Little did Dave Meney know that after sponsoring a three-year-old boy from Kenya, he would eventually go on to employ that same boy with the big smile at his Australian engineering firm, 26 years later.
Twenty-nine-year-old Francis Mwanu has been working with Dave since late 2017, as a virtual assistant, managing documents, contacts and projects at West Australian-based company Yenem Engineering Services.
While Francis is based in Nairobi in Kenya, and Dave in Perth, the pair are in touch every day, talking business over emails and Skype.
“It’s my wife Ann who stays in touch with Francis about the other stuff; she knows more about what’s going on with his life outside work and how his mum is,” Dave says.
Start of a life-long friendship
The Meneys have known Francis since 1993, when they began sponsoring him through ChildFund Australia. Dave, at the time, had just received a pay rise after starting a new job and wanted to donate some of the extra money he was earning to charity.
When Olivia turned five years old in May, she celebrated like many children her age might – with a Disney-themed party, lots of games and a big cake.
However, instead of receiving gifts for her birthday the Sydney preschool student raised money to buy one of ChildFund’s Gifts for Good.
She asked friends to donate to the cost of a cow, to help a child and their family in Uganda access milk – a rare nutritious drink in poor communities in Africa.
“We set up a fundraising page and explained on there what her goal was, and put a link to it on her birthday invitation asking parents to consider supporting Olivia’s goal to buy a cow, as an alternative to a gift,” mum Martine says.
“I explained to Olivia that she would still have presents from us and her grandparents, but that with so many children being invited, we could help some other people in need as well.”
Many parents were enthusiastic about the idea, says Martine, and many of Olivia’s friends drew pictures of cows on the birthday cards they made. “It was lovely to see the concept went further than just Olivia!” Martine says.
