Julie Hellon is a northern girl, born in Manchester, UK. She has two biological children, aged 19 and 21; an adopted Kenyan boy aged 22 (who is currently doing his Bac Pro in Nice) plus any number of ‘other’ children - all of whom call her Mum!

Julie moved to France with her husband during 1994 when pregnant, aged 39, with her first child: "It was a simple decision to make. Do we bring up a child in London or here?" Julie says.

In 2010, Julie had the opportunity to visit Kisumu in Kenya with a charity that rehabilitates street boys. Whilst she was attending the small church that sits amidst the rubbish tip, a small and very smelly, barefoot child climbed onto her knee and fell asleep. As she lay in her arms, Julie remembers looking down at her and realised she had to do something to help these people. The first project Julie embarked on was to build a nursery school so these youngest children would be out of harm’s way so they would be fed, be safe and begin to receive an education.

Julie was on a mission. Fundraising and building the nursery school took two years. They had 50 children enrolled across three classes in March 2014 and then, on returning back home to France, Julie was diagnosed with Malaria. For a time she wasn’t sure if she would ever be well enough to return to Kenya. However, as the nursery school moved towards self-sufficiency and Julie began to slowly recover, the idea for a second project began to germinate - this time centred on adolescent girls.

For the majority of women whom Julie meets, their poverty stricken lives mean that prostitution is the only way they can take care of their families. It’s a vicious circle. By the age of 11 or 12 years, their daughters are also encouraged to use their ‘ATM’ so they can contribute to the rest of the family. Each of the Familia girls is at risk of early marriage, female circumcision or sexual abuse. The youngest, aged six, was raped twice before Julie's organisation was able to rescue her.

If you would like to learn more about the children Julie helps, or want to get involved, or simply send her girls a Christmas card, contact her on +33 (0)6 34 16 53 52 or through the website: www.kenyankids.org and please ‘like’ the facebook page: www.facebook.com/KenyanKidsFamilia

We asked Julie our famous 5 questions and this is what she told us...

What makes me smile?

The biggest snub I receive is when people tell me ‘The problem is too big, you can never make a difference.’ It’s those times I smile because I know, through the belief of other supporters, 120 children are now in education who previously wouldn’t have been and ten young girls are no longer at risk of child prostitution – they’ve broken the family pattern and are leading lives their mums can be proud of.

What or who inspires you?

One child whom we took in to Jacaranda House after her mother had cruelly burnt her sat next to me at the end of her hospital appointment. ‘If I heal,’ little Millie said, ‘and if you take me to school, then I will buy you a packet of sugar.’ All the children I meet, without exception, value education more than anything. They don’t ask for food or clothes, simply to be allowed to go to school. It’s these children, who prize school above anything, who continue to inspire me to do what I do.

Do you believe in gut instincts?

When we started Kenyan Kids Familia, I was overwhelmed with the decisions I had to make. Which girls do you choose when there are so many who need our help? I dealt with this by ‘going inside’ and asking God to lead me. Many times my human frailty means I worry about the sustainability of our project. After all, these girls will need to be taken care of until they reach a point, probably university, when they can be financially independent. Again, my gut reaction reminds me to hand these problems over. Someone once told me, ‘If I can’t … He can, just remember to ask Him.’

Your three essential things if you were stuck on a desert island would be:

1. I can’t do without a pot of Vaseline.
2. Having lost 6 weeks of my life due to Malaria, I would definitely want a Mosquito net.
3. Something completely frivolous … it would have to be a Hermes scarf as I rarely go anywhere without one!

If you are planning a day out, what do you enjoy doing the most?

My friends tease me that if there were an Olympic Gold Medal for shopping, then I would surely be a winner – so for me, it would have to be a whole day spent at John Lewis!