Mfangano Island, Kenya
Barcelona, Spain
Mfangano is an island situated to the East of Lake Victoria, in Kenya. It has a population of approximately 30,000 people, nearly all of whom are fishermen by trade.
The Mfangano Support Program for Orphans and Vulnerable Children began in 2003, with the marriage of Jane and Peter Odhiambo. When opening their eyes to the urgent need of many children on the island, Jane and Peter began to help on a small scale by welcoming neglected children into their own family.
To offer a clearer picture of the situation, the island suffers a 30% incidence rate of HIV. Due to the crippling stigma that surrounds the illness, the limited access to medical assistance or methods of prevention, added to the rife sex trade that surrounds the fishing coast along Lake Victoria, the infection rate of the virus has risen exponentially in recent years. Only a short time ago have NGOs begun to raise awareness among the population and carry out diverse campaigns to try to eradicate the illness.
One of the direct consequences of this has been the staggering quantity of orphaned and abandoned children. Furthermore, an alarmingly high number of single mothers are raising children alone, as husbands often do not taken responsibility for their infants. In many cases, these children are largely neglected, or outlive their parents at an early age, left without a place to live or to cover basic necessities such as food, education, health services or clothes.
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Peter and Jane's Project began with something as simple as sharing out food and clothes, and little by little it grew to the current program which supports 58 children, covering their basic needs and financing their studies.
One of the biggest problems that the family faces is that their resources are limited. There are no facilities for the children, and so Peter and Jane use their small house as a day centre. There are about 30 children under 7 years old. These younger children attend the local preschool (until 9-10 years old) in the mornings, who then spend the afternoons in the family home where they receive the attention that is absent elsewhere. In this way, the programme tries to cover not only basic necessities such as hygiene and nutrition, but also the emotional needs of the children, creating a place where they can play and have fun, and more importantly still, a place where they feel safe and welcome.
Due to the few resources available to the family, which pay for much needed employees and the aforementioned care, the most important issue remains unresolved; when the day comes to an end, the children must return to houses in which sadly, in many cases, they are abused, underfed and medically untreated.
In October 2016, the new Spanish NGO Asociación Índigo, which is based in Barcelona and directed by Sandra Borrás, undertook collaboration with the programme aiming to create new projects and drive progress.
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