Update on St. Clare Grads in Quarantine

Update on St. Clare Grads in Quarantine

Over the past months, Friends of Kenyan Orphans made arrangements to rent housing for several recent St. Clare graduates, rescuing them from the unsafe living conditions in Mathare slums.

Although the pandemic has lasted longer than anyone anticipated, Nairobi and the rest of Kenya have started to open up and people are learning ways to live with COVID 19 until a vaccine is available.

The girls are moving forward as they wait for their Universities and other higher education institutions to reopen and accept new students. Fr. Riwa has also offered the opportunity to live and help at St. Clare for those with no other options, following a 14 day self-quarantine upon arrival.

We received this note of thanks from the girls, in appreciation of the help which was funded through our caring donors:

I want to take this chance on behalf of the ladies to express our sincerest gratitude for thinking about us for the past months. We totally agree with your concerns and decision to vacate the Athi Home. 

As a country, citizens are embracing the virus in a positive and safest way possible. This is because the economy has been drifting down and daily survival being a challenge to everyone.  We will also have to adjust just like the rest are doing. 

We had a discussion too on life after Athi home. One girl will soon be reopening for her exams which got pushed to September therefore she has to head home and prepare for school.  

Two others, who finished form four last year, are also expecting to join their higher institutions but will also head home to Mathare and organise all documents required by their new schools, including their National Identity cards and birth certificates.

I will also head home and start looking for jobs in order to settle and support where possible. Am hoping for the best.

Moving to other counties requires a Covid-19 test as proof to each county border and this will result to unnecessary expenses. Therefore the best solution we have will be heading back home and taking serious precautions.

Girls at Athi River