Paytience Tunje in the town of Kilifi receives her school uniform and items provided by Jo Salmin and friends

A WOMAN and her family are raising funds to enable a group of children in Kenya who are orphaned or from poor families to receive a regular education.

Jo Salmin first visited Kenya three years ago, when she met her husband Juma, who comes from Mombasa. The couple, who live in the Island, have a
17-month-old daughter, Sabrinah.

Since her return Jo, who is employed part-time at a local insurance company, has been working hard with her mother, Joan Jeanne, her aunt, Jean Lamy, and Danielle Neville and other friends to raise enough money to support 18 children from Kilifi, to the north of Mombasa.

By holding a number of car boot sales and other fund-raising activities, Jo, who travels once a year to Mombasa with her husband, has so far handed over £1,350 towards fees, uniforms, shoes, school bags and stationery for 18 children at Zowerani School. They are also planning to help other children.

‘Many of the children we are helping are orphans or have been abandoned, or their parents have aids or a disability,’ she said. ‘Their lives have been very difficult as they lived in mud huts and slept on the floor without sheets or a mattress.

‘Often they live in the same clothes from day to day because they have nothing else to wear.’

The couple are hoping to raise enough funds for an orphanage to be built in the area, where their charity has a local chairman. With that in mind, they have called their charity the Samini Home for the Orphans in Kenya. It was registered in Jersey in July.

Jo said: ‘At the moment we will carry on collecting funds in support of the children’s education, and we are looking for volunteers in the Island to help us with this work.’

One of the main aims of this project is to encourage parents in Mombasa whose children are being supported in this way to make sure that they attend school and receive a proper education.

Always on the look-out for items to sell at car boot sales, Jo is asking anyone with unwanted clothing, bric-a-brac, DVDs, CDs or other items, or who is willing to make a donation, to contact her on 618709 or 077978 11871.