Esther Mponye brings hope to mityana’s destitute children

Mar 01, 2011

IT was a bizarre incident that haunted her and changed her attitude towards life.

By Mathias Mazinga

IT was a bizarre incident that haunted her and changed her attitude towards life.

The incident that has implored her to help other disadvantaged children was the rescue of a newly born baby-girl, who had been wrapped in a black polythene bag and dumped in a pit-latrine, for three days.

Esther Mponye, got to know about this unfortunate incident through a friend. She visited the baby at Mityana Hospital and was appalled by the baby’s condition. Maggots had entered the child’s body through the nose, mouth and ears.

Mponye talked to her husband, Pastor Robert Mponye and they adopted the baby.

They live with this child at their home in Kiyinda-Mityana, together with their two biological daughters and 10 other adopted children.

The child has since grown. She is jolly, friendly and is currently in top class. Though she underwent five optical operations and has completely lost sight in one eye, she seems to have forgotten those horrific three days.

This ‘miracle’ girl has become a source of happiness for hundreds of vulnerable children in Mityana. It was because of her plight that the Mponyes conceived the idea to start a school for the orphans and the poor children.

The school, which is located on a three-acre piece of land, has four buildings, which accommodate 140 children. The school is affiliated to Life House Community Church.

“We operate the school on a strong Christian foundation,” says Mponye.

“Most of our pupils are either orphans or abandoned children. Others come from poor families. We love them because we want them to understand that even without parents, life can be meaningful,” she adds.

Mponye says the funds to run the school are donated by people of goodwill, both in the country and abroad. Some parents also make voluntary financial and material contributions.

She says: “Sometimes it becomes very expensive for us to provide health and material needs of our pupils, who have HIV/AIDS.

We have to buy food and also pay the school staff. We also have to hire the services of counsellors to attend to those children with special psychological needs.”

Mponye is optimistic that the school would grow to the capacity of 1,000 pupils.

Besides helping vulnerable children to access education, the Mponyes have also provided employment to 30 school staff.

To ensure self-reliance, the Mponyes have set up projects to provide income to the school and also to equip the pupils with life-skills. The projects include sewing machines, an internet café and a hair salon. Mponye is also a gospel musician. She has released three albums and the proceeds are used to fund activities in the school.

The name Esther Mponye is honoured in Mityana and its surroundings because of her simplicity and charitable heart.

Mponye is the co-founding director of King’s Kid Home School, Kiyinda-Mityana, a primary school and care centre with over 400 orphans and needy children. A 35-year-old married mother of two, Mponye conceived the idea to start a school for vulnerable children in 2003.

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