Since 2014, when the Colorado Mission Committee became involved with the Tumaini Youth Center in Kitale, Kenya-, your donations have helped provide clothing, shoes, mattresses, blankets, kitchen furniture, utensils, and school supplies for our 55 children at TYC.
From the beginning the Colorado Mission Committee’s goal has been to select projects recommended by the African Board of Directors that will enhance TYC’s self-sustainability and the living conditions for the staff and children. During this past 4 years livestock (cows, chickens, pigs, goats) numbers have doubled in size. These increases were made possible through your donations, which have enabled TYC to sell some of the offspring for operating expenses. We also raise our own feed crops such as hay and corn and sell the excess in good years.
Our latest project is a new irrigation system completed in 2017. The cost was $1875 U.S. dollars. This irrigation system provides water during the dry season (5 to 6 months per year) so corn, cabbage tomatoes and beans are available to children and staff year round. Any excess crops are sold for additional funds for the orphanage.
The new irrigation system allowed the staff to cultivate a plot for a small banana plantation. The staff dug 130 holes, planted 130 plants. Approximately 100 have produced successful banana plants. These plants will be trees producing fruit in fourteen to eighteen months.
During the past 18 months, the TYC staff has also put together a grinding mill. Your donations allow the TYC staff to grind grains and legumes on site eliminating transporting the grains off site for processing.
Our largest undertaking to date for projects at the Tumaini Youth Center is a four-unit apartment complex. This complex was completed in the spring of 2017. Not only does it provide needed housing in the area, it also generates annual income for operations at TYC. The building project video for the four unit apartment building shows the construction stages of this $60,000 project. Due to security being a major issue in Kenya, donations were also used to construct a security wall that surrounds the apartment complex. This is a mandatory amenity for the rent-ability of the apartments.
Read about our projects in progression on our Current Projects Page
Thank you all for being a part of God’s work in Kitale, Kenya.