Austin was left an orphan when he was 6 or 7, his parents died of Aids, he was sent to live with an Aunt and Uncle near Nairobi. The Aunt was cruel and used to beat him. One day while his Uncle was away his Aunt severely beat him for spilling water that he was carrying. Due to the severity of the beating he was left blinded, she had damaged his optic nerves, subsequently his Aunt ran away, when his Uncle found him he took him to Nairobi Hospital, but they could not operate. He was then brought back to Bumala to stay with his Grandmother, who really could not look after him properly, when Peter Weyama chairman of the Bumala Trust heard about Austin, he decided that the Trust should help, which we all agreed.
Austin is now boarding at a School for the blind. His Grandmother cannot look after him properly as she is very poor and has other grandchildren to look after, so when home from school he stays in the Margaret Haven safe house. Austin loves to sing and plays his recorder, he is in the school orchestra and is also learning to play a keyboard, he is always smiling and enjoys his time with other children and adults. His school report was excellent, even though he had malaria and was poorly for a while.
The school for the blind is 2 hours drive away from Bumala. Peter arranges for Austin to be collected and taken back each term.
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