Collina Mkambe Pole
December 19, 2008
Collina lives with her parents and siblings. One letter says she has two sisters, Nelly and Judith, and another letters lists two other siblings, Naomie and Glender. The most recent letter states that she lives with her mother, Jamila and her sisters, Nelly, Judy and Emmaline. They live in the coastal community of Kilifi Township, home to approximately 50,000 residents.
Her home is made of blocks and has a cement floor and sheet metal roof. She does not have electricity in her home.
She attends Good News Church and the AIC Kilifi child development center (KE 622), which serves approximately 260 children. According to her letters, Collina attends the Compassion project on Saturday. Her school is Malezi Academy and is a 100 meter walk from her home. She says she enjoys both school and church.
Miscellaneous info from letters:
- wakes up at 7:00 am and goes to bed at 9 pm
- favorite game - in and out
- favorite song - Halleluja Hosanna
- favorite food - pilau and ugali / rice and meat
- favorite subject - language and math - loves her math teacher!
- favorite story - Hannah, Jacob
- favorite color - orange and red
- favorite animal - cow
- favorite sport - soccer
- favorite weather - sunny
- washes utensils at home
- comes from a Christian background
- special needs - shelter, food (prays about God providing food)
- spends Christmas eating together, praying and visiting friends
- spends New years eating rice and chicken and praying together
- got a dress for Christmas
- wants to be a pilot
- Nov 2020 - due to COVID, she will have to repeat her school year when school resumes
- recieved mosquito net and water tank from church
"through your letters, Collina is now inspired and growing spiritually"
"receive Calvary greetings"
Letter from the center director...
The Kilifi area is predominantly dry with short spells of rains which can hardly hold crops until maturity. The community is generally poor with the majority earning less than a dollar per day. The people lack formal education, permanent employment and good housing. Both Muslim and Christian ministers are constantly struggling to win the hearts of the community. Most people are believers in their cultural gods.
Children in the community face all sorts of challenges. Some are living positively with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Others are already into child prostitution while others have dropped out of school to work and earn food for the family. The scourge of poverty is widespread, stealing hope and the future from our children.
Now many children know God. They are in school, can eat a balanced diet and show a sense of self-worth. Their candle keeps shining because of what Compassion is doing in the Kilifi community.
The center has enrolled 257 children with over 100 confessing Christ as their personal Savior. Today many can make own sweaters, plait each other's hair while others can sing songs and recite memory verses of the Bible.
