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About the Olive Branch Foundation
The work started as a vision of an African lady called Risper Saituni, a determined woman of faith. She has a heart for the lost, the impoverished, the orphaned and the homeless. Because of her local knowledge she could see quite clearly that the needs of the local young children were not being met in any area of their lives.
She saw disease and famine all around her on a daily basis. Her vision was to see the local rural children with a sound education, good health and hope for the future.
In a country that sees its share of corruption, Risper's main educational passion was to instil and teach integrity from a very early age. She saw this as the one hope for the country she loves.
She left Nairobi where she was living and teaching and sold everything she owned in order to buy the land for the school in the rural area around her home village, called Ringa.
So why open a school in a region that is so disadvantaged that if you were to rely on the pupils to support the school by their fees you would educate no one? The reality at the moment is that the school survives on the good will of the staff and the local community. The community as a whole realises that education is their only hope.
The only hope is to educate, despite massive challenges such as AIDS, malaria, abject poverty and food shortages. Though the region is fertile, one season with poor rainfall sets them back a long way.
At the moment there are 16 complete orphans who depend entirely on the school to keep them alive.
Each child in the school receives one meal of porridge per day. This is more than they would have had at home. This is much more than a school; it is a life line to a desperate situation in a desperate place.
What are the immediate needs? Where do you start?
- The children need food, and uniforms.
- The teachers need wages (not the pittance that makes them little more than volunteers).
- They need medicine for malaria and the community as a whole needs mosquito nets.
The list is endless.
Despite all these daily challenges it is by the grace of God that Risper Saituni grits her teeth and carries on, to encourage her virtually unpaid staff to keep moving forward with her.
Did I mention also that so far, Risper has saved 16 young girls from sexual abuse. Homes have been found for these young ladies.
It is little wonder that I call her 'The Mother Teresa of Africa'.
This was only the beginning. The story continues through you....
Registered Charity Number 1139292