Kapchesewes Childrens home is located in the Marakwet-West District, Rift Valley Province in
Kenya. It is run by AIC (African Inland Church). It is a home of 39 kids, 27 in Primary and 12 in Secondary School. They range from an age of 6-18 years. Majority of these children are partial or total orphans while others are there because their families cannot afford to care for them.
They have two volunteers, Rose and her husband, who act as their parents at the same time run the orphanage with no pay at all seven days a week.
Over the years, the children’s home has faced a lot of challenges form lack of guardians to a lack of supplies and funds. There exist incomplete buildings and the children live in very bad conditions including lack of electricity and a small farm for self-sustaining. The children sleep two to a bed in beds that most of us would complain about sleeping in by ourselves. The mattresses are thin and worn and sag in the middle. The blankets they have are thin and have holes given that the up hills
in Kenya can get pretty cold at night .They also cannot all eat at the same time, because they don’t have enough bowls, plates and cups. Amidst these difficulties, however, they work hard to succeed. They are almost entirely self-supported, growing and cooking their own food as well as maintaining a small number of livestock as sheep and cows.
These children love the lord and most of the times they are taught scripture and worship songs. They are goal focused and many of them have ambitions as to be doctors, teachers, pilots in future.
There is a tie between the orphanage and Kapsowar Mission Hospital. Laura Rhodes, the wife of the long-term missionary surgeon at Kapsowar Mission Hospital, has established an education fund which allows these children to go to secondary school (high school) as well as to college if they qualify. She doesn't do any massive fundraising. Medical students come through the hospital,
visit the kids and donate. Friends from her home country send some money. Total strangers hear the story of the orphanage and send cash. The community members and extended families help them get shoes, transport to school, and other necessities, which will in turn be repaid once those children grow up and return the favour, with interest. This strengthens the cultural and community bonds.
Because of this bridge of secondary education, one of the orphans from Kapchesewes is now a federal attorney. Currently, there are three students in nursing school, two in teacher's college, one pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce, one enrolled in a theological seminary, and one in an accounting program. In the past, students have gone on to courses in biomedicine and
airplane mechanics. A former recipient is a skilled nurse at KapsowarHospital.
On the other hand, these children face medical problems. There is a worrying case of one boys epilepsy and another girls need for heart surgery. There is no budget for medical and the community has to figure out how they can settle such bills e.g in the past they planned harambee
to pay for the hospital bills for the girl undergoing heart surgery.