Brighton

Aluoch

Newton

Gina

Serge

Frans & François

Millicent Achieng

Ambasa Charles

Monica

Brighton
Leeftijd	10 years old
Afkomst	Brighton’s mother was raped by his father. And was therefore rejected by his mother. He knows who she is, but a mother-child relationship is non-existent. He does not call her mother. He feels at home at Hope Home.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	From the start of the home in September 2005
Evolutie	Brighton goes to school in the neighboring Hills View School. He’s in class 2 with 6 other children and is doing pretty well. He likes his teacher Mrs. Joyce. His favorite classes are English, Science and Math. Other classes include Kiswahili, Social Studies and religion.
Karakter	Brighton is the eldest child in the group. He likes to tell jokes, and takes great pleasure in caring for the smaller children.

Aluoch
Leeftijd	born in 2002, hence 3 to 4 years of age
Afkomst	Her father died. Her mother is still alive, however she suffers from a severe form of epilepsy. People from the neighborhood call her ‘mad, crazy’. She repeatedly forgot Aluoch, sometimes leaving her in the woods for days, subsequently leaving her in another spot, and it went on like this. It became very dangerous for the child to remain with her mother. Aluoch’s step-brother helped build Hope Home, which is how the family came into contact with Achieng. He requested she take their step-sister because he was unable to care for her.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	She is the fourth child to arrive at Hope Home.
Evolutie	Because of the neglect suffered during her early years, she’s had many developmental problems. She was often sick and was retarded in many aspects. She needed to learn everything from scratch: putting her clothes on, tying her shoes, eating the right food, even how to lay down in a bed! Her speech is still underdeveloped, however she is evolving positively since her arrival. She now weighs about 11 kg.
Karakter	Aluoch comes across as a tough little girl. She appears very serious. Once you’ve won her trust, she blossoms and can laugh and have fun like the best of children. She loves playing ball.

Newton
Leeftijd	3 years of age
Afkomst	Newton is the little boy in the documentary “My daughter’s mother” who gets picked up at his father’s house. His mother has died. As is often the case with men there, his father couldn’t and didn’t want to care for the baby. He is the only child at Hope Home that has never received a visit from his natural family.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	Since the start of the home in September 2005
Evolutie	Newton has evolved from a small baby to a healthy 3-year-old. He learned to walk at Hope Home.
Karakter	Newton was very shy at the beginning. Now he’s a fun-loving little boy. Together with Aluoch and Ambasa, they make a cute trio. He loves Lea, the cow at Hope Home. Like real men in town, he’s almost always walking around with a stick in his hand, to guide her along. His natural family had a whole herd of cows. This is apparently the only memory he still has of his previous home.

Gina
Leeftijd	3 months old
Afkomst	Her mother died during child birth. They brought the nameless baby to the hospital to leave her behind there, but the hospital refused to take her. Lore (co-worker at Hope Home) was coincidentally at the hospital to pick up some medication. She talked to Achieng about it, and brought the 3 day old child (she still had her umbilical cord!) home with her.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	Since April
Evolutie	She has also evolved positively, and at her last monthly control, weighed 5 kg (double what she weighed the first time she went to the Doctor’s).
Karakter	Gina requires a lot of attention, and loves to be spoiled.

Serge
Leeftijd	8 months old
Afkomst	Serge’s mother died. She survived the delivery itself, which took place at night. But by morning she had passed away. His father was a man responsible for “traditional cleansing”. Tradition in Kenya requires widow’s to be “cleansed” (an act that by Western standards would be synonymous with rape). She was one such widow. According to tradition, the man takes no responsibility for the child under these circumstances. Nine months later, Serge was born.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	He arrived at Hope Home on December 28, 2005. He was just 3 weeks old.
Evolutie	At first, Serge looked like skin and bones; only his head and his tummy were enlarged. At the first Doctor’s visit he was 2 months old and weighed 2.5 kg. Now, luckily, he has evolved to a much healthier 8.3 kg.
Karakter	Serge is well liked at Hope Home. He is always happy, and is an easy baby. He crawls backwards. Now, he’s making efforts to stand up.

Frans & François
Leeftijd	2 months old
Afkomst	The father of these twins died an accidental death before they were born. Their mother gave birth at home, and died due to complications during childbirth and lack of medical assistance. Two orphans were born. Their grandmother remained alive to take care of them, but at her age, she realized it would be too much for her to handle alone. So she brought them to Hope Home.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	Since June 2006
Evolutie	Frans progressed quickly from 2.5 kg to 4.3 kg bodyweight. His somewhat larger brother François went from 3.2 kg to 5.6 kg.
Karakter	As with every baby, they need much care and attention every day. Now, they are approaching the normal growth curve, and will have a chance to grow up at their own pace at Hope Home.

Millicent Achieng
Leeftijd	4 years old
Afkomst	Millicent’s father is deaf. When her mother died, her chances of surviving dropped drastically. Her father left her behind at the Hope Home gate, with just one change of clothes in a plastic bag. And with a false promise that he would come back and pick her up later. He never did return. The first few days were difficult and sad for Millicent.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	Since April 2006
Evolutie	Millicent is attending the nursery school now and is learning the alphabet.
Karakter	Millicent is a quiet girl, but always has a little smile on her face. Once you get to know her, she opens up. She loves the card-game UNO. She also loves rocking, playing on the slippery slide, and jump rope.

Ambasa Charles
Leeftijd	3 years old
Afkomst	After little Gina arrived at Hope Home, Achieng went looking for her family. It appeared that no one was caring for the other children. Gina’s mother was already a widow. The step father only came to check on the remaining children from time to time. Achieng brought the youngest child back with her. He was totally neglected. That’s how Abasa arrived in Hope Home.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	End of June 2006
Evolutie	At first, Ambasa was seriously malnourished. Just like Serge, he had a large head and a swollen belly. Compared to other children of his age, his growth rate is seriously retarded. But he’s definitely not lost his will to live.
Karakter	Ambasa is curious, yet mild mannered. He speaks Luo, the local language, in a whisper. He never speaks out loud. He’s getting better though. While playing, he sometimes shouts, and once he feels at ease, you can have a lot of fun with him and he loves to laugh.

Monica
Leeftijd	Monica was born on October 10, 2005, so she’s 11 months old.
Afkomst	Her father died before his daughter was born. Monica’s mother survived the delivery. She breast fed her for 1 month, and then died of AIDS. After that, Monica refused to take milk from anyone else. Her grandmother didn’t know what to do, and asked if she could stay at Hope Home.
Sinds wanneer in Hope Home?	July 11, 2006
Evolutie	When Monica arrived, she was skin and bones. Death was waiting in the wings. The day after her arrival at Hope Home, Achieng and Birgit (the volunteer-student mid-wife) took her to the hospital. She stayed at the hospital for a week, with Birgit by her side. She quickly got better. Since then she has tested + for HIV.
Karakter	Monica is a fighter. She has a strong and positive character. By the second day in the hospital, she was already smiling. She can be stubborn. She knows exactly what she wants. Maybe that’s the reason why she’s still alive.