Mombasa school that’s also a children’s home

New Hope Children's home and School in Mombasa County. Photo/Kelvin Karani

When the 2015 Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination (KCPE) results were announced, celebrations erupted from a very unlikely quarter in a humble neighbourhood of Mombasa.

Orphans from New Hope Children’s home, a school in Mshomoroni estate boarded their school bus and moved around Mombasa city celebrating their school’s good performance.

The orphanage which managed a mean score of 360 was among the well performed schools in the county. And what’s more, their top candidate had scored 419 marks out of the possible 500 marks while the 23 candidates attained a mean score of 85.52 in the English paper.

“For years we never got a mean score close to 300. But here we are,” said the centre’s director Japheth Eyama in an interview with Wednesday Life.

However, beneath the lively celebrations lies a tale of struggle in overcoming overwhelming odds. “It was not easy when we started out. I get a reason to thank God whenever we look back at the scores of challenges we have had to overcome,” Eyama says.

His decision to work with orphans stems from the fact that he is himself a recipient of what he calls the “milk of human kindness” that was extended to him by an Asian man who was his father’s employer.

“I was grateful for what that academic sponsorship allowed me to accomplish in life and I felt I had to extend the same level of kindness to children whose futures appeared bleak because of not having parents,” he says.

New Hope Children’s home was thus set up to cater for orphans and abandoned children lacking education, shelter, food, clothing, parental and medical care. Eyama says they have faced many challenges including fluctuating fortunes from donors who pull out which in-turn affects the institution’s operations.

He says the centre relies solely on donations from churches and voluntary workers, some who come from  overseas. Apart from the donors, who he credits for having helped him actualise his dream, Eyama thanks the teachers who devote their time inculcating virtues in the children.

“The teachers do a lot in ensuring that the children are fully immersed in education. It is so fulfilling to see a visibly timid child who joined the centre leave as a confident young person,” he says.

The school, which has a population of 600 pupils and 23 teachers, admits needy children from the community who pay a subsidised fee of Sh3,000 per term.

“We initially operated from rental premises, which the landlord would close down anytime we defaulted on rent,” recalls Eyama as he thanks a donor who funded construction of a storey complex which now houses classes, dormitories and offices for the school.

What started off with seven children now boasts a pre-primary, primary and secondary school, under one roof. The younger children are taken care of by several house mothers and they have a small pharmacy and examination room.

Eyama says the school will be rolling out computer classes as soon as donors furnish them with the equipment. The centre is also waiting for results of five students who sat for their KCSE and who began their basic education at the centre.

The director talks glowingly of a graduate who got his elementary studies at the school and who recently graduated with a second class upper in Actuarial Science and who has since secured employment with a local bank.

Six former pupils at the centre are also enrolled for various degrees in local universities.