Kisima Child Care Academy and Orphanage

320 Kisima Students

20 Orphans

300 Community Children

4.5 Acres Farmed

Maize and Beans

Meeting ~50% of needs

Educational Success

National exam scores consistently in top 10% for region

Kisima Academy started in 2006 with 83 orphans.  Currently there are 20 orphans at Kisima, 50 Kisima graduates who are attending high school, and 40 high school graduates attending colleges and universities.  There are also 300 day students whose families cannot afford the books or uniforms required for public school.  About half of the children were orphaned as a result of tribal violence during the 2002 and 2007 elections. A quarter were orphaned from AIDS.  Others were orphaned through illnesses, abandonment, road accidents, and murder.  Very often the parent or parents died or disappeared and the child ended up in the care of a grandparent who then also died.

Kisima owns four and a half acres of land, two of which are used to grow maize and beans to feed the children.  Another two acres are leased for additional maize and beans.  In a good year they are able to produce about half of their needs. There are four cows for milk and a bull.  There are also chickens for eggs and rabbits for meat.  

The children are lovingly cared for and given a well-rounded, Christian education by dedicated teachers..  The first Class 8 graduated in December 2014 and started secondary school in January 2015.  Nationally the top 10% of Class 8 students qualify to attend a national secondary school; at Kisima 42% qualified.  Currently it’s not feasible for us to build a secondary school and additional dorms to house the students.  A better option for us is to send the orphans to boarding schools at an average cost of $1000 per year.  Another $200 covers their transportation, housing, food, and clothing for the three months they are home at Kisima for their school breaks.  Students enroll at the best school available to them according to their test scores.  Currently the 50 secondary school students attend 16 different boarding schools.  

 Much progress has been made through the generosity of many caring people but there are still goals to be met.  Seven of the teachers live onsite, two in recently finished teacher housing.  More teacher housing is needed.  A computer classroom and a library are badly needed.  Food production needs to be increased and a farm manager was recently hired to improve and expand farming for the school.  The goal is to be as self-sufficient as possible.