IMPORTANT NOTICE

For health reasons, the founder of Arms of Love Orphanage in Nairobi, Leigh Ross, has been forced to return to the United States.

The Arms of Love kids (Matthew, Merci, Joel, Joseph and Alex) are now being cared for by the Stern Family of the King's Kids Village orphanage, in Nairobi.

All future donations to Arms of Love on this site will be given to the Stern Family to help them care for the children at King's Kid's Village. For more information, please email:
sternfam@nairobilighthouse.com.

Meet the children at the
Arms of Love Orphanage

On May 1, 2003, I moved into Arms of Love and two weeks later had three precious orphan babies. Sarah was the first baby to come and she was just 4 weeks old. Then came Rachel, 3 months, and Joel, two months.

Those little sad emaciated babies are now healthy and happy children with beautiful smiles and wonderful hugs.

On October 2, 2003 we received four newborn orphan babies. Alex was 2 1/2 weeks, Merci was 9 days, Joseph was 5 days, and, since the Askari (police) found Matthew in the street, I gave him my mother's birthday, which would make him 10 days.

They were all very suffering from malnutrition and so tiny. Matthew was very ill. The skin on his face was peeling away layer by layer and it looked like raw hamburger meat. I took him directly to have him examined. They admitted him to hospital and did not believe he would make it through the night. He did but remained very ill but we were sent home.

When I took him back to the doctor he said that because of Matthew's skin disease and his swollen glands that he was relatively sure that Matthew was HIV positive. I then took him to Gertrude's Garden Hospital for children where they did the blood test on him.

That was on a Friday and we had to wait until Tuesday for the results. Praise the Lord, Matthew is HIV negative. As for his skin condition it slowly peeled off most of his first layer of skin on his body and he is now a beautiful little boy.

The four little ones are now two year old, they are a constant source of amusement. They call me "NaNa".

On January 26, 2004 two of our children, Rachel and Sarah, went for adoption...

JOEL (03/03/03)
Joel Joel is now 3, he was 2 months when I got him so he is like my own son. He is a gorgeous little boy. In Kenya they call people who are half white and half Kenyan "point fives".

He has the most beautiful complexion and is the apple of my eye. He also was very ill when he came and it took months to get him stabilized. He was two months old when I got him and about he size of my hand. I want to adopt him but the Kenyan government won't let me. He is a fine little young man.

Joel's personality is really developing and he is just a real cutie. I've never seen a happier child and he delights in seeing me especially when I drive up in the car.

***

MATTHEW (09/29/03)
Matthew Matthew was found in the street and all we have on him is a police report. He is our little comedian and was the first one to sit, crawl, and stand all in one day.

He has the cutest little smile and it stays on that little face all day.

When we were in hospital the first night they said that he would never make. Today he still has some problems but is the happiest, funniest, most lovable little boy.

Matthew is our little genius. He is such a clever little boy and is just fine sitting by himself and making different things with the Megablocks I brought back with me from the states. He can take most things apart and put them back together.

Our landlord, Emily or Sho Sho (Kiswahili for grandmother), calls Matthew the teacher. He has taught the rest of the children to take their clothes off. One day after their nap I heard them all giggling and when I went in everyone had their clothes off except Matthew who stood there just beaming with all of his clothes on.

Matthew has a monkey he sleeps with that Bancy has named "No Go". I have no idea where that came from.

***

JOSEPH (09/27/03)
Joseph Joseph is our "macho man". He is solid muscle and has been since the day he came to us.

Joseph is "Mr. Handsome". He has four of the most beautiful dimples and is just a gorgeous child. He takes care of everyone and always makes sure that everyone stays in line when they go on their walk around the neighborhood. If someone is lagging behind he runs back and pushes them to hurry up.

He is also very generous and makes sure that everyone has toys. He shakes his finger at the others when they are being naughty and tells them to "hush" or "stop".

***

MERCI (09/25/03)
Merci Merci is our only little girl. When she came she had more rage in her than I knew was physically possible for a tiny baby. She would scream so loud that you almost wanted to leave the room.

Merci is a beautiful little girl but is slow in development. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and I was told she would never see, sit, walk, and would be blind all of her life. Today she walks, talks, and sees just fine!

She has a beautiful little face and gets into her share of trouble. People seem to donate more girl clothes and Merci has 10 times more clothes than I do. She is now such a sweet little girl and the first to say "Mama".

Merci, being our only little girl, doesn't know whether she is a boy or a girl. She can hold her own and the boys don't put anything over on her. She also has quite a set of lungs having a louder voice than all of the boys put together. We have fun dressing her up in cute little girl clothes and she is very special to us.

***

ALEX (08/28/03)
Alex Alex is our little roily poly and quite the entertainer. He wakes up smiling and goes to bed smiling.

He has a serious breathing problem but the doctor told me that he would outgrow it, but he has not. When we have the funds we will take him to a ear, nose, and throat specialist.

Alex is our sumo wrestler. He is a very chunky little guy with the sweetest personality. He can just melt your heart with one of his little innocent smiles but when he hits you, you know that you have been hit.

He is very attached to a cloth nappy that he will not go to sleep without. By the end of the day it is a soggy mess but he still wants to sleep with it. He sucks on it as he sleeps. After he goes to sleep I go in and hang it on the side of his crib but the next morning he finds it and into his mouth it goes.

Adoption

The children at the Arms of Love orphanage can be adopted. One requirement is that the families need to be Christian.

To adopt internationally one must live in Kenya for 3 months. Leigh would want families to stay for closer to 6 months to bond with the child and would expect ongoing contact from adoptive families.

Then (after the 3-months period), the paper process begins which can take another 3 to 4 months. The home inspection must be done in the couples home country and papers brought to Kenya. It's preferable to work through a lawyer.

If you have questions about adoption, don't hesitate to contact us.

Also in this Section...
Learn All About Our Place
Article by Judy Normand
Some Information on Kenya

Click Here

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Meet the children at the Arms of Love Orphanage

Adoption

Meet the children at the
Arms of Love Orphanage