SAIDIA NEWS!

Jill Simpson MBE

Sadly Jill passed away in October 2009. She was the founder and driving force behind Mji wa Neema and Saidia, as well as other projects helping disadvantaged children in Kenya. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her, but her work will continue to bring hope to the children of Gilgil.

For our American supporters
We now have a sister charity in the USA. You can give money for Saidia through The Orphan Support League, without having to worry about transferring money to the UK.

Mji wa Neema is Swahili for 'house of hope'. We are a small UK based charity raising funds to support orphaned children in and around Naivasha and Gilgil in Kenya, and specifically to fund Saidia Children's Home and projects started by Jill Simpson MBE, Teresa Wahito and Jane Kinuthia. Jill sadly passed away in October 2009 after a lifetime of good work, but Jane and Teresa continue to work tirelessly on behalf of AIDS orphans and other deprived children in the area.

The first 'House of Hope' was established in Naivasha, about fifty miles North of Nairobi. After two years it was taken over, and is now run by a committee of community members, with a trained social worker looking after the day to day running of the home Our original goal of creating a home that is run by the local community has been achieved, and our support is no longer required.

Our efforts now centre on Saidia Children's Home in Gilgil, and other projects which improve the lives of AIDS orphans and other disadvantaged children in Gilgil and the surrounding area.

There is no social security net in Kenya; the extended family is still very strong and orphaned children would normally be taken in by an aunt or grannie. But kids with no family are on their own, and today many families have lost the entire parent generation to AIDS. The idea of 'charity', so normal in our society, is a new idea in many third-world countries. One of our fundamental aims is to create projects that will become independent of outside aid, relying instead on a mix of self sufficiency and local support. It is precarious, but if we can help at this crucial time it will become sustainable in the long term. Small amounts of money to us will go a long way for them - can you imagine feeding a child on £10 a month in the UK?


Mji wa Neema is registered as a charity in the UK (No: 1099611). UK trustees and fund-raisers, and the administration team in Kenya, all work on an entirely voluntary basis. So we have no overheads in the UK, and every penny collected goes directly to the children. And because we support the projects directly, we know that the money we send is always used as intended.

We are funded entirely by private donations, so we are always looking for contributions, and particularly for people who would be willing to commit to a regular monthly payment to sponsor a child.

Please explore the rest of this site to find out a little more about the various projects, and maybe make a small donation. (Following the arrow at the bottom of each page will take you on a quick tour of the site.)