55 children call her mother
Mar 28, 2003
A group of little children are playing in the garden of an impressively large house. Suddenly, their attention is distracted from their games.
By Moses Nampala in Jinja
A group of little children are playing in the garden of an impressively large house. Suddenly, their attention is distracted from their games. They drop their toys and amidst laughter, they yell “mummieee!†as they race towards a woman emerging from the front door of the house.
The voluptuous woman is Mrs Deidrah Kiirya, an American married to Pastor John Kiirya, a Ugandan attached to the Calvary charismatic Christian Church, Jinja.
Deidrah cannot hide the love and pride on her face as she holds out her arms to embrace the cheerful toddlers. The children, aged one to five, look healthy and happy.
They do not know that the woman they call “mummy†is not their biological mother.
“We have watched all these children grow from ailing, malnourished, underweight new borns to fat flourishing toddlers,†Deidrah, flanked by her husband tells The New Vision. Robert, a 15-months infant amazes the Kiiryas with his brisk progress. “Robert recently tested HIV negative although he was positive at birth,†Deidrah says. She says medical personnel confided in her that babies begin to loose their mother’s blood at 14-months. “They said his own blood now is predominating that one of his deceased mother.â€
Robert is among 55 children who make up Answering for the Children Orphanage on Waibale Road, Jinja Municipality, run by the Kiiryas.
It was after an incident in April 1998, that Deidrah came up with an idea of initiating an orphanage.
“I had set out on a morning walk when I saw a group of people looking intently at something in a garbage bin,†she recounts.
From a few yards away, she heard a baby crying in the garbage bin. “It was horrible and strange!†she says. “When I drew nearer, I saw a newborn baby wrapped up in rags. It was a girl.â€
A bewildered boda boda cyclist in the vicinity told her that a barefoot woman who wore a gomesi had abandoned the child a while ago.
At first Deidrah was apprehensive, but soon her motherly instinct prevailed. She wept and got the courage to pick up the abandoned baby. She took the baby to the clinic, where it was declared healthy. “I knew I would keep her,†she says.
The Kiryas fed it on milk and water. They were however, worried that its mother would one day show up and accuse them of stealing the child, since they did not have adoption documents.
“I soon submitted my application to foster the child. But I feared my application would be revoked. After a few weeks, the authorities gave us the green light,†she says.
Little did Deidrah know that adopting the child, Susan, would invite more orphaned children into their home.
Joseph, who has just celebrated his third birthday, she says, was the second child to be taken in by the couple. “His plight will haunt me for life,†a solemn-looking Deidrah says. “When he was barely one week, his mother, whom we still don’t know, hurled him into a pit latrine at Budumbuli village near Jinja town.â€
A man who had gone for a short call heard the infant crying persistently from the bottom of the pit latrine.
“I had refused to take him in but after hearing his plight, I understood that this was a poor little baby who needed help. We would share the little we had with him,†she recalls.
On another occasion, the district probation officer approached her, pleading that she takes custody of yet two other children. “This time I was determined not to listen to his pleas, owing to a financial pinch that we were going through. But when we reached Nalufenya hospital where the children lived, I lost my earlier instincts and got touched. The children (Joan and Rose) had thin bodies, with their lifeless eyes staring out,†she says.
“Their feet were swollen and they could hardly sit up right.â€
Deidrah was told that their mother had died in Jinja main hospital. But for a month, nobody had showed up to either claim for the dead body or the children. They were traumatised and hungry.
However, today, Susan, Joseph, Rose and Joan, are in good health and very active.
“We try to instill better morals into these children, so that they can become responsible citizens of this nation.
“John (her husband) plays the role of inculcating ideal African cultural tenets, and teaches them Lusoga while I teach them English,†Deidrah says, with a grin on her lips.
Communication especially with new comers is some times difficult, Deidrah says. "But this lasts for a very short time because naturally young ones are too adept."
The Kiirya's employ 10 female helpers, half of them working on the day shift and the others at night.
Zion Christian Church, based in the US now funds the orphanage. Although much has been done to improve on the children's welfare, the Kiirya's concede they (children) some times become too depressed.
“Last year, two children died in my arms, on separate occasions. At the time when I took them in, they were skeletally thin,†she says.
“We tried every thing possible but without success," she says fighting hard to hold back her tears. “I have always pleaded with God to allow us see these children grow. Because each time the tragedy happens in this home, it plunges me into terrible shock and grief,†she says wiping tears away from her eyes.
Even with such unfortunate incidences, they are committed to raising the children.
The couple has several projects in the pipeline that will help curb the misery that haunts the abandoned children. “We have bought four hectares of land at Walukuba, Jinja. We intend to construct a nursery, a primary and a secondary school by the end of this year.†Upon completion, the schools will offer education mainly to children from under privileged families.
They also intend to carry out poultry and live stock farming among other projects.
Deidrah was part of the volunteers from America who came to Uganda in 1998 to care for children in Welcome Orphanage Home in Jinja. The orphanage belongs to a female American child activist.
It was while here, that Pastor John Kiirya first met her. “I proposed to her after realising that there was something we had in common. Before I expressed my feelings to her, I realised that she was a committed Christian and was graced with compassion,†Kiirya narrates as Deidrah stroked his palm.
“She had consented, but insisted that I had to meet her parents in America before we could tie the knot.â€
Kiirya says when they travelled to America, her parents were overwhelmed on hearing the news of their impending marriage “and immediately suggested we make the wedding the following weekend.â€
“We made our marital vows in California America,†Kiirya says. “They are supportive of all our endeavours,†Kiirya says of his in-laws. They are blessed with a pretty six-month-old girl.
