FOUR YEARS OF YOUR SUPPORT HAVE MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THESE OKARI CHILDREN!
INDIVIDUAL PICTURES
Dennis Abeba
Lillian Bundi
Lillian Mabeya
Nancy
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Meet our Board of Directors! Click here:
Our Summer 2005 Newsletter! Click here:
Our Fall 2005 Newsletter! Click here:
Pictures of our children! Click here:
Our MissionOur foundation is devoted to orphaned children in Tabaka, Nyangena and Bochura in Kisii District, Kenya whose parents have died of AIDS. We are enrolling as many of these children as possible in full-time boarding school. Tuition and living expenses are only $720 per year.
Our long-term goal is to create our own school for 200 children. In America, this would be a huge financial undertaking. In Kenya, where costs are comparatively low, this project is a sensible, feasible approach to the problems these children are facing. The estimated capital cost is $395,000.
Our Vision
Our children are precious. These beautiful, lively children are orphans now, dependent on our protection and financial support. But when they reach adulthood in just a few years, they will become traditional soapstone carvers, farmers, teachers, parents of their own families; and, they will become religious and civic leaders, working with us to rebuild their African communities.
Donations
Currently, the cost to support one child for one month is only $60. $720 supports one child for an entire year. Whether your contribution is $720 or $10, every dollar benefits the Okari children. Our foundation has no paid staff in the United States and has very low overhead. We hire one African coordinator at a cost of about $300 per year. Unless you specifically contribute to our overhead fund, all of your contribution goes directly to care for our children in Africa. The following link provides detailed information on how to contribute.
You can also make a donation or contact us through the mail at the following address:
Phone: 916-689-5031
Fax: 916-689-5032
You can contact us via e-mail at the following link. We'll be glad to talk to you about our project:
Our Children
The children we are caring for would be essentially homeless and at risk without our help. Our approach is very simple. We are taking total responsibility for these children's well-being. With your help, we provide funds to place these children in year-round Christian boarding schools. In these settings, we can provide these orphans education, shelter, food, clothing, living expenses. Although it does not replace the families they have recently lost, these children gain physical and emotional fulfillment from their larger school families. We currently provide total tuition and living expenses for fifteen children. We wish to increase that number to fifty or more, this year. We have committed ourselves to support these children through college or until they have developed a trade through which they can support themselves.
Our Founder
Our founder, Kwamboka Okari, was born and raised in Kisii. She was instrumental in developing the international market for soapstone carvings exported from this area. Most of the children our foundation cares for are from families Kwamboka has worked with for many years, and because she is intimately familiar with this community, she is in a position to effectively work on behalf of these children. Twice a year she journeys to Kenya to visit every child we support and the schools in which they are enrolled. Each time she goes to Africa, new families bring children to her that have been orphaned.
