The School and its Founder

Laughter and singing can be heard pouring from the Jambo Jipya School grounds thanks to the love and dedication of one woman – Christine Mwende.   Christine is a single woman who has raised three incredibly caring children, all of whom have completed high school and one who also attended college.  Christine struggled to make ends meet for several years while she worked in a hospital and strived to support as many other needy families as she possibly could.  She has always lived strengthened by her faith, knowing that no matter how few shillings she had in her pocket, she would make it through the day.  Christine is a strong female community leader amidst a male dominated society.  People of all ages (including pastors, chiefs, business owners, etc) come to her for advice.  She does her best to empower her fellow Kenyans (specifically the women and girls) in an attempt to break the cycle of poverty.  She is a loving mother to hundreds of children throughout the Coastal Province of Kenya.  It is obvious that this woman is loved and respected by many.

Jambo Jipya School (meaning "Something New" in Kenya's native language of Swahili) was founded in 2004 by Christine. She recognized the lack of care and attention being paid to many of the poor and orphaned children of her community – Mtwapa (located about 30 kilometers north of the coastal city of Mombasa) – and decided to act.   A nurse by profession, this woman decided to devote the rest of her life to seeing her dream (of building a primary and secondary school where every child can feel safe, healthy, and happy) become a reality. In 2004, the school started with Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades.  Each year Christine's goal is to add on a grade level so the students continue to have a place to learn and enjoy life.

Christine is the heart and soul behind Jambo Jipya School. Without her it would not exist and many of its students would probably not exist right now either if it wasn't for the kind heart of this woman. (Christine found new and safer homes for many of the children but still many of the families can't afford to feed them so the only food they receive is what the school can provide.)   Christine loves each and every one of the children with her whole being. She has literally given, and will continue to give, the food from her plate and the clothes off her back. For the first two years that the school was open, Christine worked 24 hours a day – days at the school and nights at the hospital – to meet the needs of her students as well as the needs of her own family. She receives no funding from the government. The political climate in Kenya makes that virtually impossible. All her funding comes from her own pocket as well as fundraising efforts by the volunteers. However, so much more is needed.

The school population has grown immensely during the past couple years and although the building facilities have greatly improved, more space is needed. The school needs to build larger, and more, classrooms; a larger and more comfortable dormitory building; a large soccer field and other outdoor play facilities; farm land to grow their own food; and trade classes to teach the older children a trade (farming, building, sewing, cooking, etc). The first step in reaching our goals of expansion was purchasing a larger piece of property. By the end of 2008, Jambo Jipya School owned 23 acres of land!!!! Our goals for this year are to meet the school's monthly needs as well as start developing the new land into farming space and the current land into a better school.  We need your help in order to accomplish this goal so please find out how you can help!