Kisima Child Care Academy - School and Orphanage

Sponsor a Child

Kisima’s director reports that once the children know they have a sponsor they hold their heads higher, have a spring in their step, and show a renewed dedication to their schoolwork. Sponsor a child for $300 per year. Younger students require two sponsors for full support while older students need at least three. The cost of books and exams during their last two years is quite high. Sponsor a teacher for $400 per year. Each teacher needs four sponsors for full support. When you choose or are assigned a child it would be great to write a letter to introduce yourself and include a photo. The kids LOVE to receive photos. Please do not send packages because they may not arrive. The address to send letters and photos is Kisima Academy, P.O. Box 74, Postal Code 50211, Naitiri, Kenya.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Website

We have switched to a website and will no longer be posting on the blog. Please go to www.friendsofkisima.org. Thank you so much for your interest.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Another great visit

A group of nine just returned from another rewarding trip to Kisima. We brought shoes and socks, clothes, toothbrushes, Frisbees, jump ropes, soccer balls, and school supplies. Each child got to pick out a pair of shoes, an item of clothing, socks, and a toothbrush. Lots of happy faces! It was wonderful to see the kids happy, healthy, and thriving.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Plantings

The high school students planted a row of flowering bushes between the boys and the girls dorms. They had a great time doing it and learned a few things about gardening along the way.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

April news

It's always exciting when a new calf is born at Kisima. Charlie (Charlene? Charlotte?), gave birth to Grace recently. Feed has been very scarce during the dry season. There has been nothing to graze on and Martin has had to drive 17 miles into Kitale to buy what feed was available. Thank God the rains have come and things are growing again.

April is a holiday month for Kenyan students and the high school students have been home at Kisima. They've been making good use of the time--working with computers, helping the Kisima students with computers, meeting with recent high school graduates, and being tutored by secondary school teachers.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

April rains

The hot, dry, dusty summer is over and the long rains came on schedule. The landscape is green again. Hopefully favorable growing conditions will continue and the harvest will be good. April is one of the three months students are off school and the high schoolers are back at Kisima sharing their experiences.

Laura Anne and Jamie arrived home recently from spending over three weeks at Kisima. I look forward to hearing about their trip!

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Under a mango tree

I like this photo of Class 8 studying under a mango tree.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Graduates heading to secondary schools

Most of the secondary school admission letters have arrived for Kisima's first graduates. The schools have always based their admissions on the national exams that Class 8 students take in November. This year the government changed the procedure but the top 10% of students nationally score above 360; at Kisima 42% scored above 360--a testament to good leadership, hard-working kids and dedicated teachers! So far the kids are going to 12 different schools--what a logistics challenge to get 20 kids equipped and delivered to so many different places! The orphans had sponsors at Kisima who are continuing to sponsor them through secondary school.

Introduction

Kisima Academy was started by Martin Simiyu, an extraordinary man who has really responded to God’s call to serve. In 2006 he, his wife, and their three children moved to a rural area in western Kenya to start a school for orphans. In March 2008 Kisima consisted of three mud classrooms and the children sat on the dirt floor for their lessons. They walked a mile for water.

Seven years later with the help of friends, Christ our Savior Lutheran Church in Loudon, Tennessee, and John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Annandale, Virginia, there are ten brick classrooms, two hand-dug wells, cows, chickens, tilapia fish ponds, and most important, food for the children. Boys' and girls' dorms were built in 2011 thanks to the generosity of the Nancy Bryant-Jerry Taylor Foundation. Martin farms four acres of maize and beans and each class has a garden to grow vegetables.

Much progress has been made but there are still many needs to be met, among them more land and simple housing for the teachers who live onsite.

Donations go to For the Kids International, Inc., 7201 Countrywood Ct., Springfield, VA 22151. Please be sure to specify that it is to go to Kisima Academy. When you send a donation to Kisima, 100% goes to the school. No money is used for administration.

Bonnie Lefbom
Gerda Fink
Denise Patton
Nancy Bryant
John Ndiritu