Helping Hilltop is a small charity which became a Scottish Registered Charity in December 2023 following 3 years of private fundraising and donations by Vivienne Hannah, along with family and friends, to help support Hilltop Christian Centre. This was home to 84 orphans, aged 5-18 in God Kado, Homabay County in Kenya. It is run by Fabian Olouch and his wife Vivian with the support of the local community. Fabian has a small farm which is being developed to feed the children and produce excess for sale for other needs. The aim is self-sufficiency.

In 2021 the buildings that the children slept in were subject to an arson attack and became uninhabitable. The children were all taken in by Fabian and many local widows. Fabian does well in supporting the children and the widows. They get together at weekends and remain a big family. The charity has been working hard to repair the building and adhere to local regulations – the building was repaired, 5 bunk beds were bought, and a perimeter fence put up.

We thought we were very nearly ready to welcome the children back but received very difficult news from Government officials who we met with whilst visiting Hilltop in June 2024. The new 2023 regulation requirements for orphanages meant the site did not meet the standards required to allow the children to return. They would no longer allow the children to return to Hilltop as the site is too small. They insist on a newbuild on a bigger piece of land, a huge mountain for us to climb. This is still our long- term aim. The priority meantime is to develop the farm to help support the children and the widows while also fundraising for the new orphanage.

Much has been done already to help the children with food, water, clothing, education and health but there is still a long way to go.