How Does a Village of Love Begin?
Leonora and Andrew Obara. Leonora is the Volunteer Programme Administrator with Kijiji Cha Upendo, and social worker with WOFAK, Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya. Andrew is the Volunteer Project Administrator of Kijiji Cha Upendo.2002: One Kenyan family opens their arms to orphaned children
Andrew and Leonora Obara, parents to five lovely daughters, adopt their first AIDS-orphaned child. Over the next two years they take in four more orphaned children. They do not ask the question of how they will manage financially. They simply trust God to provide.
2004: A Canadian and Kenyan meet
Leonora receives a scholarship from the Theresa Group, to travel to Toronto Canada, to attend an International AIDS Conference, “Breaking the Silence.”
Canadian Social Worker, Robyn Salter, draws her church, Runnymede United, into supporting the Obara children to go to schoolThere she meets a Canadian social worker, who is blown away by the Obaras generosity and love, and who shares their situation with some church friends. The Obaras have not asked for financial help, but this church group, knowing that education in Kenya is not free, pool together to send some money to help out with the obvious financial burden on the family.
Model of one family and one church
Over the following years, the number of AIDS-orphaned children adopted by the Obaras increases to ten! Funds are sent to enable all fifteen children to attend school and to receive training to equip them for work in the world. The Orphan Care Project becomes an official mission of Runnymede United Church.
2008: Youth make connections
A church youth group planning to go to Africa for mission exposure decides to visit Kenya and to help build a classroom for a school, the connections all organised by Andrew Obara. Deep friendships are forged between Canadian and Kenyan youth. The direction of some young lives are changed.
Orphan caregivers are invited to join Village of Love2009: Connections spark an idea
Andrew Obara visits Toronto on a ticket donated by a friend who works in the airlines. Here he meets a pastor, Dr Orville Brown, with whom he discusses the problem of helping the orphaned children around them.
The Obaras can no longer take more orphans into their home, which is bursting at the seams! However, other families, even poorer than their own, do take in orphaned children, even though they have very little means of providing support. The idea arises of forming these other families into an organisation so that they can speak with one voice in seeking help.
2010: 15 families are recruited and registered in Kenya
Andrew and Leonora visit many families who are caring for orphaned children in the slums of Kibera and consult with government and charitable organisations, carefully selecting the first families to form a pilot project. Kijiji Cha Upendo (Swahili for “Village of Love”) Children’s Project, is registered with the Kenyan government as a community based organisation and is now eligible to receive charitable dollars.
2011: Village of Love Canada partners with CAP/AIDS (now the CAP Network)
Village of Love Canada is formed as the Canadian fund raising wing for Kijiji Cha Upendo. Rather than establish a new charitable organisation in Canada, a partnership with the CAP/AIDS Network is forged.
2012: In Kenya, a strategic plan is formed.
In Kenya, Kijiji Cha Upendo holds a three day strategic plannng conference. They determine to expand, to form an additional cluster of fifteen families each year.
Now (2023) there are 9 clusters embracing 135 women and over 600 children!