Community Service Experience Report

INTRODUCTION

I chose to do my community service at Mama Fatuma Goodwill Children`s Home because of one main reasons. I had visited the home previously several times and I had an understanding of how the institution works and more importantly the vital role it plays in shaping the lives of the precious children whom it houses.

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

The Mama Fatuma Children`s Home was established in 1966 for the disabled and physically impaired children of Nairobi`s suburb of Eastleigh. Shortly after the launch of the initiative, Mama Fatuma Gullam converted the home into a place of refuge for children who were orphans, those whose parents had abandoned them or had passed away due to HIV/AIDS. To meet the needs of the increasing number of

Firstly is the lack of sufficient finances, the Home has struggled financial since it heavily relies on foreign assistance. Sponsors and well-wishers are few and although the Home gets assistance from the Government it isn’t enough to meet the costs of the Home. The limited funds hinder the Home and it struggles to meet some the needs of the children such as education. The well-wishers and sponsors at times also forget and have to be called up and reminded about their promises which is a very frustrating process. There is also a lack of sufficient number of well-wishers, sponsors and donors, this then leads to adding more strain on the already insufficient funds the Home has access

Being an International Relations student I got the chance to experience some of the concepts I learnt in my various IR classes to good use by getting a hands-on experience which was very important for not only its relevance but its uniqueness. I learnt that it’s everybody’s responsibility to take part in the well-being of the community and that the community is essentially you and me, the community is a shared asset that we all own and have a stake in and thus it’s our responsibility to take care of the less fortunate in the