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http://www.westtyronesinnfein.com/news/11486
Cllr Quinn speaks of 'a new perspective on life' after charity mission to Kenya.
Picture caption: Councillor Ann Quinn with Brenda whose mother has died of AIDS. Brenda arrived at the orphanage with acute pneumonia & nearly died as a result. According to Cllr Quinn "As there is no NHS, we had to take her to three different hospitals to try and get treatment. The only one to admit her was a paediatric hospital in Mombasa where it cost over £500 for five days treatment. 95% of Kenyan people could not afford fees like this so they have to standby and watch their children die in similar cases & we complain about our NHS!"
Published: 6 February, 2009
Having spent two weeks recently helping look after abandoned and homeless orphans in Kenya, local Sinn Féin councillor Ann Quinn has returned to her home in Dromore with a new perspective on life having tended for starving children taken in by the Good Life Orphanage in Mombassa.
This was an altogether different challenge to the problems she may face while doing constituency work in West Tyrone, but said this experience has made her stronger and has been a driving force to push forward and do even more in the future to help those innocent children suffering alone on the streets of Kenya.
On her return Ann said, "It was a very humbling experience. Even though the children had nothing according to our western standards, they were so happy and grateful for everything they were given.
"There was so many needy children there, taking in babies that are only a matter of days old. I met a six year-old boy, Rami, who came to the orphanage when his mother died giving birth to his brother. His father was already dead.
"There was others as young as four that had just been abandoned to fend for themselves when their mother walked out and never returned."
Ann made this trip to East Africa and the Good Life Orphanage with former Omagh Sinn Féin councillor Pat Watters and his wife Marie.
Continuing the Dromore link, the orphanage was established by Marie's brother Kevin Maguire and his wife Mary following a family holiday when they experienced first hand the levels of poverty that existed and felt impassioned to provide assistance.
With the help of friends, family and business associates they started fundraising and in September 2005, with approximately £42,000 raised, 18 workers flew out from the Dromore area to Mombassa, working in excessive temperatures and built a new two-storey school in Shanzu Village within four weeks.
The population of street children in Mombassa is approximated at 2,000, which is around 3% of the city's population. With this in mind, and after seeing the success of the school, it was decided to take on a new project and they set about building The Good Life Orphanage in 2007, taking in hundreds of children off the streets and providing them with a future full of renewed hope and optimism.
Praising the work they do and the difference they make in offering chance of life to so many, Ann said, "For Mary and Kevin, it really is their African family in Kenya, the way they have embraced those children into their hearts and their lives.
"Every penny donated goes straight into the project. It is amazing to see first hand the difference money donated in Ireland makes in providing a chance of life for these young abandoned children. It is unbelievable what they have achieved out in Kenya."
The Good Life Orphanage is run as small houses, each with a house mother who looks after children ranging in age from new-born to just six years of age. They have plans to extend this to create an orphan village complete with farmland to grow their own food, but that is going to take a lot more fundraising and financial donations to make that a reality.
Ann is continuing to raise money and if you wish to make a donation you can leave it for Ann's attention at Omagh Council Offices in the Grange or alternatively in the Sinn Féin office on
James Street , Omagh.
For more information and to donate online visit www.thegoodlifeorphanage.com
