An Urgent Need

Home for Orphans is in Danger of Collapse

The two-storey wooden framed building that houses more than 220 children at the Good Samaritan Children’s Home in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya, is in danger of falling over and collapsing on the children. The structure which was built in 2000 by local people from available materials serves as classrooms during the day and bedrooms at night. On the second floor as many as 70 children sleep in each room.

One by one the children climb the single set of narrow steps that lead to the second floor. It shakes with each step. The stairs have to be repaired almost every day since the boards have inadequate support and keep coming loose. The building is leaning and the roof is slowly breaking away from the walls.

Your tax-deductible donation can help buy a large steel support beam for $300 or a secondary beam for $100.

Something must be done immediately to save the only shelter that these orphans have. The rainy season is coming and the construction engineers report that the building may not hold up to the heavy rains. The entire structure could collapse on the children and young lives could be in danger.

The engineers have assessed the situation and recommend that the building be framed with hollow steel beams. The walls, floor and roof will be reinforced with steel beams, which will stabilize and align the structure. This increases the load capacity and lifespan of the building. The stairs will be replaced with metal steps and an additional set of stairs will be put in at the other end of the building for added safety.

You can help to support these children by contributing to the purchase of one or more steel beams. Your tax-deductible donation can support a larger column or main beam for $300 and a secondary beam for $100. Won’t you buy a beam and support the only shelter, the one safe place these kids have, surrounded in the slums by poverty, disease, and crime.

After we raise the funds for these beams the work will be completed in approximately two weeks with minimum disruption of the routine of the facility. The Rockbeam Construction and Engineering Works in Nairobi is donating engineering consultation and labor for this task. We just need to raise the funds to buy the steel beams.

The orphans at Good Samaritan Children’s Home are counting on us. Their lives depend on the stability of the building that is their home. By contributing the cost of a column or beam you can support the structure and help protect the 220 children who live in this building.

Construction Update: We Need Your Help to Continue

Thanks to your donations, initial construction has begun and some of the primary beams are in place. We need your help to complete this process to stabilize the building. Now we must buy beams to reinforce the sagging floor and second story of the structure. This section still poses the greatest danger to the children.

 

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