St. Anna Centre – Starfish also sponsors children at St. Anna Day Care Centre for the Aged and Orphaned providing education, food, medical care, and clothing for AIDS orphans in the Murang’a district of Kenya (one of the areas in Kenya hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic). Currently, we are providing monthly support for 102 children at the Centre.

Under the admonition of James 1:27 "to take care of widows and orphans in their distress," Retired Bishop and Mrs. John Mahiaini, came to minister to hurting children in the area.

At the time of our first visit, there were only resources to host the children at their home on Saturday's, to feed them a good meal and offer Bible teaching and recreation. As education in Kenya was not free, the children were not able to attend school due to their circumstances. Almost all of the orphans had been taken in by a grandmother after their parents had died. Their meager resources could barely feed the children, much less pay school fees. The grandparents (mostly grandmothers) were at the other end of the spectrum of the devastation of the AIDS virus. Their adult children, who by Kenya society standards, would have taken care of them in their old age, had died, so both the “widows and orphans” were suffering. St. Anna actually cares for both.

A sponsorship program began, and so birthed the beginning of Starfish Kenya.

Today, Starfish Kenya sponsorship funds help take care of 102 children at St. Anna. With sponsorship funds, St. Anna’s has been able to start their own Christian school, which has received much acclaim in the local area due to the progress demonstrated by the children as seen in their test scores compared to other area schools.

At St. Anna the children are provided breakfast and lunch during their school day. They are also fitted for a uniform, which includes a pair of shoes. For many, this is the first pair of shoes they have ever had. To a child in Kenya, being able to go to school and have a uniform is a dream!