When kind hearted Ashton couple Gayle and Paul Woods had the idea of creating the charity Gap Kenya, their aims were to Educate, Empower and Enable young people living on the streets and tragically around the rubbish tip in Mombasa, Kenya.
From the initial small start the charity’s services has expanded driven by the couple’s energy and enthusiasm of and their ability to engage with others in Mombasa to the benefit of those they support.
Gap Kenya offer a range of services in several centres in Mombasa to the unfortunate children and young people, who find themselves abandoned on the streets.
They offer basic education, basic hygiene and life skills to many of these young people. Food is an important part of the programme as most are without a sufficient supply of the basic necessities of life.
The young people are encouraged and supported in playing games at the centre - an essential part of growing up and a relief from the struggles of daily life.
A skills workshop is providing some of the older young people, who may have missed out on a formal education, with skills for jobs to enable them to become self-sufficient.
Gap Kenya also operates a foster home for a limited number of young people to get them off the street and give them some additional support. When possible, the young people are supported into more formal education, which comes at a cost.
Saddleworth Rotary Club have been helping Gap Kenya with some of these educational costs for nearly 10 years now. And Gayle and Paul keep Club members updated with the progress of Gap Kenya and, in particular, how the Club’s education grant is helping.
They use Facebook and and direct updates to the Club by email. Members and others can find further information on the Gap Kenya website at www.gapkenya.com.
Club members enjoy a visit from Gayle and Paul, usually annually, for a more personal update and discussion about the current challenges faced by the charity. And earlier this month the club had the opportunity to see for themselves what progress had been made and had the opportunity to hear from Gayle and Paul about the current situation including how some who were receiving formal education were helping others who were not so fortunate with their basic education.
At that meeting, Saddleworth Rotary Club donated a further £1500 to Gap Kenya towards the education of the young people they support through formal education in Kenya.
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