South Hills efforts continue to support home for girls in Kenya
Magdalena Wojton / MW Photography
Maggie Wambui, left, and Jenny Roach recently visited Pittsburgh from Kenya.
Magdalena Wojton / MW Photography
Maggie Klaumbi, left, greets Hekima Place board member Mia Moran-Cooper. (Magdalena Wojton / MW Photography)
Magdalena Wojton / MW Photography
Kate Fletcher is the founder of Hekima Place. (Magdalena Wojton / MW Photography)
Pittsburghers pride themselves on being good hosts, as Maggie Wambui recently discovered.
“Everyone is friendly and welcoming,” she attested, “and everyone wants to take me somewhere. I’m on the road every day. But it’s been fun being here.”
Map data ©2017 Google
Map data ©2017 Google
The visitor from Kenya, on her first trip to the United States, had the opportunity to make plenty of new friends during her local travels, which included a stop at St. Clair Country Club for “A Taste of Africa,” an October fundraising event for Hekima Place, a home near her nation’s capital of Nairobi for orphaned and vulnerable girls.
Maggie arrived there as a shy, reticent 11-year-old who otherwise would have faced exceedingly dim prospects. Now 23, she serves as a prime example of what Hekima Place can accomplish through fulfilling its mission of providing a safe, loving and family-like environment.
“I’m confident. I’m responsible. I have an education. I can communicate in English,” she said, and those who converse with her will agree that she does a fantastic job.
During her Pittsburgh visit, Maggie stayed with a couple who sponsored her stay at Hekima Place and continued to provide support as she went through a training program with Kenya Airways. The wife since has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is bequeathing $500,000 to Hekima Place.
“Hekima Place is going from strength to strength. We’re really looking now at how we can develop the mission and how we can start to interact more with the communities that surround us.” – Jenny Roach, Hekima Place executive director in Kenya
Kate Fletcher, a former South Hills resident, founded the home in 2005 and served as executive director in Kenya until her retirement earlier this year. She and successor Jenny Roach both were in attendance to greet a full house of Hekima Place supporters at the Upper St. Clair fundraiser.
Roach, who has a degree in youth and community development, said she was contacted by a recruitment agency asking if she knew anyone in her network who might be interested in applying for Fletcher’s position.
“About a week later, they called me back and said, ‘Actually, do you think you would want to apply for the job?'” she recalled, describing her initial reaction: “I’m this girl from Wales who is nothing special. Why would anybody want to employ me as an executive director to look after these girls? But something in me decided to start the process, just to see where it led, really.”
Actually, it led to fulfilling her dream, as she “fell in love with Kenya” during her first visit in 2014 and has traveled there eight times since.
“Sometimes when you’re suddenly faced with everything you’ve dreamed of, you get a little scared,” Roach admitted. “To suddenly go in from a mum of none to a mum of 90 at age of 32 was a task. It was a challenge. But I’ve loved every second of it.
“The transition has been not without its bumps in the road, but we are moving forward, and the girls are all doing really well,” she continued. “Hekima Place is going from strength to strength. We’re really looking now at how we can develop the mission and how we can start to interact more with the communities that surround us in Kenya.”
A former British colony that has been independent since 1963, Kenya has experienced struggles with identity, stemming from its history of multi-ethnic tribalism that often leads to politically motivated conflict.
“What I love most about Hekima Place is we don’t have tribes,” Maggie said. “We’re sisters. We love each other.”
For more information, visit www.hekimaplace.org.