Kenyan-born Islander Lucy Falle has triumphed over poverty and adversity and is now working to transform the lives of children in her native Nairobi. She tells her extraordinary story to Thomas Ogg
STORIES of individuals triumphing against the odds are commonplace these days, with every other X Factor contestant seemingly having a rags to riches back story to impart.
Lucy Falle’s life story, however, is no such sympathy-seeking concoction; rather, the Kenya-born charity worker’s journey from poverty-stricken childhood in Nairobi to happily married domesticity in Jersey makes for a genuinely moving tale, encompassing hardship, heartbreak, hope, tragedy and, ultimately, triumph.
Today, Lucy co-chairs Jersken – the local charity she and her husband, Peter, founded in 2011 – and runs the Jersken Charity Warehouse in St Saviour, all of the funds from which are channelled into an orphanage in Nairobi: Jersken Little Angels’ Home.
‘Jersken is a combination of Jersey and Kenya,’ says Lucy. ‘They have been the two most important places throughout my life.’
Now in her early 50s, Lucy was born in Nairobi, the fourth of five siblings raised by their mother in crippling poverty (‘even a simple cup of tea for breakfast was beyond our means’).
Unable to attend school until she was 13, and only then with the aid of a bursary, Lucy nevertheless graduated and began working as a chef in a local hotel.
She fell in love with and married a local college lecturer, Casper Ogesa, and together they had four children: Vivean, Teddy, Brian and Daisy.
However, despite both Lucy and Casper working full-time jobs, the family struggled to survive, largely due to the shockingly low wages that were prevalent across the country (and remain so).
‘At the time, a catering manager in Kenya could expect to take home, at most, £300 a month,’ says Lucy, ‘and that would be considered a very, very good wage.
‘It would be seen as a highly paid job.
‘So you can imagine my surprise when I was offered £300 a week to work in Jersey.’
The offer came in 2000 courtesy of Seymour Hotels and Bob Le Sueur, as Lucy explains: ‘There is a hospitality training institution in Kenya that was built and sponsored by the Swiss government.
‘Bob heard about the institution and spoke to a family member of the Seymour Group about the possibility of recruiting people who’d been trained there.’
In the event, Seymour offered 18 Kenyan chefs and waitresses the chance to move to and work in Jersey, with Lucy one of the chosen few.
The opportunity presented her with an agonising ultimatum, however: ‘It meant I would have to leave behind my husband and children,’ she says, still emotional at the memory.
‘The youngest, Daisy, was only six months old at the time.
‘I’d never been out of Kenya before and I’d certainly never heard of Jersey.
‘I had absolutely no idea where it was.
‘It was a really, really hard decision, but eventually I realised that if I moved to Jersey I could earn enough money to give my family a better life.’
And so, Lucy – then in her late 30s – travelled to the Island and began working at the Hotel des Pierres in Grève de Lecq.
‘I can still remember the exact date I arrived: 22 April 2000,’ she recalls.
‘I was so lonely and I missed my family so much.
‘I was only able to phone home once a week, sometimes only once a fortnight.’
Living in staff accommodation and on meals provided by the hotel, Lucy worked as many hours as possible, sending all of her wages back to her family in Nairobi for food and to pay the children’s school fees (a mandatory requirement in Kenya).
‘Every single penny I earned went back home,’ she says.
‘I didn’t even have enough money left for a bus into St Helier.
‘There was a bench near the hotel that looked out to sea and in my spare time I used to sit on it by myself and cry and cry and cry.’
Despite her often overwhelming homesickness, Lucy consoled herself with the knowledge that her earnings were creating a better life for her children.
Sadly, the situation was to prove tragically short-lived: less than four months after Lucy arrived in Jersey, Casper was killed in a road accident.
‘Oh God, it was very, very tough,’ she says.
‘Now, I can talk about it, but for a long time it was very hard for me to deal with.’
Heartbroken, Lucy returned to Nairobi to be with her children.
‘I remember sitting down after the funeral and thinking, what am I going to do?
