Hope Home

What is Hope Home?

Hope Home is an orphanage in the Southwest of Kenya, taking in vulnerable babies and toddlers, Founding director Renish Achieng has dedicated her life to offering orphans and HIV-positive children a chance to a better future. Aside from taking care of the childrens’ physical health, Hope Home also aims to aid in their emotional, social, spiritual and educational development.

Babies are welcome!

The carers in the kitchen with the babies

Hope Home is the only orphanage in Western Kenya willing to take in newborns or babies with HIV. It is able to accommodate 30 children of up to eleven years of age. However, due to the urgency of some cases, at times more than 40 have been in care. Many would otherwise have a low chance of survival, as there is still a stigma around HIV/AIDS and the cost of both medication and baby formula is high.

Hope Home in figures

Orphans

HIV-positive

Carers

Accomodations

Hope Home employs nine permanent members of staff who take care of the children night and day. The grounds consist of two main buildings, each containing small bedrooms and a play area. There is also a kitchen, medical room, washing area and a small guest quarter for volunteers. The garden contains a number of play sets and is large enough for children of all ages to play in.

Family is important

Hope Home is, however, not a permanent solution for these children. In Kenya, as in the rest of Africa, family plays an important role in societal integration. For this reason, Hope Home actively seeks to stay in touch with the extended family. From the ages of four, children spend their holidays with their family or a foster family, while Hope Home provides the necessary support and counseling.

Hope Home also works with the Children’s Services of the Kenyan government. They register every potential newcomer and help to find alternative solutions when Hope Home is unable to take in any more children.

Hope Academy

For Hope Home, mere survival for these children is not enough. They believe a quality education is vital for their future, and will help them to transform the society in which they live. Hope Academy offers 3 years of pre-school and 8 years of primary school education, both of which are also open to the children of the neighbouring villages. Hope Academy employs fifteen teachers who oversee the education of 180 children. Every child is provided with a warm meal each day.

Children in school

Teachers

Years of preschool

Years of primary school

Hope Academy

Sustainable

It is the aim of Hope Home to be self-sustainable. To this end, there are animal and vegetable farms, a fish farm and a commercial forest, which cover almost 50% of expenses. Hope Home also has its own water well to provide a clean water supply, while solar panels generate electricity and hot water.

The farm produces milk, vegetables and fruit for the children, but sometimes bigger investments are required. These include plant and seed stocks, animal feed, detergent for fish ponds as well as manpower. With the orphanage, school and farm, Hope Home is an important local employer.

Support remains necessary

Hope Home was founded in 2005. For almost 10 years, it was funded by the Belgian private foundation Hope for Kabondo. In 2005, this foundation changed its name to Hope for Girls and now supports other projects. While New Hope for Kabondo works very hard to be self-sustainable, external support remains necessary to ensure the quality of its services.

Its goal is to find 200 people who are willing to donate 10 to 20 Euros per month. This money will be transferred each month to the New Hope for Kabondo foundation.