The Manna Rescue Home Playground
The Manna Rescue Home was established in 2008 as a home for orphaned children with HIV/AIDS. It provides love and support as well as all the medication and health care that the children need so that they can live positive and happy lives just like other children.
It contains room for 30 children and the home runs many projects to enrich their lives such as planting vegetable gardens, raising chickens for eggs and goats for dairy. When the home got in touch with OBAAT however, it lacked adequate playing facilities. Two of our trustees, Sasha Deepwell and Su Bramley subsequently visited in 2012 and began fundraising for the new playground with Sasha climbing Kilimanjaro.
The Project
Works began on the 29th of August 2013 and a brand new wooden climbing frame, swings and a seesaw were designed and installed. Alongside this, new steel goal posts with nets were installed.
Works also included:
- Roofing the children's play shed
- Repairing the gutters for water harvesting
- Maintenance work on the administration building including repairs on the ceiling.
- Replacing the chain link fence
- Levelling the old water tank area to create an extra recreation space
The children's smiles as they played in the new playground convinced us that such a small project can make a real difference in the lives of young children who were for a long time denied love from other members in the community.
In 2017, we returned to the project with the assistance of two volunteers from the UK to carry out maintenance work. This included repainting and retreating the swings and seesaw as well as installing an improved, weather resistant climbing frame.