Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.

• Carole Cole Science Scholarships for African Girls: Since January 2010, African Childrens Haven has provided full scholarships to a small group of outstanding Tanzanian girls who have shown superior academic potential, but lack the resources to pursue quality education. Over a three-year period, the initiatives will provide 15 Tanzanian orphan girls with the opportunity to go to a top secondary school and eventually pursue careers in science. Tanzania sorely needs scientists to grow its economy and address challenging social and environmental issues, especially AIDS and global climate change. News Release  Carole Cole Bio Visit the School Website  A Letter to Our Scholars

• The Mercy Center: Located in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, Mercy Centre provides a wholesome lunch each school day to more than 2,500 orphan children regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation. The Center also provides vocational training and after-school sports programs that keep vulnerable teenagers off the streets where they are easy prey for the drug and sex trades.

• Happy Home Orphanage, Kenya: The Happy Home Orphanage is a grass roots organization created by local people in Western Kenya to cope with the impact of HIV/AIDS. With an infection rate that exceeds 30 percent, the area has been hard hit. Those most affected are orphan children. Happy Home, which began operations in December 2006, provides the care and nurturing that the children require. This includes providing safe haven, nutritious food, medical care, and education. Today, Happy Home supports 30 children, but plans to help many more in the future. See a video about Happy Home. Newsletter

• Joshua Academy, Ethiopia, The Joshua Academy provides care and comfort to HIV-AIDS orphans from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and from the small towns that ring the city.  Currently, the Academy is home to some 100 orphans between the ages of 3 and 14, a number that is expected to grow five-fold by 2015.  The organization, which has a modern facility provided by the Ethiopian community in the United States, gives a high priority to the education of its residents as well as the teaching of traditional skills, especially in the fields of agriculture and animal husbandry.  Read more
  
  
• Mission With A Vision, Kenya: Mission With A Vision, located near the famous Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya, provides a variety of services to girls at risk.  This includes sheltering young girls forced into arranged marriages and raising awareness about the tragedy of female circumcision. The organization also provides its clients with a variety of education programs as well as career training programs and assistance in establishing small businesses. Learn more: www.missionwithavision.com
  

• St. Philips Primary School, Kenya: St. Philips addresses the needs of more than 100 at-risk children in Mathare, Nairobi’s second largest slum.  Its students include orphans, street kids, and children of the working poor. Each day of the week, teachers, staff and volunteers provide the children with primary education, school lunches and a safe haven from abuse and crime. The project, which is organized and run by the community, also seeks to prevent drug addiction and alcoholism, improve local health conditions and  educate parents and guardians about the benefits of family planning. See a video about St. Philips

• Fanaka Memorial Secondary School, Tanzania: Fanaka Memorial provides quality secondary education for 300 teenagers without regard to religious affiliation or ethnicity. Fanaka, which provides technical and pre-university programs, encourages its Muslim and Christian students to work, play and live together. Founded by Rhoda and Eliezer Kahatano in 2004, this exceptional couple dedicated their lives to educating their fellow citizens about religious tolerance and women’s rights. African Childrens Haven supports Fanaka in collaboration with its partner, the Tanzanian Education Project.

• Children With Special Needs: African children contend with problems unknown to kids growing up in the industrialized world. Hunger, lack of clean drinking water, limited access to quality education, and poor health care are the norm. For African children with special needs, however these problems are greatly intensified. Eight-year-old John Mugisha Prudence is one such child. To support himself and contribute to his family and his community, John needs special schooling. To help, African Children’s Haven and the Wembly Fund have awarded John a scholarship that will allow him to receive a quality education.

• Chickens for Kids: Lack of dietary protein is common among the children of Africa’s poor. A four-year old needs just 22 grams per day for good health, but even that small amount is often beyond reach.  Working with our partner, the Wembly Fund, African Childrens Haven provides chicks and feed to needy kids and orphans to help them produce eggs and earn cash that will buy medicine and other basic necessities. Just $3.00 provides a poor child with a chick and the quality feed needed to raise it. Because the chickens are produced as part of other African Children Haven projects, the children also receive basic instructions in how to raise their birds, produce a larger flock and market their eggs for cash income. Learn more at Changing the Present.com

• Vumilia, Kenya: In Swahili, the word Vumilia means to persist or persevere when times are tough. The Vumilia project lives up to its name by providing vital services to Kenyan women and girls victimized by poverty, AIDS, domestic violence and sex abuse. The organization, established in 2004, stresses psychological, social and economic empowerment, particularly for mothers who head up families affected by HIV/AIDS. Read Vumilia's Newsletter

• The Migori Baptist Church Refugee Committee, Kenya: In January 2008, African Childrens Haven raised funds to support refugees affected by the violence that followed Kenya’s Presidential election. Working with the Migori Baptist Church, we provided funding for food, shelter and medical care for hundreds of displaced children who had taken refuge in the church. The program was closely linked to our work at the Happy Home Orphanage, which is located nearby. Although African Childrens Haven does not normally raise funds for emergency relief efforts, we decided to respond. We wish we could have done more.