Crossroads Springs Institute Children's School/Care Center for African Orphans of HIV/AIDS

KENYA Connection
Crossroads founders say thanks to Ken-West students

By RACHEL MARTIN NeXt Correspondent

The Kenmore West Both Your Hands-Interact Club welcomed the founders of the Crossroads Springs Institute in Hamisi, Kenya, to the Goulding Library Auditorium on Thursday.

Allison Hyde of East Aurora and Meshack and Helen Isiaho of Hamisi addressed a crowd of students and faculty about their experiences founding and running a primary school for AIDS orphans in Western Kenya.

“We are so very grateful for the work the Both Your Hands-Interact Club has done for the children at Crossroads Springs,” said Allison Hyde in opening remarks.

The Crossroads Springs Institute has been the focus of the Both Your Hands-Interact Club’s fund-raising efforts for the past three years. The club has raised more than $5,000 through benefit concerts, jewelry and bake sales, and badminton tournaments. All proceeds from the upcoming Concert for Crossroads Springs to be held Jan. 25 at Xtreme Wheels will be donated to the institute. “I really enjoyed meeting Dr. Isiaho and his wife Helen,” said club member Dan Johnson, 17. “It was nice to hear how the money we raise for Crossroads Springs is used and will be used in the future.”

Isiaho, 76, and his wife Helen Isiaho, 57, traveled to Western New York from Kenya three weeks ago “with the intention of renewing friendships and creating new ones,” Isiaho said. “We know that there are people who have helped us that never even met us before.” They have been staying at the home of Allison Hyde and her husband Arthur.

Meshack Isiaho first met the Hyde’s in 1962, when the Hyde’s traveled to Hamisi with Operation Crossroads Africa. Isiaho was then an assistant chief in the village of Hamisi and worked closely with the American group as they built an athletic field.

The Isiahos and Hyde’s stayed in contact for the next 40 years through letters and Christmas cards. In 2003, Allison Hyde wrote to Isiaho, asking him about his experiences with AIDS orphans and if the devastation was as serious as she had heard. Isiaho responded: “I have the names of over 200 orphans on my desk now. The devastation is real.” The Hyde’s then made the decision to partner with the Isiahos to found the Crossroads Springs Institute.

As it happened, Isiaho had a perfect location for the school. Since 1992, he had been working on and off to build a small hotel. He said: “When I was 65, I thought, ‘This place has no good hotel. Travelers who come to Hamisi have no place to have a cup of tea or even a decent meal.’”

The hotel structure was near completion in 2003 when Allison Hyde asked Isiaho about the AIDS orphan crisis, and it was then that he was inspired to convert his hotel into a school and orphan care center.

Isiaho was one of eight siblings born into poverty and the only one to be educated. He attended Kenyan primary and secondary schools, and the Kikuyu Adult Education School. He also studied for two years at Oxford University in England. He went on to work as a founding teacher at the Senende and Gavudunyi secondary schools and the Kaimosi Boys School in Kenya. Helen Isiaho was one of 12 children born to peasant farmers. She attended St. Bridgid’s Girls Secondary School and Mosoriot Teachers’ College in Kenya and worked for 36 years in the education field.

The Crossroads Springs Institute opened Aug. 23, 2004, with 60 children, ages 4 to 6, who had lost one or both parents to AIDS. Today, it has grown to serve 167 children, ages 4 to 10. Seven teachers instruct students on a range of subjects including English, mathematics, social science, geography and music.

Classes begin at 8:15 a.m., with most pupils arriving at 7:30 a.m. in hopes that teachers will correct their homework. Children as young as 4 walk three miles every day to school. They are served a snack at 10 a.m. and lunch at noon – this is the only nutritious meal that many students receive all day.

Life outside Crossroads Springs is difficult for the orphans. Helen told the story of one child whose circumstances are symbolic of so many, saying: “A 4-year-old student had lost her father to AIDS. The morning that her mother died of the same disease, the little girl left her mother in the bed where she had died, put her uniform on, and walked to school.”

Public schools in Kenya are not completely free – required uniforms and textbooks must be purchased by parents or guardians. Because Crossroads Springs is a private institution, students are provided with uniforms and materials free of charge. The institute has grown in size every year. Isiaho said: “We could easily accept 500 orphans into the primary school. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to do so.”

 Thanks to fundraising efforts, an expansion project is under way. A new primary school is being built. Upon its completion, the current primary school will be transformed into a dormitory for students. Helen said: “Whenever the school closes for holidays, the children immediately ask when it will open again. They like coming to school because we care for them. We are like their parents.”

The Isiahos have high hopes for Crossroads Springs and their students. Helen explained: “When the children sing songs or form poems, they sing about what they wish to be. Some wish to be doctors, some wish to be policemen, and others wish to be pilots. It is of our greatest concern what happens to them when their primary school education is complete at age 13.”

 “Eventually,” Isiaho said, “we would like to be able to educate these orphans in primary and secondary school, and then in either job training or at a university level. We want the children to grow up and be able to self-support and find gainful employment.”

Helen Isiaho had these parting words for Kenmore West students: “My message to you is that I wish you luck in your learning. We say in Kenya that education is a weapon. Use your education to help others.”

Both Your Hands-Interact Club member Crystal Calabrese summarized her reaction to the presentation saying, “The Isiahos are simply an inspiration.”

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