‘I knew I could stay with my children, and I desperately wanted to, but we would have no money.
‘Alternatively, I could return to Jersey, which would mean being able to support them financially.
‘I spoke to my eldest sister – who had two children of her own – and asked her if she’d be able to look after them.
‘I told her I’d send money to buy a bigger house and that I’d pay for food and for all of the children’s education.’
And that is exactly what she did: ‘I came back to Jersey and worked every single day of the week.
‘When I wasn’t working at the hotel, I’d clean houses and do people’s ironing.’
Before long, Lucy was supporting not just her own children, but those of her two older sisters, who had both become seriously ill and died in 2002.
‘Suddenly I went from being a mother of four to a mother of six,’ she says.
In 2004, Lucy began working as a housekeeper and health care assistant at Abbeyfield House, looking after adults with special needs and learning difficulties.
It was there that she first met local electronics engineer Peter Falle, who momentarily takes up the narrative: ‘My aunt was a resident at Abbeyfield at the time and Lucy was looking after her.
‘I remember she was keen to learn to drive and so I offered to give her a lesson on her day off.
‘The truth is, I fell in love with Lucy the second I saw her.’
- The Jersken Charity Warehouse was officially opened by the Lieutenant-Governor, General Sir John McColl, and Lady McColl, in July this year.
- Situated at 87 St Clements Road, the warehouse is open Saturday, 11 am to 3 pm, and Sunday, 9 am to 1 pm.
- We always need volunteers to help out in the warehouse, says Lucy.
- We need people to serve during opening hours, but also to help with moving stock and keeping the warehouse tidy, even if just for an hour or two each week.
- To volunteer or donate, call 07797 888818 or 07797 850568.
- Alternatively, visit jersken.org for more information.
Lucy and Peter soon became an item (they married in 2006) and, shortly afterwards, Lucy’s children and her surviving sister moved over to Jersey.
‘Oh my God, it made things so much easier for me to have them here,’ smiles Lucy.
‘It made me realise how lucky I was and also that the time had come for me to give something back to the community in which I had been raised.’
Poverty in Nairobi was – and remains – rife, with one devastating food crisis following another and HIV widespread across the country.
‘There are a lot of mental health issues as well,’ says Lucy.
‘One mother just walked off and was never seen or heard from again.
‘She left her children – a brother and sister, aged four and five – to fend for themselves.’
Thanks to Lucy, however, those same children are now safely housed in Jersken Little Angels’ Home.
Opened in 2014, the orphanage is situated on the outskirts of Nairobi and represents the culmination of Lucy’s hard work.
‘Today, land is very expensive in Nairobi, but back then it wasn’t so bad,’ she says.
‘I worked all the hours I could to raise money to get it built.
‘I paid for the builders, the building materials, everything.’
Now fully functional, the 11-room orphanage is maintained by a small team of dedicated local staff and, at the time of writing, provides sanctuary for 15 orphaned children, all of whom are provided with clothes, clean water and three meals a day, as well as bunk beds, shower facilities and, perhaps most importantly, a friendly, family-orientated environment.
‘We want the place to feel like a family, not an institution,’ says Peter.
‘We hope that by the start of 2016 we’ll have 20 children living there, although we’re ultimately aiming for around 50.’
‘There’s no set age limit at Little Angels’ Home,’ says Lucy.
‘The children are welcome to stay as long as they need.
‘We won’t be kicking anyone out, whatever their age.
‘Hopefully we’ll be able to find places in higher education for them when the time comes.’
Back in Jersey, Lucy’s own children have flourished since moving to the Island, with Brian now studying hard at Hautlieu and Daisy attending Grainville.
Meanwhile, Lucy is now a proud grandmother to five grandchildren.
‘I went back to Grève de Lecq recently,’ she says.
‘Hotel des Pierres has gone now, but the bench is still there.
‘It brought back some pretty horrible memories, but it also made me think about how far I’ve come and how much my life has changed for the better.
‘Now, I want to change other people’s lives for the better, too.’
