Malaika Kids

A part of the curriculum at IST, is to encourage students to take part in community service. It seemed only fair, that if we ask the children to give back to the community, we, as teachers do the same. As our library and grades order new books, the old ones are left homeless. So today, a few teachers went to visit Malaika Kids to donate boxes of books.

Malaika Kids is an orphanage. At the moment, their little village has about 30 children. They've put a lot of thought into the design of the place. The rooms are set up to allow cross ventilation, and therefore eliminates the need for fans or ACs. Each mini-house holds a "mother" who sleeps in the common room. On each side is the dorm. One side for the girls, and the other for the boys. Each dorm sleeps 5 children. There is also a self contained play area for the younger children.

Their drainage system is green. Rain collects in the gutters, and then is directed into a water tank. This can then be used to help water their shamba, garden, where they have tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers and other vegetables growing.

It was a lovely visit there. The children were thrilled to see us. They sang us a welcome song, and came over to chat. There was one darling little girl, Amina, who is 3 years old. She's very small for a 3 year old. Upon looking at the Malaika Kids website, I learnt Amina and I are kindred spirits. We share the same birthday!

The boys dorm.

The shamba

Amina