Mama Norah was the matriarch of a village called Wagwe in Kenya and her heart was as big as the world. Like many elderly Kenyans, she anticipated a life of serenity tending to her home. Instead, she found herself in her 80’s becoming the surrogate parent of children orphaned by poverty and ill health. Sometimes as many as 14 children found their way to her dinner table and she cared for them all. It has been a struggle but an effort of love and generosity that she opened her home to so many.
The staff and students at SSHL, a school based in Sigtuna Sweden, heard of her plight and the Kenya Project at SSHL was founded. The original aim was to help fund the education of the orphaned children. But the need is far greater than the confines of Mama Norah’s home. That’s why the funds have been raised to build a school, the Mama Norah Education Centre. The Mama Norah Education Centre opens it’s doors to 40 orphaned children on January 6th, 2014. It is the aim of the Kenya Project at SSHL is to admit 40 new students every year with a total of 220 orphaned or extremely impoverished students.
Mama Norah passed away in 2017 after a long and loving life.