Kisima academy

Kisima Academy, a mission of COS, is a Christian orphanage and school in rural western Kenya.

In 2008 it consisted of three mud classrooms for 83 children. They walked a mile for water and slept four to a blanket on the dirt floor.

Today with the help of many people there are ten brick classrooms, two dorms, a dining/church hall, two wells, cows and chickens, tilapia ponds, four acres of maize and beans, and vegetable gardens. The 130 orphans and 150 very poor community children are lovingly cared for and given a well-rounded, Christian education.

Gerda Fink, COS Kisima Committee Chair-person, www.friendsofkisima.org, on Facebook at Friends of Kisima Academy.

update

The focus of all attention in Kenya recently has been the national election. Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the first President of Kenya and member of the majority Kikuyu tribe, won a second term as President. The results are being disputed by his opponent, Raila Odinga, member of the Luo (second largest) tribe. The violence following the 2007 election resulted in 1200 people killed and was the cause of death of the parents of most of the Kisima orphans. When I visited before the 2012 election people were determined not to repeat the violence of 2007. However, this year there were again rumblings and as of today (August 15) there has been some rioting in Nairobi and Kisumu (the Odinga stronghold) and 24 people have been killed. Thank God Kisima is in a safe area and they are able to go about their daily activities as usual.


Here are a couple of photos of the new girls’ dorm. I wonder if the girls had a hand in the color selection!


You can’t imagine the excitement over having flush toilets and piped water to sinks and showers--improvements unheard of in this rural area.


Exciting news—we now have a Kisima Academy website:

www.friendsofkisima.org. There you can find a photo album of the students under Photo Gallery, some photos of the August trip, background information and so on. Check it out!  


Gently used athletic shoes are needed for Kisima Academy. 


If you or your children/grandchildren have some to donate the children and teachers at Kisima would be very grateful. Please keep it in mind over the next few months—any time before early May is good. Bring them to church or call the Church for a pickup. Thank you!