17 Jul Faces of Children of Hope – Manuel Mwaniki
“The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” Psalm 145:9
Meet Manuel
Manuel Mwaniki is twelve years old, in 6th grade, and one of the fastest growing boys in our Kikuyu home! He became part of our family when he was just three-weeks old.
When Manuel was seven, he started to experience seizers that took medicine to manage. Three years later, by God’s grace (and the loving care of his aunties) he was given a clean bill of health, was taken off medicine, and has been seizer free ever since! Once Manuel weaned off the meds, his personality was transformed! He became much more outgoing and started to engage with his peers instead of just the younger children. His grades improved as well, which certainly impressed his teachers.
Manuel’s Favorite Things
Manuel is very passionate about soccer. He is agile, swift, and can often dribble right past his nemeses. We are confident that his talent in this area will develop and can’t wait to watch it happen.
Friends are another one of his favorite things. He loves to help the younger kids with their homework when he can, but his best friend and roommate is Abe. They are a formidable team when assigned to chores or competitive games, but also with late-night hide and seek. This last game often lands both of them into a bit of trouble with the aunties. 😊
In June, Manuel had an exciting new development – he got braces! What a blessing that one of our generous donors provided the funds specifically for them. Everyone at the home gets to enjoy this new journey with Manuel because he loves explaining in detail how he cares for his teeth. He also enjoys describing how transformed his teeth will be when the process is complete. He is overjoyed!
More About Manuel
Honesty is one of Manuel’s most valued character traits. This makes him a darling with the aunties because they know he will give them the truth when others in the home are being evasive. The aunties will definitely miss this intel when he moves into the older boy’s cottage in December. 😉
Manuel is an excellent student and loves Science, but he is also very creative and loves to paint and draw. Sometimes Manuel gets so focused on one activity that he forgets to attend to other things. We are working with him to develop this skill. In other areas, he is sometimes easily distracted and he can take it hard when he loses at competitive games.
Manuel is warm, confident, quick-minded, and attentive. When answering questions, he does so with a smile – which is made all the more radiant because of his new braces. We are so grateful for this precious young man and all he adds to our Kikuyu Home.
