Northern beaches girl giving up lighting in January to build her friend in Kenya a house

AFTER seeing first-hand the living conditions of a community in Kenya, a 12-year-old girl from Sydney’s northern beaches has vowed to make a difference.

Mia Stewart and her family from North Narabeen will give up lighting in January to raise funds to build a home for her friend Lucy Muthoni N.

Lucy and her family live in a tent in an Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) Village in Nakuru, Kenya.

The two girls met while Mia and her mum Simone Stewart lived next door to the IDP camp as part of a service learning trip with Notre Dame University in November and December last year.

“On the very first day she just came up and held my hand,” Mia said.

Mrs Stewart said the girls were inseparable from then on.

“Everywhere they went, they were together,” Mrs Stewart said. “They live different lives but there was a strong connection right away.”

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Upon returning home, Mia said she wanted to help her friend.

“I live in a normal house and Lucy lives in a tent with her family,” Mia said.

“Our lives are pretty different. I wanted to help her get a house that she can live in with her family.”

Mia said one aspect of Lucy’s life that struck her was the fact that she didn’t have electricity.

The Stewart family will live without lighting from January 21 to January 28.

THE GOAL

• Mia’s fundraising target is $1700, which is the cost of building a house with Moses Housing Fund.
• The fund began in 2012 to build homes for people living in Lucy’s displaced peoples village.
• Currently there are 20 houses left to be built.

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