In the middle of April my Dad and I will be walking the last stage of the Camino de Santiago. The Camino de Santiago or The Way of St. James is a network of ancient pilgrimage routes, which brought pilgrims from different corners of Europe to the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, which is believed to be the final resting place of St. James the Apostle. We will be walking approximately 111km from Sarria to Santiago in 5 or 6 days (depending on how our legs and feet are coping).

We would like to raise money for the Live With Hope Centre based in Kericho, Kenya. I volunteered at the centre for a month in the summer of 2015, with a group from the Paisley Diocese lead by Bishop Brian McGee.

The Live With Hope Centre (LWHC) is a community and faith based organisation located in Kericho. The Centre is run by Sister Placida, originally from Greenock, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. Although the centres primary mission is responding to and assisting those with HIV/AIDS, it has expanded since 2000, and now cares for thousands of people in the area, including; orphans, street boys, disabled children, those addicted to drugs and alcohol and the unemployed. The centre also promotes peace and reconciliation amidst tribal tensions and is in the process of building a Sports and Training Centre for unemployed youths.

The LWHC has four main departments, including;

 Raising awareness of HIV/AIDS in the community.

 Voluntary Counselling and Testing – which involves the promotion of voluntary testing for the virus and counselling across the town and countryside.

 Orphans and Vulnerable Children – which cares for over 3000 children. They run support groups for children with the virus, visit struggling families and provide residential care for troubled youths. They also run several projects among street boys including transitional residential care.

 Home Based Care and Haart Clinic – where Social workers and nurses visit the sick at home. Food is distributed to those in poverty and too weak to work. At the Clinic medical attention and medication is provided daily. There is also a weekly support group for adults.

Bishop Brian and a group of volunteers from Argyll and the Isles Diocese will travel to Kenya again this summer. Any donation you can give is very much appreciated and will go directly towards the day to day running of the Centre and to help those most in need.

Thanks

Paul and Peter