The US Navy retiree making black dolls to uplift Kenyan girls
Martha Anne Green, the founder of Christian Hands Children’s Home, on December 14, 2023. She carries some of the dolls she makes.
What you need to know:
- For over two decades, Martha Anne Green, an African-American, has done charity work solely on her pension without a single sponsor.
- She takes care of about 20 children in Kajiado.
In the heart of Kajiado, where the rhythmic beats of urban life surrender to the serenity of the wild, lies the abode and a children's home run by a retired US Navy matriarch and missionary, Martha Anne Green.
We embark on a journey that leads us an hour and a half from Nairobi CBD, traversing a dusty trail that meanders through undulating landscapes on a Thursday mid-morning and a week to Christmas.
About a kilometre to her dwelling, our vehicle succumbs to the challenges of the rough terrain, prompting us to park and embrace the rugged beauty on foot.
Modesty
The experience serves as a testament to her choice of a simple life immersed in the embrace of nature, far from the conveniences of urbanity.
As we approach Anne Green's compound, we are greeted by the sweet symphony of children's laughter, punctuated by their playful chants. About 12 children between the ages of four and 12 are joyously playing in the compound.
“I take care of about 20 children, but being that it is the Christmas season, some of them have gone to spend time with their families," Ms Green says as she meets us.
The 74-year-old US Navy retiree has been running the children's home in Kenya for the last 23 years, solely on her pension. As she leads us to the house, we are met at the door by Collins, who has lived with Ms Green since he was four.
"He is now 24 years old, and he is my son. His documents read Collins Green. He has been here the longest, and he helps around,” notes Ms Green in her heavy African American accent.
Her stay in the country and the community work she continues to do have not been without challenges. The mother of three had to pack up her suitcases, leave her children and everything she owned in Texas and settle in Kenya.
“I have no relatives in this country. If anything, I am not sure which African country I am from originally as my great grandparents went to the United States of America through slavery back in the day."
“Coming to Kenya is purely a calling, and I believe I am only fulfilling God's purpose in my life. My children are now between 53 and 49 years of age, and they do not understand why I chose to settle in Kenya.
“They keep urging me back to Texas, but I am firm that my work here is not done yet."
No sponsorship
For over two decades, Ms Green has done charity work without a single sponsor, which explains her choice of location and settlement, taking care of more than 700 needy children.
“I entirely depend on my pension from the US Navy to run this place. Since I rent the space, I cannot afford to live in the suburbs. Further, there are needier children here, the souls I target.”
All the children she takes care of are school-going, and after they leave for school, she gets busy making African dolls, which she dons in kitenge.
“I hope to change the narrative for young African girls. I want them to know it is okay to be their complexion and that they too, can be anything they want.”
“I personally source for the vitenges from Nairobi’s downtown. I hope to import a machine from China that will help make the whole black doll-making process easier for me,” she notes.
She intends to write a small poem book to accompany the doll. She says this will further boost the black girl child’s self-confidence.
“Our black girls no longer need to feel inferior from their complexion. The little poem book will encourage them to own up to their nature and grow into it.”
She has since set up a shop at the Imaara Mall along Mombasa Road, where the African dolls are sold.
“This is a hobby that is helping me supplement my pension, being that times are equally tough economically.”
Martha also bakes cakes on orders to boost the home’s income further. She explains, confessing to having baked the four fresh cakes we find on the table, overnight.
Challenges
Her mission to shelter needy children has not been easy. She painfully recounts the difficulties she has faced over the years.
“Sometimes, people who I thought were friends from abroad would come here, but they would refuse even to hug the children. They'd say these children are too dirty! I had to ask them to leave, and since then, I have not accepted visitors without knowing their motive.”
She has also been taken to court several times by parents/guardians of children who want to keep the children away from school and use them for begging. She has won custody of some and lost some.
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“When I started, I figured educating all the children would be costly, and I resorted to home-schooling, where I would bring in the teachers to come and teach the children from here.
“Soon enough, the government came after me and said I was doing the wrong thing, so I had to enrol them at nearby schools. It is still costly, but by the grace of God, we manage.”
As she narrates her encounters with the government, she tears up painfully, fearing that her charity home will be shut down this year (2023).
She is reacting to Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary's October 2023 remarks that all privately owned children's homes in the country will be shut down as they contribute to child trafficking.
“I have all the documentation; I have run this place for over two decades without a single case of mismanagement or mishandling/mistreatment of the children. Yet, they want to take them away from me.
“Just as the Kenyan law requires me to do, I have even trained a Kenyan to continue with what I do here in case I go back home. I don't know what to do, and I do not want these children to suffer," she says amid sobs as she swears to fight to the end.
Discipline
For years, she has run the children's home, most of her beneficiaries being girls, and she is “super proud” that none of her girls ever became pregnant as a teenager.
“It is not easy when you have teenage boys and girls in the same compound all these years with no reported pregnancy. But, we talk to, and monitor them and have been successful so far.”
Jackson Kihato Gethi, married to one of the girls who grew up in the home, confirms the stern discipline measures.
“My wife grew up in this home, and our dating phase was no walk in the park. Mum (referring to Ms Green) has always been firm on who the children can interact with and even whom she lets into their space.
“Her age notwithstanding, she has remained consistent with discipline over the years, and I can confidently say that children who grow up here are well-cultured,” he concludes.
