The healing touch: Motivation behind Mercy starting one of the biggest charities in Meru county

 Ripples international Director Mercy Chiddi Photo: Peter Muthomi/standard

Mercy was working for the Catholic Relief Services in Nairobi when the realisation that there were a big number of HIV/Aids patients and orphans in Meru made her resign from her well-paying job.

"It was the level of stigma associated with HIV/Aids that inspired my move," she explains.

Mercy, who was awarded by retired President Daniel Moi for her rescue efforts in the August 7, 1998 Bomb Blast at the US Embassy in Nairobi, says that she wanted to rescue a community being ravaged by the HIV/Aids scourge.

She founded Ripples International, which comprises of a safe house for abused children, a school and an orphans centre. It is located in Kithoka, Imenti North Sub County.

"I lost a close friend to Aids. I visited her a lot because she had been abandoned by her people. Infected people then were treated like pariahs. People could not even shake hands with them," says Mercy.

Back then, she explains, most awareness campaigns were focused on the Western region, with those affected in Meru left to grapple with challenges associated with the killer disease.

First, she enrolled for a course as a HIV counselor, and soon after, started a support group to give the infected a place to interact comfortably.

"I also started a sensitization program and started testing locals for the virus," she says.

Mercy, who is married to a Ghanaian, was shocked by the big number of children roaming the streets after their parents succumbed to the disease. She took in some of them.

"When my ailing friend's condition worsened and she had to go to the hospital, I took in her young twins. I had not even told my husband!"

In the successive months, she took in five more Aids orphans.

"Besides my own three kids, we had a total of eight children in our home. My house-help Wanja helped to take care of them. Though it was tough, my friends helped us feed and pay for their medical needs," she says.

To gain some independence, she used her personal savings to start a Christian bookshop.

"The idea was to raise funds for the upkeep of the orphans and my own children," she says.

It was during this time that she came across Christian Arts, a US-based organization that dealt in gifts and books.

"I flew out to the US in 2003 to checkout their products."

Upon reaching the Christian Arts location, she found it was not as large as she had imagined.

The organization just had some art in a garage and Mercy was not sure whether the trip would amount to much, so she decided to interact with a Bible study group during her short stay there.

"The owner of the garage and I went to church for prayers and it was while there that I explained to one of the members of the congregation about the Aids orphans back home. She asked me how much it would cost to start a centre to take care of them and I said Sh7 Million," Mercy says.

To her pleasant surprise the lady, Catherine Polaskis, immediately wrote a cheque for the amount.

"You don't have to have money to help those in need. When you start helping, God provides funds," she says with a smile.

More well-wishers in the US contributed some funds and eventually the expansive Ripples Complex off the Ruiri-Isiolo road was started.

Later, when attending a conference in the US, she unexpectedly got a chance to address participants.    

"I was the only participant from Africa and when I was asked to speak for the continent, I spoke about the plight of HIV/Aids orphans. I told the audience that the Sh5 Billion former President George Bush had pledged to the continent had not been disbursed."

Then UN envoy for Aids in Africa Steven Lewis was present and through her story, Mercy was able to secure US$ 200, 000 for Ripples.

"Later on the same trip, I had breakfast with a participant who wrote me a cheque for US$ 20, 000 to start a shelter for girls who had suffered sexual abuse. Also a guest, who had suffered sexual abuse by her father, asked me how much it would cost to complete the safe house. She donated US$ 100, 000," says Mercy.

The Polaski Home (New Start Centre) is in honour of the Polaski family who visit frequently to visit the children, mainly drawn from Meru, Samburu and Isiolo.

She also runs Tumaini, a shelter for girls at risk of early marriage.

"Currently, we have young girls and some of them have kids too. We pay their school fees at various schools. We also have some in universities," she says.

The educational centre, Ripples School, is one of Meru's best performing schools.