Dear Friends & Family of Kiota Kids Home,

I hope you’re doing well! I’m reaching out to share our February updates and a huge thank you for all of your incredible support. The progress at the orphanage has been amazing, and it’s all thanks to you!

May Visit:

I’m so excited because I’ll be heading back to Kenya in May to stay at the center for the entire month. I can’t wait to be with the children again and share more photos, videos, and updates when I’m back on the ground!

Website:

We’re still working hard on the website, and I’m hopeful we’ll be able to launch it before I leave. It will be a great place to share blog updates and more pictures, so you’ll be able to see even more of what’s happening at the home if you’d like.

School Progress:

The kids are doing fantastic! They’re absolutely loving their new schools and are thriving in the classrooms. They’ve been doing really well with their studies, and they’ve just started their midterm holiday break—well deserved after all their hard work!

2 of our girls went to the eye doctor and got new pairs of glasses so now they can read the chalkboard!

We’re thrilled to be collaborating with a partner organization in Nairobi to bring vocational training to the center. Plans are in the works to set up a vocational training center on our property where the children and local youth can learn valuable trade skills. It’s going to be such an amazing opportunity for everyone involved!

And we’re having 30 new bunk beds made for the kids so that everyone has more space and sleeps more comfortably. It’s such an exciting upgrade for them!

Farm:

Over on the farm, we’ve had a great harvest of 1,500 kg of beans! This will be enough to keep us going for the entire year. We’re also about to harvest the corn next week, and we’re hopeful it will provide close to enough to cover the kids’ food needs for most of the year too!

We’ve also made a huge leap forward with a new permaculture-based food forest design for our 10-acre farm. After the corn harvest, we’ll start preparing the soil for this exciting project, which we’ll kick off in early March.

Here’s what we’re aiming for with this initiative:

Building a resilient agroecosystem that improves soil health and biodiversity of the land as well as diversity in the kids' diets.
Using water-efficient techniques to ensure we can produce year-round with mulching and terraces.
Creating a model food forest with fruit trees, windbreak trees, nitrogen-fixing plants, and multi-layered crops.
Boosting food security and income generation for the center.

Incredible Friends:

In other news, some amazing friends in Australia have gathered soccer cleats, balls, and jerseys, which we can’t wait to bring for the kids to enjoy on their new soccer field! We also have friends in California who have generously donated laptops, phones, and tablets that I’ll be bringing over. These will help the kids learn basic computer skills, and the staff will be able to use them for better communication, keeping records, and writing proposals.

Once again, thank you so much for your ongoing support. None of this would be possible without your generosity, and we’re so grateful to have you as part of this journey. More updates to come in March’s newsletter! And even more updates when I’m back in May!

With big hugs & many thanks from the Kiota Family,
Lindsey and the kids

Big Steps Forward: School Success, Farm Harvests, and Exciting Plans Ahead