A CHARITY providing a home, education and hope to orphaned children in Kenya is to hold an auction.

The Olive Branch Foundation began ten years ago, when a small group of people in South East Cornwall became involved in the work of Risper Saituni, a woman from a desperately poor, rural area of Kenya.

With the deeply held conviction that education offered a way out of poverty, Risper, together with one volunteer teacher, had started a small school, where children could attend and have a daily hot meal regardless of their families’ ability to pay.

Today, the school has hundreds of pupils, providing a curriculum all the way from pre-school to secondary level. And an orphanage has been built, offering a home and a place to belong to the many local children who have lost their parents to HIV, Aids or Malaria.

The facilities have grown and are maintained thanks to the support of sponsors.

Now, the Olive Branch Foundation’s trustees, who live in Liskeard, Looe and Polperro, hope to install a mains electricity supply and running water to the school and the orphanage building.

A charitable auction in Liskeard next month will contribute towards that aim, said trustee Philip Head, who is part of the Cleerway Community Church in St Cleer.

’We desperately need a water supply and mains electricity to the school and orphanage,’ he said.

’Currently, the girls fetch water on their heads once a day, and some is brought by donkey and cart. There is solar lighting, and cooking is done on open fires.’

The charity auction will take place at Liskeard’s Public Hall on February 24 (10am onwards) and the almost 100 lots can be viewed by visiting www.olive-branch-foundation.org and looking under ’Events’.

Amongst the lots up for grabs are holiday accommodation, theatre tickets, antique furniture, jewellery and crafts.

To find out more about the work of the Olive Branch Foundation, visit the website or contact Philip Head on 01579 346281.