Hill- breeze Orphans Support School was established in 2009 by Ken Ariri (RIGHT) based on visions he received of a school that would help HIV-AIDS orphans achieve their educational goals.
Ken was orphaned at the age of 10, and grew up in foster families, experiencing firsthand the suffering HIV-AIDS orphans undergo. Ken was 14 years old when he first began having visions. At 15 he began having recurring visions of a school for orphans. Following graduation from high school, living in the Nairobi slums of Kibera, the visions became more frequent and more compelling. In 2008, inspired by his visions and a passage from the Bible (Book of Hagai Chapter 2:4), Ken left Nairobi and was guided to go to Oyugis where there is a high incidence of HIV-AIDS, with the intention of making his visions a reality.
Shortly after he arrived in Oyugis, he met Joseph Ouko (LEFT), who had also been having similar ideas about starting a school for orphans. Joseph had been orphaned when he was 6 months old, and had been raised by members of the New Testament Church. Joseph acquired a Bachelors Degree in Sociology and Geography from the University of Nairobi, with the support of the Church. He went on to acquire a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, which he funded through his own earnings making and selling bricks, and with the help of a benefactor. With his educational background, Joseph provides the academic guidance for the school.
At first classes were held under the trees. In 2010, with support from the Holistic Community Kenya Outreach Program, the mud structure that currently serves as the schoolhouse was built by staff, children and members of the community.
Hill Breeze School receives neither government funding nor consistent funding from donors. Together, Ken and Joseph pool their financial resources to run the school. In addition to teaching Social Studies and Geography to the older children at Hill Breeze, Joseph teaches part-time at a secondary girl's school, at a teacher training center nearby. and at Hill Breeze. His income is divided between the school and his own family of 7.
A small poultry business helps meet school expenses. In addition, Ken and Joseph have leased a plot of land to support the feeding program. After school and during the weekends, the older children work alongside Ken and Joseph and a few paid laborers to produce the grain and vegetables.
Hill Breeze is in the process of acquiring Ministry of Education certification as a private school to maintain the standards and principles that the school aspires to. Ken and Joseph hope that sometime in the not too distant future, they can acquire a piece of land to build a more permanent structure to house the school and provide for a playground and vegetable garden from which to feed the children.
A small poultry business helps meet school expenses. In addition, Ken and Joseph have leased a plot of land to support the feeding program. After school and during the weekends, the older children work alongside Ken and Joseph and a few paid laborers to produce the grain and vegetables.
Hill Breeze is in the process of acquiring Ministry of Education certification as a private school to maintain the standards and principles that the school aspires to. Ken and Joseph hope that sometime in the not too distant future, they can acquire a piece of land to build a more permanent structure to house the school and provide for a playground and vegetable garden from which to feed the children.
