score of 66.4%;

placing us in position one in the Country.

Was the school recognized...for what specifically?

The school was recognized for being position one

in the Country while it was the very first group of

Basic students to qualify.

Nazareth Nursing School