Challenge Tour player Chris Lloyd deeply moved by the charity work of Glad’s House in Kenya
Chris Lloyd, the 20-year-old aspiring Englishman, who was part of the field at the Barclays Kenya Open, has found a whole new reason to love the sport that he has always been so passionate about.
He finished for a joint 14th at the last Challenge Tour event. However, regardless of the fact, he lauds his decision to visit the Equatorial country, primarily for his respect for the Glad’s House Charity drive.
Lloyd, who has done well in his short career on the Challenge Tour so far, played well at the scenic Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi.
However, his recent visit to the Glad’s House Caddies Project at Vipingo Ridge Golf Course, 30 miles north of the city, has thrown everything in perspective.
Lloyd was deeply moved to witness the depravity and poverty in the Central African country and drew immense inspiration from the work carried out by the charity drive.
He said, “I have no words. It was an unbelievable few days and I met some inspiring people. It puts everything into perspective”.
Glad’s House was established by Englishman Dr Cliff Ferguson and his daughter Victoria Ferguson in 2006 and has been utilising the funds from the Tour Player’s Foundation to help the downtrodden of the Mombasa and vicinity to get a decent life.
The mission picks up the homeless street dwellers and trains them to work as caddies at the various golf courses around Mombasa which are often visited by the rich from the western world.
So far, the charity drive has rehabilitated some 60 slum dwellers, successfully turning them into useful caddies, who now have a place to reside and have also means to send some earnings back to their homes.
Julius Amos Ndeta and Janet Otieno were two of such caddies who carried Lloyd and Phil Archer’s bags during the Pro-Am events and immediately came under the radar of the media and press.
Julius said, “For the first time people see and speak to me and it makes me feel very proud”. Janet also said, “I meet some very nice people who treat me as an equal”.
On Tuesday, Lloyd took some time out to visit the base of Glad’s House in Magongo and witnessed the work carried out.
The camp holds a cyber café and a bicycle shop, and a football pitch and a housing facility for eight children who have nowhere to go.
Plans are underway to extend the facility from the charity funds the foundation has received from the recently held Barclays Kenya Open.
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