Safe House @ Kilamombongo

On our third day we headed into the countryside to see a feeding program in action. We arrived at a safe house on property outside of Kilamombonga. The 20+ girls who live at the site are all orphans. They all have tragic stories. Nobody finds a home here unless they have an awful story that puts them there.

In Africa in general, orphanages are a last resort option for kids who have lost their parents. If a child loses both parents, a relative usually will take him or her in. If there is no relative, a friend or guardian will usually step up to the plate. Unfortunately, the vulnerability of these children (as young as six) is sometimes taken advantage of. Molestation and even forced prostitution is not uncommon. This particular safe house gets such children out of harm’s way, nurturing them back to wholeness, paving the way for a solid future through education and support.

The school that was benefitting from a feeding program was not far from the safe house. The primary school was built by Del Monte foods, integrated into their property, adjacent to sub-standard living quarters they built for their non-living-wage employees. The leaders of the safe house are not exactly raving fans of Del Monte. They claim that the reason Del Monte only built a primary school is so that when a child is finished, they can go directly to the fields instead of moving on toward secondary school at a sizable expense. Also, Del Monte doesn’t pay a dime for the lunch program. It was suggested that this is because they know that a hungry child is an underperforming child who is more likely to become an employee because no other options exist. Furthermore, the living conditions put children at risk – many children have been molested and infected with HIV because their parents were not present to protect them – they were forced to work into the night when the children are most vulnerable.

The feeding program was a hit. From one massive kettle they fed 500 children from an efficient wood-burning oven/stove that was encased in ceramic tile. He kids were delighted to see us, and we thrilled to see themselves on a digital camera’s LCD screen.

While walking the grounds at the safe house, two of the Furaha leaders walked with me. They asked if my parents were still alive. I said yes, that my father was 75 years old and my mother was 73. They could not believe it. The average life expectancy in Huruma is 40! By their standards, I am an older man. This led to an interested conversation about why life expectancy is so much longer in the US than in Huruma. Where do you begin to answer that question?
By the day’s end, we were quite impressed with the Furaha leaders, the safe house, and the feeding program. But not so much with Del Monte. Think twice before you buy those pineapple spears…