ABOUT US

Helping Hilltop is a small charity started in December 2023 following 3 years of private fundraising and donations by Vivienne Hannah along with family and friends, to help support Hilltop Christian Orphanage, home to 81 orphans, aged 5-18 in Godako, Homabay County in Kenya. It is run by Fabian Olouch and his wife Vivien with the support of the local community. 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. Life is still very basic with the children sleeping on the floor in two huts and only having one meal a day. 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.

Our strength lies not only in the words we stand by, but more importantly in action. From the moment we started our work with Fabian in 2000, we understood that by working together we could help overcome their challenges much more efficiently and that is why we ultimately decided to launch Helping Hilltop. We strive to make a positive change in all our pursuits.

Click here to see more about what we have achieved so far and what our plans are for the future!

My grandmother started all this. Her name was Anastacia Ojwando but she was known to the community as “Chuny Mogwedhi.” My sister and I lived with her after our parents died when I was about 4. During the times when HIV/AIDS was rife, many people in the village died and a number of children were left without parents. My grandmother began helping the vulnerable children in the community. I witnessed this as I would go with her to her sweet potato farm and help her carry the sacks of potatoes. She would cook these for the children and also sell some to help us get some personal items.

My grandmother died when I was 7. I grew up in a very poor local family. Some of the older children left for early marriages and some got lost in the streets. At age 14 I decided to try and gather some of the younger children and engage them in farming our ancestral land. This enabled some of us to pay for school tuition in the local public school but not all attended.

I attribute my full desire to help the orphans to my own experience growing up as one and to my grandmother. This made me drop out of school and stop furthering my education as an elementary teacher. Instead of pursuing a path of personal financial security, I began a sustainable agriculture at the age of 14 to help the destitute children from the slums of Rodi and the entire village. At that time, we had post-election violence in Kenya and many children were affected. Some were involved in rag-picking, and some in anti-social activities. Some girls were raped in the streets or beaten due to crime. I begun taking orphans off the streets in my village into my own home and doing agriculture together.

I recruited some local widows to help as more children were brought to me. The widows could carry some potatoes and grains which my grandmother had introduced as indigenous crops. Some of these widows are affected by HIV/AIDS and suffer so much at times, so I offered to always take them to church and offer them spiritual nourishment. I have a very strong Christian faith.

In 2000 I saw a post on a friend’s Facebook page asking for help raising funds for school uniforms for an orphanage in Kenya. Intrigued, I asked him how he had found an orphanage to help as he was in Edinburgh. He had connected with the orphanage via a friend who was volunteering in Uganda. He subsequently put me in touch, via Messenger, with another orphanage run by Fabian. I spent the next 3 months asking Fabian questions about the orphanage, his family, the community and how it all began. He never asked for anything during that time and was just grateful for prayers and knowing I cared.

I then asked the deal-breaker question; “If I could do anything for you what would it be?” I waited for his response. “Sanitary products for the girls so they no longer miss school.” From then I knew I would help them in any way I could.

Since then, we have raised money and collected items for them by doing tombolas at local markets, bake sales, raffles, collection tins, car boot sales, Vinted sales, dress-down days at school, sponsored walk and fire walk and auction of donated items. We have also had some support from local businesses and pubs, as well as receiving many individual donations. In December, Helping Hilltop was registered as an official charity and the work goes on.

I April 2023 I was able to visit Hilltop, along with my son David, and see for myself the many trials they still face. Grateful for a hug or a prayer, I have never seen such happy people in the face of such huge adversity. I found there the lived values of love, support, education and making life better. I came back changed and knew that this was where I wanted to continue to give my help.

The farm is vital to the set up. It is the main source of food for the children providing one meal a day of rice and beans and sometimes kale. Food is also exchanged for items they cannot grow and is exchanged for school fees. It also provides food for the wider community; the widows of Hilltop whose help with the children’s care is vital. The farm is gradually being developed with a permaculture ethos where everything is used and reused to ensure the best organic growth. It is farmed by Fabian, Big David, who was an original orphan and now works for Fabian for his keep, the local widows and the children when they are not at school. This is where the self-sufficiency will ultimately come from.

There are approximately 3.6 million orphans under the age of 18 in Kenya. Accessing nutrition, clean water, healthcare, shelter and safety is hampered by extreme poverty in the country. Helping Hilltop is about helping to improve the lives of 81 orphans cared for by Fabian, his wife and a small community who are family. All the children are there through no fault of their own. The majority were orphaned through the Aids pandemic.

With our support they can achieve anything they want.