Why have the St. Rita mothers been awarded?
The 20 mothers of St. Rita received The World’s Children’s Prize 2005 for their voluntary and committed struggle to help children living in the villages around Kisumu in Kenya who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS. These are children who could otherwise end up living on the streets facing a life of drugs, violence, crime and prostitution. The mothers fight for the rights of orphaned children to ensure that they get the same opportunities in life as other children. Despite the fact that most of the mothers are themselves very poor, they currently provide 43 orphaned children with food, clothes, medicines, schooling, new homes, new families and love. The mothers get no financial support from either the government or any organisation.
