'Why I care for 52 children'

  • Published

Rachel Gichia is an ordinary Kenyan wife and mother who has risen to an extraordinary challenge. In the past six years, she has opened her home - which she shares with her husband Stephen and their three children - to 49 orphaned youngsters.

Rachel and Stephen, who live in the Ngong Hills just outside Nairobi, are not rich - but the local community has rallied round. Thanks to donations from individuals and businesses, facilities at the home have improved - although feeding the children and paying school fees remains a constant struggle.

But perhaps the biggest challenge of all is knowing when to turn away a child in need - something which Rachel finds very difficult, even though she knows there is a limit to how far her love can stretch.

The Your World documentary - Dream Home - can be heard on the BBC World Service at 19:06 GMT on Saturday 3 March.

Audio by Catherine Fellows. Photography by Kate Holt.

Slideshow production by Paul Kerley. Publication date 3 March 2012.

Related:

BBC World Service - Your World

BBC World Service - homepage

Rachel Gichia - Dream Children's Home, external

Kate Holt photography, external

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