Yesterday, yet again, the internet joined forces to really help our amazing children at Rafiki Mwema. It was a day when some incredible lovely strong women saw the need of another and joined in to help. It was a day we added a little more to our dream of safety and security for our Rafiki family.
Constance Hall had had a pretty bad 24 hours and posted about how she was feeling. Constance has been, and is, one of the most amazing supporters of Rafiki Mwema and at this very moment our Queen’s Castle, 2 bedroomed emergency therapeutic centre for our new baby girls and our office are being completed, all thanks to Constance and her army of Queens. She is a passionate, open, reflective woman who has changed the lives of our princesses in Kenya. She posted about she was feeling. No more no less, but it was heart breaking to see and hear the pain on her face.
In another part of the internet world Celeste Barber saw and felt her friends pain and encouraged by one of the Queens who support Constance stepped up and did an honest, beautiful gesture. She opened a page to allow those who love and follow Constance to donate for Constance to have some down time and feel the love of those around her. What a beautiful, kind and compassionate gesture you’d think. Money and love poured in for Constance, who was oblivious to what was happening.
Celeste, who is truly one of the funniest, kindest and most sensitive woman I have ever met, went live on Facebook to let people know what they could do to help her friend. All as simple and honest as that. What an amazing woman, who felt her friends pain and followed a suggestion from someone who cares about Constance.
The page went crazy and within a few minutes had surpassed the total of $2,000 suggested for Constance to have a night away from the horrid, personal and hurtful comments and death threats she had been receiving.
Well, when Constance heard what was happening, that a page had been set up for her, she did the thing that Constance Hall does so well. She reached out for others who need and helped them. She announced her thanks and appreciation and told everyone she was going to give the money to Rafiki Mwema – to us! Oh my – that was amazing!
Celeste told all her followers and posted on the page where the money was going to go, and the money continued to roll in. It was such a beautiful amazing thing for them both to do. We were simply amazed and so incredibly touched by these women.
In November we are having our opening of Queens Castle in Kenya and I contacted both Celeste and Constance to plead that they used the money to come over to Kenya, meet the Kings and Queens they are helping. They both said no and that if they came over, they would use their own funds and visit. Now I’m pretty good at persuading – well begging people – but these two women were adamant – this money was coming to Rafiki Mwema to help our girls and boys. Wow beautiful strong, kind, compassionate women right there!
We watched in disbelief as the money came in AFTER it had been announced that it would come to Rafiki Mwema and we felt humbled and thankful. We thought about how we would use this amazing and totally unexpected donation, given openly and with love.
We have decided to use the money to enhance the safety of our girls at Rafiki Mwema and we will be putting a gate and a road through our land to take us to Queens castle. At the moment we have to drive around our land, through some very very rough land, often it is almost impossible to get through in a vehicle. Often we are contacted late in the day to collect a baby girl who has been in court all day and has been assigned to Rafiki Mwema for care and protection, but driving that drive is dangerous and frightening, especially in the dark. When we take our children to hospital when they are sick we will be and feel much safer. We are so worried about going out at dark and fear a night trip to the hospital – there is so much poverty and need a vehicle moving through those roads at night can be an attractive prospect. Our own road, which was always in our plans but not in our budget will make so much difference to the safety of our precious cargo – our children.
All so lovely and so exciting. The sad part is that some people are not able to feel the love and honesty from Celeste and Constance. There have been comments about this being somehow staged as a publicity stunt. There have been really unkind comments made on both Celeste’s and Constance’s page. This makes me sad for so many reasons. Sad that other women feel the need to be negative when something so pure as a friend helping a friend has had an amazing outcome for the safety of some of the most needing and violated young children on the planet. These girls whose childhood have been robbed but now have an opportunity to repair and move forwards. They’re safety and love that surrounds them makes this possible. Your love makes that possible.
The go-fund-me page was closed earlier than agreed as there were some pretty harsh and untrue things being said – words flung out, forgetting that they stick to our souls. The two women that were at the centre of something so innocent were being attacked for their actions.
Celeste and Constance are two beautiful human beings who have reached out and offered the hand of friendship to these baby girls. They had no agenda and no idea how this would ignite. Ignited by Queens wanting to help Queens. Please be kind to them – I’m pretty sure harsh words hurt them the same as they hurt us. One little girl at Rafiki Mwema, who has a story of abuse that would make you cry for life, told me that she didn’t mind being raped over and over– she could shut her mind down and pretend she was somewhere else, but the name calling and taunts played in head over and over, telling her she was rubbish and a piece of garbage. Years later the words shouted at her every time she tried to do something and they drove her to not wanting to live. Imagine the words being harder to live with than the abuse of a baby girl. We are reprogramming her word bank to one of love and kindness, making positive memories and experiences, but still those words shake the core of her.
Thank you all so much and please remember that your words live on long after they have left you. Make your legacy one of love and kindness.