A group of little children are playing in the garden of an impressively large house. Suddenly, their attention is distracted from their games. They drop their toys and amidst laughter, they yell “mummieee!†as they race towards a woman emerging from the front door of the house.
The voluptuous woman is Mrs Deidrah Kiirya, an American married to Pastor John Kiirya, a Ugandan attached to the Calvary charismatic Christian Church, Jinja.
Deidrah cannot hide the love and pride on her face as she holds out her arms to embrace the cheerful toddlers. The children, aged one to five, look healthy and happy.
They do not know that the woman they call “mummy†is not their biological mother.
“We have watched all these children grow from ailing, malnourished, underweight new borns to fat flourishing toddlers,†Deidrah, flanked by her husband tells The New Vision. Robert, a 15-months infant amazes the Kiiryas with his brisk progress. “Robert recently tested HIV negative although he was positive at birth,†Deidrah says. She says medical personnel confided in her that babies begin to loose their mother’s blood at 14-months. “They said his own blood now is predominating that one of his deceased mother.â€
Robert is among 55 children who make up Answering for the Children Orphanage on Waibale Road, Jinja Municipality, run by the Kiiryas.
It was after an incident in April 1998, that Deidrah came up with an idea of initiating an orphanage.
“I had set out on a morning walk when I saw a group of people looking intently at something in a garbage bin,†she recounts.
From a few yards away, she heard a baby crying in the garbage bin. “It was horrible and strange!†she says. “When I drew nearer, I saw a newborn baby wrapped up in rags. It was a girl.â€
A bewildered boda boda cyclist in the vicinity told her that a barefoot woman who wore a gomesi had abandoned the child a while ago.
At first Deidrah was apprehensive, but soon her motherly instinct prevailed. She wept and got the courage to pick up the abandoned baby. She took the baby to the clinic, where it was declared healthy. “I knew I would keep her,†she says.
The Kiryas fed it on milk and water. They were however, worried that its mother would one day show up and accuse them of stealing the child, since they did not have adoption documents.
“I soon submitted my application to foster the child. But I feared my application would be revoked. After a few weeks, the authorities gave us the green light,†she says.
Little did Deidrah know that adopting the child, Susan, would invite more orphaned children into their home.
Joseph, who has just celebrated his third birthday, she says, was the second child to be taken in by the couple. “His plight will haunt me for life,†a solemn-looking Deidrah says. “When he was barely one week, his mother, whom we still don’t know, hurled him into a pit latrine at Budumbuli village near Jinja town.â€
A man who had gone for a short call heard the infant crying persistently from the bottom of the pit latrine.
“I had refused to take him in but after hearing his plight, I understood that this was a poor little baby who needed help. We would share the little we had with him,†she recalls.
On another occasion, the district probation officer approached her, pleading that she takes custody of yet two other children. “This time I was determined not to listen to his pleas, owing to a financial pinch that we were going through. But when we reached Nalufenya hospital where the children lived, I lost my earlier instincts and got touched. The children (Joan and Rose) had thin bodies, with their lifeless eyes staring out,†she says.
“Their feet were swollen and they could hardly sit up right.â€
Deidrah was told that their mother had died in Jinja main hospital. But for a month, nobody had showed up to either claim for the dead body or the children. They were traumatised and hungry.
However, today, Susan, Joseph, Rose and Joan, are in good health and very active.
“We try to instill better morals into these children, so that they can become responsible citizens of this nation.
“John (her husband) plays the role of inculcating ideal African cultural tenets, and teaches them Lusoga while I teach them English,†Deidrah says, with a grin on her lips.
Communication especially with new comers is some times difficult, Deidrah says. "But this lasts for a very short time because naturally young ones are too adept."
The Kiirya's employ 10 female helpers, half of them working on the day shift and the others at night.
Zion Christian Church, based in the US now funds the orphanage. Although much has been done to improve on the children's welfare, the Kiirya's concede they (children) some times become too depressed.
“Last year, two children died in my arms, on separate occasions. At the time when I took them in, they were skeletally thin,†she says.
“We tried every thing possible but without success," she says fighting hard to hold back her tears. “I have always pleaded with God to allow us see these children grow. Because each time the tragedy happens in this home, it plunges me into terrible shock and grief,†she says wiping tears away from her eyes.
Even with such unfortunate incidences, they are committed to raising the children.
The couple has several projects in the pipeline that will help curb the misery that haunts the abandoned children. “We have bought four hectares of land at Walukuba, Jinja. We intend to construct a nursery, a primary and a secondary school by the end of this year.†Upon completion, the schools will offer education mainly to children from under privileged families.
They also intend to carry out poultry and live stock farming among other projects.
Deidrah was part of the volunteers from America who came to Uganda in 1998 to care for children in Welcome Orphanage Home in Jinja. The orphanage belongs to a female American child activist.
It was while here, that Pastor John Kiirya first met her. “I proposed to her after realising that there was something we had in common. Before I expressed my feelings to her, I realised that she was a committed Christian and was graced with compassion,†Kiirya narrates as Deidrah stroked his palm.
“She had consented, but insisted that I had to meet her parents in America before we could tie the knot.â€
Kiirya says when they travelled to America, her parents were overwhelmed on hearing the news of their impending marriage “and immediately suggested we make the wedding the following weekend.â€
“We made our marital vows in California America,†Kiirya says. “They are supportive of all our endeavours,†Kiirya says of his in-laws. They are blessed with a pretty six-month-old girl.