"I was at the verge of committing suicide, but courtesy of the acceptance and the love I felt at Limuru Cheshire Home, I live to tell the story."
These are the words Salima Ntitai; a 23-year old Maasai lady could not hide when I caught up with her recently at the Limuru Cheshire Home. The Limuru Cheshire Home is indeed a home, not just for Salima but also to more than 60 other teenage and young adult females.
Located about an hour’s drive away from Kenya’s capital - Nairobi, Limuru Cheshire Home sits on an 18 acreage piece of land. At the outer gate which is wide open with no guard on site, a small white signpost with the words, ‘‘Limuru Cheshire Home’’ inscribed in black tells you that you are in Limuru.
As often is the case, this part of Kenya is supposed to be freezing cold, but the scorching sun seems to have altered the weather patterns. One can barely feel the cold!
Metres away from the outer gate, as you turn to the left, another small brown sign post with the words, ‘‘Welcome to Limuru Cheshire Home’’ ushers you into the rare side of the compound. The slightly sloppy ground is rugged and dusty, but the neatly trimmed green flowers forming a square in front of the building are refreshing to the sight.
To the right side stands a cream walled building. At the centre of the wall is a small white circle with the words, ‘‘Still the Candle burns’’ inscribed in blue, as if to depict a ray of light in the darkest night.
A walk through the pavements separated by the trimmed green flowers leads you to the reception area, where a notice board makes an announcement, ‘‘Disability is not inability’’
Indeed the image that unfolds as you enter the building attests to this fact. It is unbelievable that the well beaded baskets of different colours hanging neatly on the walls along with sewn garments, the well knitted cardigans for babies and other pieces of handwork have been done at this home.
A close look at the students sitting around the tables in African ‘‘vitenge’’ uniforms, their eyes fixed intently on the handiwork before them and their hands moving occasionally to bring out the desired patterns reveals that you are in a special unit.
It is here that we meet Salima in action. She is short of stature, so much so that if one does not take a keen look, they might mistake her for a young girl in lower primary school. The once withdrawn girl is now bubbly, skilled, confident and beaming with life.
Salima’s Early Life
Rejected by her father, step siblings and the people she came in contact with, Salima felt less of a person. As she sits upright in her armless chair, tears lingering in her eyes, she narrates what transpired;
‘‘I was born in Kajiado Central in a polygamous family. I was born with a disability which made my father to dislike me. He planned on several occasions to have me thrown away but my mother stood by me.’’
‘‘My mother underwent a lot of torture because of my disability. She then took refuge at her parents’ place and it is from there that my grandparents took me to AIC Center Kajiado who in turn decided to take me to Kijabe hospital to seek for a remedy to my disability. After I was treated, I attended my Pre-school and Primary school at AIC Center Kajiado where I sat for my Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in 2015. I then joined Carry Francis High School – Isinya where I happened to be the only student with a disability. The teachers and even fellow students discriminated against me so much that I began to withdraw and sit alone after class. When I couldn’t bear it anymore, I contemplated suicide but a friend of mine intervened. My efforts to be transferred to another school only turned futile when my father perceived it as a plot to terminate my studies. I resorted to enduring but the situation got even worse, forcing me to stop school at Form three. I stayed at home for two years, hopeless and jobless. It is only in September 2020 that I got help from the people at AIC Center who brought me to Limuru Cheshire home. Here, my life began to change and I felt that disability is not inability.
The New Dawn
Salima says that she found love and acceptance at Limuru Cheshire Home. The religious sister in charge of the home at the time, together with other staff members provided the material and moral support she needed most. Above all they taught her how to make table marts, different baskets, knitting and other types of handiwork.
‘‘Getting to a point where I can make my income out of my handiwork and even support my mother and siblings is an accomplishment I owe to Limuru Cheshire home.’’ Salima said with a hearty smile.
The Assumption Sisters of Nairobi, ASN at the Limuru Cheshire Home
Having taken over the care of Limuru Cheshire Home in 1982, the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi – ASN have worked hard to keep alive the wish of the founder Leonard Cheshire by empowering teenage and young adult females who are abled differently.
The sisters cater for the specific needs of each client ensuring that the lives of the girls and young adults that get the privilege of going through the home have received total transformation.
The sisters cater for the specific needs of each client ensuring that the lives of the girls and young adults that get the privilege of going through the home have received total transformation.
During break time, one cannot help but notice the mix of girls at Limuru Cheshire Home; some bubbly, others calm as they take the millet porridge prepared for them at the facility. Sr. Consolata Banda who is currently in charge of the facility recounts with joy how one Nancy who came to the home totally unable to speak just woke up one day and spoke to the amazement of everyone!
“When Nancy came here, she was not talking because she had been shut off for so long! But one morning Nancy just spoke!”
It is evident that the sisters running the home strive each day to ensure that the girls who are brought to them receive holistic transformation.
In the afternoon session, Gene Steyn, a young lady from South Africa who is a volunteer at Limuru Cheshire home takes the girls through art lessons. The joy on the faces of the many teenage girls and young adults who have managed to draw their favourite portraits and even paint them with the help of the volunteer is apparent.
The girls also get a chance to showcase their music talents. Despite a little discord, they cheerfully sing chorus after chorus of renowned catholic songs.
According to Sr. Banda, the girls at Limuru Cheshire home are not only equipped with vocational skills for income generation but also empowered to function independently as much as possible. They are taken through an intensive training in tailoring, knitting, beadwork, literacy skills, beauty, and cookery.
With the help of the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi efforts are in place to make the home sustainable through income generating activities such as bread baking; poultry keeping, mushroom farming, dairy farming as well as horticulture. These projects are also utilized as a training opportunity for the girls.
Lack of professionally trained personnel at the home is slowing down the home from giving the very best to the home’s primary beneficiaries.
‘‘Right from the classroom, the teachers lack the skills to handle children with special needs partly because of lack of sufficient salary to employ such teachers. There is also a lack of skilled farmers and equipment to help make the farm more productive in terms of agricultural yields. Besides, there is a lack of market for the farm produce; hence, the centre opts to sell off their products at throw away prices. This stalls the progress of Cheshire home.’’ Sr. Consolata Banda.
These challenges notwithstanding, a quick tour around Limuru Cheshire Home reveals a rather promising picture of hope and a strong potential to yield more. This home is not only transforming minds but also touching hearts, and truly, ‘‘Still the candle burns.’’
