Christmas came early for the young residents living at Kenya Children’s Home when a delegation from the Chinese embassy in the country visited them and donated much-needed foodstuff.

The donation, worth about $9,000, included infant baby formula for those abandoned at birth and rescued by the center.

The delegation led by Guo Ce, the Economic and Commercial counselor, accompanied by family members, visited the nurseries and interacted with the babies. There are about 20 infants currently hosted by the center.

“Children are considered the heartbeat of a family in China. They are the future of any nation and thus special care needs to be provided to them,” said Guo.

He noted that over the recent past, under the guidance of the embassy, Chinese enterprises and individuals have been actively fulfilling their social responsibilities by taking practical actions to help Kenya enhance its self development capability, to realize its development blueprint vision 2030 and its industrialization goals.

“The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that China is holding a vision to build a community with a shared future for mankind. China will continue to step up cooperation with Kenya to improve people’s livelihoods and, as always, provide strong support for the health growth of Children in Kenya,” said the counselor.

On his part, Collins Oywera, the chief administrator of the home, said the donation would go a long way in supplementing the daily needs of the children. “We have a warm relationship with the Chinese embassy here and we are very happy. The donation will be shared among all our other centers,” he said adding that the donation would reach more than 1,000 students hosted in three centers located in different parts of the country.

“Indeed Christmas has come early for us,” said 20-year-old Nancy Wanjiku, who is a beneficiary of one of the programs run by the home. “Especially for the infants who have special needs, the infant formula is similar to what their counterparts living with their parents are fed on. We are happy that the Chinese community here remembered us.”

The home was started in 1961.

Lucymorangi@chinadaily.com.cn