Kakamega County Kenya
Welcome to UtuRise Foundation!
Our Impact
15 April 2025 — 14 April 2026
Our first year of open journaling.
The numbers below describe a small, self-funded, youth-led initiative that
operated on under USD 1,000 across the year. Every figure is what we did,
not what we wished we had done. This page is the year, in one place.
The year, summarised
A youth-led team of eight, three homes, fifty children.
~50
Children directly engaged
10
Documented visits & outreaches
3
Children’s homes partnered with
8
Volunteers in the core team
1
Long-term education sponsorship begun
<$1k
Total annual operating budget, self-funded
Across the year we worked with three children’s communities in Kenya.
These are not anonymous beneficiaries. They are partner institutions
whose leadership we know and whose children know us.
-
i.
Grace Calvary Children’s Home
Western Kenya · Active partnership since 2024
April 2025 · Late 2025 -
ii.
Tollen Children’s Home
Trans-Nzoia · Multiple visits during the eligible window
Early 2026 · Ongoing -
iii.
Samburu Mission Community
Northern Kenya · In partnership with Grace Calvary Ministries
Mid 2025
Aggregated across all visits within the eligible window. The total
estimated value is approximately KSh 120,000 (about USD 900),
delivered against an annual operating budget of under USD 1,000 — entirely
self-funded by the founder, co-founder, and friends.
90kg
Food delivered (rice, sugar, flour, milk)
35
Children received school supplies
25
Girls received sanitary pads
45
Children received clothing
The figures above are the year’s totals, summed across the three homes
and all documented visits. We have records — photos, WhatsApp messages,
receipts, and home director sign-offs — for every line.
1
The single number that distinguishes this year.
One named child whose education we have committed to fund through
to vocational training or university. Multi-year. Documented with
consent. The prototype of the model.
This is not a small number. It is the point of the whole approach.
Episodic charity moves volume; accompaniment moves a life. Over the
coming years we will add a small handful of similar named
commitments. Not many. Each one held in public.
Most NGO reports stop at what was achieved. We want to also record what
was needed and not given. Honesty about gaps is the platform innovation
— and it is also what tells partners and peers where the next year of
work will go.
Tollen · Infrastructure
The toilets at Tollen are not yet fixed.
Identified during our visit, named in conversation with the home
manager, not resolved within this window. A target for 2026–2027
with the right partner.
Tollen · Education
Several children at Tollen still need school fees support.
We covered fees for one child this year. The need is larger. Adding
more named long-term sponsorships is the central goal of next year.
Samburu · Distance
We visited Samburu once; the children there deserve more.
The road is long and our resources thin. Maintaining a meaningful
presence in Samburu requires more capacity than we currently have.
We are honest about that limit.
Capacity · Team
We are still a small volunteer team, mostly self-funded.
The work depends on a handful of people giving their weekends and
their own money. That is sustainable in the short term. To do this
across more homes and more years, the model needs partners and
sponsors, not just well-wishers.
A year of work, in public.
If you want to support what comes next — as a long-term sponsor, a partner,
or a peer founder considering similar work — there is a place for you here.
