For many teenagers in America, their greatest worry is if they are carrying the latest cell phone. But that's not the case for 14-year-old Brenda Obote of Homa Bay, western Kenya. When her parents died in 2004, Brenda's greatest worry was if, while she was sleeping, it would rain on her 2-year-old sister, Quinta — or her 9-year-old brother, Evans, her 8-year-old sister, Evelyn, or her aging grandmother, Paskalia.
"Every single night I used to worry about this baby here," Brenda remembers, gesturing to Quinta. "Whenever I saw the clouds, I would get so worried. I would go arrange with some of our neighbors so that the baby could sleep at their house."
Brenda, her siblings and grandmother now have a warm, dry home to sleep in and an entire village of support thanks to The Children Behind project, funded by private donations to Catholic Relief Services. This innovative project serves 16,350 children who have lost one or both parents, as well as other vulnerable children in Kenya's Nyanza province. Six local CRS partners help deliver the free services to the children and their caretakers, with support including food, health care, school uniforms and other clothing, school fees, and agricultural assistance.
"Before the project came in, Brenda could only go to school once a week because she had to look for food," observes one of the project's community health workers, Monica Adongo, who visits Brenda's home each week. With the project's food support, Brenda can now attend school regularly, no longer needing to collect firewood to sell each day to support her family.
The project has led to many improvements in the surrounding community, including getting children back in school, improving families' health, and building proper shelters for those most in need, Monica adds. More than two dozen community members gathered in July 2007 to show off Brenda's newly constructed home and thank project staff. The new house stands next to the exposed stick structure Brenda's family previously lived in, a stark reminder of their former struggles.
"I feel loved now that they have come here. Before, I never used to go to school regularly, I never used to get help," Brenda says. "I can now go to school. What I would really wish is for [the project] to continue supporting us in education. I really want to go to school and become a better person through education."
Brenda still faces the challenges of heading a household at such a young age, especially as her grandmother's health continues to deteriorate. But she doesn't worry like she used to and can start dreaming about her future.
"This help came as a surprise. We feel better now because we can sleep in a warm place, and we can sleep peacefully in the night. I now can do my classwork better, and I am so happy," Brenda adds. "I hope that one day I will complete my education so I can help my younger siblings. I clearly wish to be somebody in the future."
