SHESA Silver Jubilee Class & Guneku Fondom Donate to House of Hope Orphanage, Mbengwi

SHESA Silver Jubilee Class & Guneku Fondom Donate to House of Hope Orphanage, Mbengwi

The fon of Guneku and his mates of the silver jubilee class members of Sacred Heart Ex Student's Association (SHESA) on Thursday July 29 2021 sent a delegation to visit House of Hope Orphanage, Ngyen-Mbo in Mbengwi to make a donation on their behalf. 

The visit was made following a distress call that came from the orphanage some months back and circulated on social media in which the children were seen crying for help. Contacted later, they requested for food, medication and an income generating activity like owning a grinding mill.

Family Photo

The Grinding Mills Donated by SHESA Silver Jubilee Class

When H.R.H Dr. Fomuki W. Ticha, Fon of Guneku heard the call, he contacted his classmates with whom he schooled in Sacred Heart College Mankon to help. The decision was thus arrived at that rather than always donating food to the children which  obviously gets finished in due time and they'll still cry of hunger, it'll be better something is provided for them that can go a long way in generating income for the running of the orphanage. After carrying out findings, the conclusion was thus arrived at to provide the orphanage grinding mills. 

The mills, fabricated by a young welder in Mbengwi will be used to grind the children's food stuffs and also serve the entire Ngyen-Mbo community that as at now has no grinding mill. The villagers of Ngyen-Mbo used to travel right to Mile 18 Mbengwi to grind items like maize, beans, groundnuts,  spices just to name these few. Now with a grinding mill at the orphanage, they don't have to travel to Mile 18 again. 

In addition to the machines, a cash donation of two hundred thousand (200.000) francs was also made for running cost within the early months of operation. As instructed, the money is to be used to pay the salary of the worker that shall be recruited to be operating the grinding mill for the first early months before the place starts generating its own income.

Family Photo

Symbolic Handing Over

Apart from the machines and cash, the children were also offered a basin of fresh eatable fishes harvested from a pond in the Guneku Fon's palace. The delegation that visited the orphanage was comprised of Mr. Ngwa Vitalis, the Secretary of the GUDECA, home branch, Mr. Ndingwan Primus, the Guneku traditional council chairman, Madam Fomuki Carine, a queen of the palace, Madam Sango Della who's in charge of the Guneku library, Mr. Fomuki Ben, a prince and Mr.Timo Bunde, a notable. 

Madam Ayaba Marvis is the founder and matron of House of Hope Orphanage, Ngyen-Mbo. In appreciating the gesture, she said "When I was sending out that video I didn't expect this.  I'm really so grateful and thankful to God that I have brothers and sisters who are ready to do anything for me because of these children. I feel proud. Thank you our dear chief, thank you SHESA Silver Jubilee Class. I feel so  touched in a way that I'm short of words. May the good Lord bless the fon wherever he is and his friends in Jesus name. May your reign make people be proud of you because this is an everlasting souvenir that you and SHESA Silver Jubilee Class have given to the children."

Madam Ayaba Marvis, Founder/Matron, House of Hope Orphanage, Ngyen-Mbo

A Basin of Fresh Fish from the Guneku Integrated Fisheries Project

Founded in 2012, House of Hope Orphanage today harbours over 50 kids. Initially, the orphanage was in Ngyen-Mbo but with the outbreak of the ongoing anglophone crisis, they were compelled to flee for safety since the area where it was located became a red zone as several gun battles kept taking place around there. They managed to secure an old dilapidated house in Back Mbon that was totally not fit for human habitation as it had nasty walls and floor, leaking roofs that were already falling off, dirty environment and other unfavourable conditions.

Their breakthrough will later come when images of this their precarious living conditions started surfacing online. Touched by this, Mr. Foncham Humphrey, a U.S based son of the soil asked them to relocate to Wumfi where he offered them a better house worth the name for a two years free stay with prospects of renewal. However, just barely over a year of stay at their Lower Wumfi temporal residence, they're currently making plans to return to their initial permanent headquarters in Ngyen-Mbo. 

The matron intends to source for assistance to erect dormitories for the kids in the near future and such a plan can only be materialised in their Ngyen-Mbo permanent base where there's relatively enough land for expansion. The orphanage receives visitors almost on weekly basis that keep coming to impact the lives of the children in one way or the other. At moment, the Meta Cultural and Development Association (MECUDA) recently ended an online fund raising exercise to reach out to the kids.

The Delegation that Did the Donation on Behalf of SHESA Silver Jubilee Class & the Fon of Guneku

Loading of Machine in Car from the Welder's Workshop

In June 2020, four international MECUDA branches, specifically UK, Germany, France and Belgium carried out the biggest donation ever at the orphanage comprised of 12 bung beds making a total of 24, mattresses, blankets, bedsheets, pillows and their cases, pots, buckets, cutleries, toiletries, food and money all of these amounting to two million two hundred and sixty five thousand (2.265.000) Frs CFA. The doors of House of Hope Orphanage, Ngyen-Mbo remain wide open to people of goodwill that want to reach out to the kids