Blessed Generation in Ruiru

The children’s home in Ruiru is approximately 30 kilometers from Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. It was started in 1984 in a mission house. Dick West, a Reverend from California, went to Kenya to preach the gospel and over time was given the care of seven orphans. In 2001 the name of the home was Spirit of Faith, and he passed the torch to Ria Fennema, a teacher from Holland. At that time the home needed renovation however the finances were exhausted and meeting the running costs of the home was a problem. Through the years renovations have been completed and projects to generate income have been started. More children have been helped. We give thanks to the sponsors from Holland who were very generous in supporting the renovation of the home. The aims and intentions of the home are: To give each child a safe roof over their head, food and education, and help them to grow up to become strong citizens who can help to develop Kenya.

Guesthouse
There is also a three storey house on the compound that has also been built within the last 10 years. The ground floor is for visitors: either people who wish to combine a safari with a visit to the children's home, people who wish to come and volunteer at the home, or simply people who wish to visit the home. The first and second floor are for boys and girls who have finished primary school and are boarding at high school. During the school holidays children can come back to the home if they do not have other relatives with whom they can spend the holiday, such as abandoned children.

Security

To provide good security for the children a wall with cemented broken glass on top (a common method of security) was built around the whole compound. Masai watchmen are on duty at night and the German Shepherd dogs are walking free on the compound at night.

Projects

In the future we hope to become more independent by generating income within the center. In order to achieve this, various projects are up and running:

The Primary and Secondary school
We provide an education for all our children. Children from outside the orphanage are also welcome to join our school, for which they pay tuition fees. With these fees we can pay for teachers' salaries, books, food and all other running expenses of the primary school. The building of a new primary school was completed in 2004. A beautiful new school building, consisting of 16 classrooms, now stands on the orphanage grounds. At present we are building a new school block that includes a library and a computer classroom.

Blessed Generation Safaris
Combine a visit to the orphanage with a safari through the varied Kenyan landscape! A travel office has been set up within the orphanage center. This provides a good income, and all profits directly benefit the orphanage. Many of the visitors to the orphanage have discovered the beautiful parks and the amazing tropical coast of Kenya.
More information: www.safarikenia.nl

German Shepherd Dogs
The children's home has a long history with breeding German Shepherd dogs. These are pure bred dogs and are treated very well. The price of a female puppy is 150 Euros; the price of male puppy is 200 Euros.

The chicken, cows and vegetable project
The chicken and cow project provides a lot of eggs and milk. These products are consumed by the children at the orphanage and are also sold in the local neighbourhood. We are also growing our own vegetables in order to provide the children with a varied meal. These projects are running well and are expanding.

Schools

The children from the home study in the primary school which is part of the home. The school is registered and provides a good education. Also children from outside the home are welcome in the school; these children pay school fees. The school has grown from having two paying students in 2001 to now having enough students from outside the home that provide for the school's yearly budget. This includes paying for: salaries of qualified Kenyan teaches, stationery, library books, and school lunches. This is a great achievement for the students and teachers. Thanks to the sponsors who supported the school budget from 2001 until the end of 2009, when the school became self reliant. "Thanks for your endless support and your enthusiasm for the school".

Education is a luxury in Kenya. That is why the first classrooms at the home were wooden huts. Thanks again to the sponsors we were able to build a permanent building made of stone. In 2005 we completed the new school and now there are ten beautiful permanent stone classrooms: two nursery classrooms and eight primary classrooms.

Highschool education
After finishing class 8 at primary school children continue with high school. The high school they attend depends on the score they receive from their national exams at primary school, so the children go to different high schools. All of these schools however are boarding schools, so the children eat and sleep at school and only come back to the children's home when they are on holiday from high school. The school fees, boarding fees and other costs are paid by the children's home. We require sponsors for the children for this which costs 650 Euros per year. On average the home has 30 children in high school every year. As soon as the class 8 children receive their results and are called for high school, beds become free and new children are welcomed into the children's home.

College – University and job skills
Even after completing high school with good exam results often the children do not have any chance to find a job. There is very high unemployment and many people in Kenya are jobless. That is why it is so important to have a chance at further education, either university or technical college. On average the home has 30 children in university or college every year. It has been an aim of the home since 2002 to structure their high school education towards university or college; it is still a challenge but there are former students of the home who have now graduated and are working as bankers, accountants, teachers and nurses. They are now working adults who still meet regularly at the children's home - their old home - and discuss with us on how they can give back to the children of the home. Sponsoring a child in further education depends of the study but ranges between 2500 Euros up to 3500 Euros per year for four years, which includes accommodation, transport, food and tuition.