LIGHT Home of hope (PARTNER: LIGHT URIRI)

We identify vulnerable youth and street children who want to help themselves, then give them the opportunities and tools they need to succeed - a place to call home, quality education, and a network of people who love and support them.

Through the partnership of Arrive and Light Uriri, the construction of the Light Home of Hope provides a holistic and safe environment for the most needy children in Kenya. Through sustainable practices, life skill training, education sponsorship at Light School Uriri and other higher forms of education, and the local natural spring lake which doubles as a giant swimming pool, the children have truly found a home in Uriri. As we expand to welcome more children, the quality of life will continue to improve based on humane and progressive practices which are somewhat uncommon in rural Kenya. Each child is guaranteed a future of opportunities; but for now, we are sure that these children, who used to sleep under cars and in dumpsters and lived without even a single relative, have truly found a home in Uriri. Uriri, located in the Migori County (made up of several tribes such as Luo, Maasai, Luyha, Kuria, Kisii and more), is one hour from the famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve, one hour from Lake Victoria (the second largest lake in the world), and 20 minutes from the Kenyan-Tanzanian border.

At the Light Home of Hope, children learn skills that will prepare them for a successful and fulfilling future. Besides being able to overcome addictions to drugs such as glue and opium, the home allows the children to turn their life around. Each child receives a quality education (every child goes to the local primary school eight hours per day, Monday-Friday), and all of the children learn skills such as caring for livestock, planting crops, computer skills, and mechanical training.

For the most pivotal years of their childhood, the former street children had nobody to teach them right from wrong and no role models to look up to. Street children as young as five years old live in dumpsters and under cars. They are forced to beg or pick through garbage to find food, and many are not able to eat for days at a time. Many die because of preventable causes, such as tuberculosis, malaria, or infected cuts. These street children don’t know where their next meal is coming or where they will sleep. These horrific conditions drive most street children to use drugs (including but not limited to: toxic glue, opium, and jet fuel) and alcohol to numb the pain, the sadness, and the hunger. Extended drug use is debilitating to their long-term health and causes many medical problems; even death. All of this changes the moment a street child comes to the Light Home of Hope. 

light school uriri (PARTNER: LIGHT URIRI)

The Light School Uriri, offering early childhood development and primary education through grade 8, was founded by Jackson Bambo of Light Uriri in 2010. The original number of students was 16. Today, the school boosts a population of 420 students. Among them, many are orphans who take advantage of a school feeding program as they are malnourished if left to eat at their rural homes in the surrounding villages. Unlike most schools in Kenya, Light Uriri strictly bans the practice of caning, hitting, or corporal punishment of any student under any circumstance.

The school continues to excel academically and in all of the Kenyan national exams. Light School Uriri not only makes sure that the students are academically stable, but cares for their protection, nutritional needs, sports activities, and wellbeing. As the Light Home of Hope expands, so will Light School Uriri!

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