The boys at bible camp

In December all the boy’s went to bible camp for a week. This was very exciting for them! Because what do you have to take with you when you go out for a whole week? They took their nicest clothes and all their pocket money and put them in their new backpacks (they just got the backpacks for school). Then they were ready to go! The first two day’s the boy’s had to get used to the new place and some of them were a bit homesick. But from the third day they had already forgotten about home and enjoyed the camp a lot! From bible lessons to dance evenings, from dressing up to fun singing evenings, everything was great!

New boys

Three new boys were taken in after camp. Welcome to the family Yusuf Ali, James and Jackob! James (10) is our little acrobat. He likes doing back flips and other acrobatic stunts. Jackob (14) likes to help with cleaning and other work in te house. He totally likes his robot-move. This is how he moves around the house. Yusuf Ali (13) likes making jokes and telling stories. It gets more cozy in the house every time. Unfortunately we can’t take in more boys due to our budget.

Christmas and New Year

The boys enjoyed these day’s a lot! We are now one big family. This is our mission and we put a lot of effort in it to achieve it. It is important to experience the saveness of a home and to learn how it is and feels like to have a family who cares about you. So we tried our best to create a nice mood during Christmas. We played a lot of games and went to the beach. When the boys got home there was a real Christmas dinner waiting for them! With chicken, chips and local food. All the boy’s made their own candlebrum, so we had candlelight at dinner. They enjoyed it a lot! We could also hear that (some boys champ a lot when the food is delicious). With New Year we had a camp fire, music, dance and singing. We made real ‘oliebollen’ (a Dutch traditional food at New Year) and we had marshmallows for in the fire. It was a wonderful time!!

School

Since the 9th of January all the boys are going to school. They have to work really hard, but they are doing very well. They have long days at school and when they get home they still have to do their homework. But the boys are very happy and really proud of theirselves. Sometimes it is difficult for them to keep track of time. They wondered around the house at 4 in the morning! But a new rule is working miracles. They have to stay in bed until we wake them up. Or else the days will get very long for them (for us as well).

Visit to the Netherlands

In January Melissa went to the Netherlands for three weeks. She needed a little bit of rest after a few heavy and busy months. And of course she really wanted to see her family and friends again. She also had a lot of things to arrange for the foundation in the Netherlands. She bought a lot of stuff for the kids and lots of clothes were donated for the boy’s. Melissa left Kenya with two empty suitcases and returned with 70 kg of luggage. Melissa was interviewed for a magazine called ‘My Secret’. She told about the ups and downs of starting BeHoCa in Kenya. We will keep you posted about the date when it’s coming out.

Volunteers and interns

Esther Roeters and Ria Lambrechts van Herpt helped us in November. We had a great time with you and we want to thank you for all the donations! In December Anke Meerstra was with us in Kenya. She is one of the bord members of the foundation in the Netherlands. Thank you very much for all your help and effort with the boring administrative tasks! During her stay Anke decided to change her monthly donation. She is now the financial adoptive parent of Adam. There are already 5 kids who have a financial adoptive parent. Amazing!

Since the 1st of February Marja van Garderen is staying with us. She is our first intern and we want to welcome her to our team in Kenya! Below a short story of Marja: 

I am Marja van Garderen and arrived at the BeHoCa home at the beginning of February to complete my internship of 5 months. I am studying Social Work at the Avans Hogeschool in ‘s Hertogenbosch. I have been in South-Africa and that journey made me decide that I wanted to study Social Work. This way I could stay in Africa for a longer period of time. At school they told me about BeHoCa and after a few emails with this foundation my decision was made. What I like about BeHoCa is the fact that it is a new foundation who is just starting. It is a small organization. This way you know for sure that the help and money go to the boy’s directly. I am hoping for an instructive and fun time. The first impressions are very promising!