Accommodation
The children’s living area
At the far side of Double Joy compound is the terraced housing block consisting eleven units. A recent government inspection has recommended improving the layout to allow for single beds rather than the current bunks with 2 children sleeping in each.
The housing block has an outward facing vista on the surrounding land.
Each house has three rooms- two bedrooms and a living area. There are eight children living in each house, four boys share one bedroom, four girls have the other. Brothers and sisters occupy the same house with the aim of keeping families together as much as possible. There are two older boys living in a separate house.
The new (2012) toilet block and washing area are found a short distance from the houses.
Older children cook meals for their respective siblings in a communal kitchen, on wood burning stoves, supervised by staff.
Other buildings and shambas
Completing the circuit you will pass another block including store rooms, the cook's kitchen and offices.
Further on are the animals' night pens for cows and sheep (to protect them from leopards) and shambas (plots) where children grow food.
The guest house is at the far end of DJ, along with a row of staff houses. Staff who have families and young children often chose to live in DJ, especially if their own homes are far away. Having staff houses on site also makes the compound more secure at night.
The hospital consists of two rooms, one used by an auxiliary nurse as a clinic to treat local people while the other is a ward where children stay to convalesce during bouts of illness.
In the centre of DJ there is a playground and assembly area.
The school and workshops
On the left long building is our school block consisting 10 classrooms and 3 workshops for carpentry, bicycle repair and tailoring.
Electricity supply
For many years Double Joy had no electricity until a government-subsidised mains supply was installed in 2006.
This facilitated:-
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electric lighting in the evenings (it is dark by 7pm all year round).
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fridges in the clinic (for storing medicine) and kitchen (to keep milk fresh).
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television
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office computers for administration tasks.
Facilities for visitors
Double Joy has a guesthouse with two bedrooms, (bunk beds in each), large sitting room, kitchen and toilet/washing area.
While the guesthouse has piped water it is still a scarce resource and there are occasional water and electrical outages
Electricity is 240 volts and uses British Standard plugs with a solar backup lighting system.
There is a two-ring gas stove (bottled gas) and an electric grill for cooking.
The kitchen has pots, pans and utensils. The facilities, though basic, are ample by rural local standards.
Mosquito nets and bedding are provided.
