German-Kenyan Boy Feels at Home in Africa: Charity Supports Local Children

Pascal Dürr, 12, has spent most of his life in Kenya and feels more at home there than in his native Germany. His family's organization, Projekt Schwarz-Weiß e.V., supports orphaned children in the village of Msambweni and develops the area's infrastructure.

Gudrun Dürr, Pascal's mother, moved to Kenya ten years ago to provide orphaned children with a better future in a country marked by poverty. Their organization has established two 'Nice View Children's Village' facilities, offering a home to over 50 orphaned children. A school, kindergarten, and vocational training center have also been built in the area, with a hospital currently under construction.

Pascal, who speaks Swahili better than German, considers Kenya his home. He visited Germany only twice and found it too cold. He is accustomed to living in an African environment and grew up with animals such as monkeys and gazelles. He spends considerable time on the farm run by the family, where they grow food for self-sufficiency.

The Dürr family established their own school due to the harsh educational methods, including corporal punishment, used in local schools. The new school, 'Nice View Children's Village II,' offers an international curriculum without the use of physical punishment. Pascal is in the sixth grade there, and the school also teaches German.

Pascal is scheduled to travel to Germany for medical examinations due to suspected low blood counts. However, he plans to return to his beloved Kenya shortly after the procedures.