Being Positive Blog: Volunteer Work at Africa- July 21-2019
Hello, we’re Ansh and Laksh, two highschool students running a nonprofit called Being Positive. We work with local and international charitable organizations by arranging various camps and drives within and outside of the USA with the support of our family and friends. One drive we did was for food and school supplies. This was on July 21, 2019, at The Garden of Hope Centre in Ngong, Kenya. The Garden of Hope Centre is a children’s home that provides food, shelter, schooling, and care to unprivileged kids and orphans. They serve more than 250 impoverished children in different centers from surrounding villages. The center we visited was in Ngong Village, and there were about 40 children. We spent 4-5 hours there looking around, giving the kids food, eating lunch with them, unloading the supplies, and playing with them. We also sponsored two kids to receive a college education. The food we provided them with was pizza and soda. The sad thing about this was that for many of them, that was the first time they ever had pizza, soda, or that much food. We brought almost 30 pizza boxes, and by the end, there was only one box left. Some fell in love with pizza so much that they had up to eight slices. On top of that, we donated many boxes containing supplies such as notebooks, colored pencils, sweets, cake, oil, butter, potatoes, bread, sugar, and more. This is a picture of some of the supplies that were given.
The situation for all these children was horrible. They all slept in the same place they learned. Many even slept on the floor without a blanket. Unfortunately, these kids are not getting the education they deserve. Their education system is far less advanced than standard systems. It is unfair to these kids. It is our job to support kids like this and their teachers. At this center, the teachers worked for free. Also, when we heard the situations of some of these children, we were shocked. One particular story was of one girl who already had a child at the age of 16. This is a picture we got with her and her child. Unfortunately, what happened to her was very sad. A police officer raped her on the streets, and she was forced to have the child. Luckily, she was able to find the Garden of Hope Centre. The center took them both in, and they both make the most of every day. This brings out the importance of being positive every day, no matter the situation you are. Because if you work hard, almost anything is possible. Everything we did was great, but it is still not enough. Everyone as a community should support teachers that work for free, schools, and orphanages. Because knowledge is essential, and everyone deserves to have a standard education. Here are some more pictures of us at the center.
