Posted by : Lizzie on 07/12/2009 at 10:38

Please take a moment to read this post. Just give me a couple of minutes to tell you about Imani, Zarif and Aasir in the photo below. Taken before Christmas last year, they are smiling and waving. Not so long ago, it was a different story. Before they came to the Jubilee Blind School, Northern Kenya, they were left to their own devices, with little care and attention and definitely no prospect of an education.

I do not blame their families for neglecting them, because I do not know what it is like to live in a harsh desert environment, where the men are gone for weeks at a time with the camel herds in search of grazing and water. I do not know what it is like to have a child who cannot see. A child who needs constant care the I cannot provide, because making sure that my family have food an clean water takes all day, every day.

What I do know is that the Jubilee Blind School is a life-line to so many children. Children like Maluum, who arrived after fleeing terrible clashes between the Boran and Gabbra tribes, resulting in widespread loss of life. Deeply traumatised and speaking only Borana, she could not communicate with anyone. After six months her life had been transformed. She is now self-assured, able to converse in Swahili and hold her own in the daily bustle of school life. She has learnt Braille, is forging ahead with her studies and is fully integrated in the school community.

There are many children like Maluum in need of support and a future. Children like Little Richard, who suffered at the hands of the Lords Resistance Army, and is orphaned and looking after his younger siblings in Patongo refugee camp in norther Uganda. A lovely boy, who, in spite of overwhelming responsibility at such a tender age, nurtures and provides for his family and manages to smile too.

They are awe-inspiring. Each and every one of them.

You may not have had a chance to support our work this year. Why not grasp this opportunity to give this Christmas? Will you help us achieve our target of raising £30,000 so that we can fulfil our promises to the children? Promises such as providing more places at the Jubilee Blind school, preventing children from being trafficked in Nepal and offering vocational training to former child soldiers in northern Uganda.

Together we can bring a smile to more young faces. Together we can offer them a future. Together we can make a difference. We cannot do it without you.

Imagine, just £12 could buy a set of books for one classroom. £35 could pay for a year of schooling for a child in Haiti. £50 could provide one former child soldier witha vocational training course in carpentry. £500 could pay the salary of another Braille teacher. £1,000 could support a child rescue team to prevent children from being trafficked. Join us in making a fight to these children this Christmas. Donate now >>

Thank you for reading. And thank you for your support.

With all good wishes for a very happy Christmas, from all of us at Jubilee Action.

Warm regards,

John Graham
Chairman