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Situated in the Great Rift Valley in rural Kenya, near Nakuru and approximately two hours northwest of Nairobi, Nyota provides a nurturing home and learning environment up to 50 children who have lost their parents due to AIDs or other tragedies.
Nyota is Swahili for Star. Our vision is to empower these children to become self-sufficient adults who can in turn help their communities. We want all these children to become “stars” in their own right, and we want to empower them to achieve their dreams and in turn help their communities.
Nyota is a joint project with Mission in Action (MIA). Founded in 2005, MIA operates the Nakuru Baby Orphanage and has legal guardianship of 30 babies and small children who were either orphaned or abandoned with no family to care for them. The baby orphanage was started by Ivan and Mary Budulica, an Australian couple. MIA employs 20 Kenyan staff, providing employment and self-sufficiency to them and their families and benefiting more people from the community. The home is a registered charity with the Kenyan Children’s Services Department and operates to the highest standard.
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Through a partnership between MIA and international volunteers, Nyota was founded in 2008. Operating from a five acre site, including a large common building, volunteer quarters, and separate bedroom areas for the small children, older boys and girls, Nyota currently provides a home for 32 abandoned or orphaned Kenyan children between the ages of 3-17 years, with a capacity to care for up to 60 children. Intake of additional children will continue through 2009. |
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These children are all referred through Kenya Children’s Services and at Mission in Action/Nyota we are their legal guardians. Our commitment to these children is long-term – this home, the caregivers and the volunteers are their family. They have no parents or extended family who can care for them. Further information on the children is available under The Children section of this website.
The home was formerly a refuge for street children operated by a US based church. It is clean, freshly painted and highly secure, with bars on doors and windows. At night there are guards that watch the property. All the beds, mattresses and sheets and blankets are newly purchased and laundry is done daily by the staff. It is located in the country, about 15 minutes from Nakauru, which is a small and growing city. Our goal is to build a permanent home for the children next to the Mission in Action baby orphanage. |
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| The home is managed and operated by a staff of 11 people. |
Gideon Onkendi, 64, is the manager. He combines strong management skills and discipline with open affection and love of the children. The social worker is Lillian Moraa. The care givers are Asenath, Fancy and Jason. Samwel and Seth are the cooks – and the food is delicious! Jane is the housekeeper and Lemain, Peter and David are the guards and farm hands.
At Nyota, we have a large garden that grows much of the food to support the home. The children have breakfast of hot cereal, bread and tea. Lunch and supper are a hot meal, usually vegetarian, including fresh tomatoes, beans, cabbage, broccoli, ugali (ground maize corn) and fresh fruit.
When the children are in school (except for the months of April, August and December) they leave in the morning around 7:30 and return around 4:00 PM. The school system in Kenya is based on the British system, so children learn most subjects in English and wear school uniforms. While young children only know a little English, after the age of 7 children are usually fluent in both Swahili and English.
During the vacation months they are home during the day. In the evening, the staff and children often gather for prayers, singing and dancing. It is one of the highlights of being at Nyota to enjoy the warmth, laughter and fun of singing and dancing together, with children climbing on your lap and looking for a hug.
While immediate rescue of these children is critical, the primary goal is to provide primary, secondary and vocational training for these children, or support their entry to university or college. Only through education will they escape the cycle of poverty and build the life skills to address larger economic and social issues in Kenya. |
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When people contemplate the desperate poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, they ask how can anyone really make a difference?
When we discover a starfish washed up on the shore, we can save it by returning it to the sea. Like the starfish, we can and will make a difference to children living in poverty in Kenya – one child at a time.
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