Two members of the Isle of Man’s Salvation Army have spoken of their experience after travelling around Kenya helping impoverished children.
Joanne Clague, 38, from Douglas, and Barbara Maller, 57, from Glen Vine, travelled to Nairobi with Hendon Salvation Army and the Kenya Kids Education Trust.
Joanne explained how they got involved. ‘Around a year ago we saw an advert in the Salvationist magazine asking if anyone was interested in joining the mission trip to Nairobi,’ she revealed.
‘It’s something we had both always wanted to do and experience, so we took the opportunity – it was a now or never moment. We funded the trip ourselves.
‘We had 60 suitcases between us, filled with children’s clothes, toiletries, toys, sweets and shoes, all kindly donated by family, friends and the general public.’
The pair visited a boarding school for the physically handicapped, a school for the blind and went to a Sunday worship attended by 1,000 people.
‘The children were so happy to see us,’ said Joanne. ‘All they wanted to do was shake our hands and high five us, and they sang too, which was lovely.’
‘There was nothing to keep them occupied at the handicapped school, it was most upsetting to see, just concrete floors and walls, we left a donation.
‘It’s hard to put into words what Kibera slums is really like – immense, vibrant, despairing, heart-wrenching, overwhelming, bustling, faithful, tear-inducing yet hopeful.’