Raising Hope: The Angel Centre

What sane mother would abandon their baby? Is this person without a conscience? Does she not have a heart? could it be that she is simply evil?! We had so many questions when we got there. Questions that, truth be told, we may never get answers to…nevertheless one can’t help but wonder.

I had heard stories before ~~and at an early age seen cases~~, of children dumped into dumpsites, on streets, on hospital facilities, in bushes or into pit- latrines. However over Easter weekend, these stories became too real. Holding these little angels in our hands, feeding them their formula, it was simply incomprehensible how these precious beings could have undergone so much pain and suffering, within such a short period of life.

In my arms was this adorable bundle of joy, Alexander, with his appetite in check he hurriedly finished his bottle of formula within a number of minutes, as if to show who was the best feeder among the ‘siblings’. Alex’s story, like all of the others, is a sad one. With just a few hours in this cruel cruel world, the poor boy was stuffed into a sack like pieces of old clothes and dumped into a pit latrine. He was lucky enough to get rescued before it was too late.

zuru kenya Angel Center — cute little Alex after feeding

Abandonment breaches all fundamental parental roles of providing

nurturance, protection and guidance to one offspring, particularly during the most vulnerable stages of their lives, and that is why one wonders how a mother could inflict such pain and suffering on her own child. These things that could not be provided to them by their parents, Angel Center has committed to provide.

Founded by Wamaitha Mwangi, Angel Center for abandoned children which is based in Dagoretti seeks to provide Basic human rights, Love & affection, Medical care, Complementary therapy, Good nutrition and most importantly, a place that these precious beings can call home until they find their long term families.

Taking care of 27 or so kids, is a full time job that can only be described as a calling. Not that many people could commit to giving their all to children that are not their own. Babies are a gift from God and as helpless as they are, we commend the work that Angel Center is doing to give them “a fresh start”.

When we arrived for our playdate with the kids on Easter Monday, the mum’s were busy getting them ready; bathing and feeding them. Unfortunately at the time, some of the kids had come down with chicken pox so the younger one’s had to be kept separate from the older ones to avoid contacting the same. That didn’t stop us from enjoying our time with the Kids though. We played, danced, snacked together, and had loads of fun.

While there, one of the kids was on his way out. Off to start a new chapter with his new loving family. Although oblivious of the fact that he wasn’t going to come back to Angel Center, the joy expressed on his face was enough confirmation that he was going to be just alright. In case you are looking to adopt or sponsor a child feel free to get intouch with the Angel Center.

We had an amazing time with the kids at Angel Center. If we could carry them home, we would have ( they are so cute!!!). Nevertheless, despite not being able to understand how an otherwise sane mother could carry to term her baby only to abandon and in some cases kill, desperation can never explain the “leave to let die” abandonment. Any sane mother, no matter how desperate her situation, will look for a caring place to leave her baby.

Dumping and abandoning newborns is a crime. There must be a law stiffly penalizing mothers for this.

That said, we don’t know the circumstances that led to these kids’ abandonement. Perhaps we’ll never know the full story. We can only thank God that people like Wamaitha and the ladies at the home exist. Because of them, these little miracles have a place to call home and a chance at a good life.