We’ve been proudly rescuing abandoned babies for over 20 years, but where did it all begin?
Our founders Clive and Mary Beckenham always hoped to build a children’s home and worked towards this from a young age. Mary says she dreamed of setting up a children’s home in Africa from the age of 7.
Clive and Mary prepared themselves for the fruition of this dream, by training to be ready to serve abandoned babies – Mary trained as a nurse and Clive trained in engineering. Although this dream wasn’t fulfilled until the couple were both 50 years old.
Arriving in Kenya in 1989, the couple began a 2-year assignment at a local Bible college. Towards the end of the assignment in 1992, Mary read an article in a local newspaper about HIV positive babies being abandoned in Kenyan hospitals. Reading the article ignited Mary’s dream and passion to start a children’s home in Africa, and she began researching and making enquiries with other Kenyan homes. Through her research and speaking to Dr Paul Wangai Jr (a doctor already working with HIV positive adults), Mary realised there was no one working with HIV positive children.
After a couple of years of praying and seeking advice, Clive and Mary found a building in Loresho in 1994, using the downstairs to establish the children’s home, and living upstairs with their own biological children. The staff team was very small, and everyone was involved with everything at the home. All staff entered the home untrained, but were trained on how to appropriately care for the children, and using the facilities.
Since then, New Life Home Trust has rescued over 1,800 abandoned babies in Kenya, and are committed to increasing this number and making an impact on the lives of children affected by HIV.
Here in the UK, we are committed to raising funds to send over to Kenya to continue this valuable work. Could you help support the work of New Life Home Trust? Visit our fundraise, donate and volunteer pages or contact us to find out more.