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20 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 16, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Youths in Kenya have hope despite tragedy Continued from page 11 of corrugated steel, wooden benches made out of really rough lumber. That sort of thing," said Flynn. While the conditions may not be ideal Mulli's orphanage in the village of Ndalani, located just outside the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, alone houses nearly 1,000 children and educates them to a Grade 12 level. "Some of the kids have HIV, some don't. A lot of them are street kids, a lot of them have been abandoned," said Flynn. "When you sit and listen to their stories a lot of them have been through so much. We think street life in North America is bad. Just imagine what it's like over there." Mulli's orphanage in the village of Yatta takes care of 200 young women and teaches them such skills as micro-financing, hairdressing, sewing and other trades that will allow them to eventually leave the orphanage and earn a living on their own. Flynn noted that many of the young women in these orphanages have stories about their prior lives, which are so horrible they are almost beyond belief. "One young lady always wore this black baseball cap, and I didn't understand why, because she was pretty as anything. I thought it was just some kind of teenaged rebellion or some- PHOTO COURTESY OF KEVIN FLYNN LIFE'S LESSONS: The girls in secondary school in Yatta. Here they are taught life skills programs that would include topics like basic finance in what is a corrugated steel classroom that is hoped to be replaced by a stone structure. thing, but one day she told me," said Flynn. The girl said that her parents had died and she had been sent to live with her aunt, who was an alcoholic and would routinely pimp her out to get money for alcohol. In one particularly terrible incident the aunt attacked the girl with a machete for refusing to have sex with two men at the same time. "The hat she wore was covering up a huge scar on her head," said Flynn. "These kids are telling you these stories, they're stories that would just emotionally devastate anyone, and yet they're still smiling and they're still able to go on with their lives and they still have hope." While the orphanages that shelter these children are largely self-sufficient, due to Mulli's agricultural business ventures, assistance is needed to better conditions and to allow more needy children to enter. The recent political violence in Kenya has hindered Mulli, who reported to Flynn on Wednesday, Jan. 9 that a farm he was leasing to help provide food for his orphans was burned to the ground with the workers and caretakers having to flee on foot to avoid being lynched. The arsonists, who carried out the burning of the farm, have also burned thousands of homes throughout the town known as Eldoret. In an act that captured international headlines, a church in Eldoret was also set on fire killing close to 50 people, mostly women and children, trapped inside. While Mulli noted in his email that no staff or children from his orphanages have been killed, he also expressed concern about a large number of children and staff who visited relatives across Kenya over the holidays and have not been able to return as transportation by vehicle is now largely impossible. "All major roads linking various cities and towns within the country have been barricaded and manned by gangster youths who are terrorizing any person who attempts to travel," wrote Mulli. "Any form of transport on these roads has been paralyzed with only a few displaced persons being escorted under heavy security by the army and paramilitary police." Fortunately the Mully Children's Family Foundation centres at Ndalani, Yatta and another centre in Eldoret have not been touched by the violence. Despite the continuing political turmoil, Flynn is going ahead with his efforts to assist Mulli in his work with the orphans and notes that other people should not be afraid to do so as well. "This situation will blow over. It will stabilize," he said. "Within the orphanages themselves there's kids from just about every tribe in Kenya and they find a way to get along with each other. Hopefully the adults will too." Anyone who wants to learn more about the Mully Children's Family Foundation and what they can do to help can call Flynn at 905-827-5141. #1 Website oakvillebeaver