House sale will help give Kenyan kids an education | Northern Rivers News | Local News in Northern Rivers

THANKS: Pictured with baby Purity Mboche are (from left) Mission in Action's Sarah Eaton and Martha Mongina, co-founder of Auss

THE sale of a house at Ballina Heights this year will help give Kenyan orphans an education.

The home was auctioned in January as a fundraiser for Lennox Head-based charity, Aussies for Orphans, founded by Steve and Sue Lewis.

Part of the money raised by that effort has been directed to a baby orphanage in Nakuru, Kenya, to build a preschool.

This week, the co-founder of Mission in Action which operates the Nakuru Baby Orphanage, Mary Budulica - formerly of Richmond Hill - and one of the orphanage workers, Martha Mongina, visited Steve and Sue Lewis with baby Purity - who turns one tomorrow, September 19 - to thank Aussies for Orphans for its support, and to gain further support.

They visited the region for a week as part of a month-long stay in Australia.

Mary said she and her husband Ivan set up the orphanage four years ago.

It currently houses 35 orphans, with Mary as 'mum'.

Many of those children, like Purity, became orphaned after their parents passed away with HIV.

And, like Purity, many of the children are HIV positive.

But Mary said that with proper diet and care, their bodies can fight the disease and become HIV negative.

Mary said that 10 of the children in the orphanage would be ready for preschool next year, while seven are already at an age where they can begin their eduction.

She said it was difficult for children of any family in Kenya to get an education, let alone orphan children.

"Education is a big deal in Kenya, but not many children get an opportunity to go to school," she said.

"Most orphanages have to build a school."

Lennox Head woman Sarah Eaton runs the Mission in Action Australian head office at Byron Bay.

It is in Ruskin Street.

For more information on the group, see the website www.nakurubabyorphanage.com or email info@nakurubabyorphanage.com. Or you can phone Sarah on 0402 768967.