Summer 2017 Kenya Trip

HIP Academy

In June of 2015, we had a Skype call with Livingstone Kegode, the director of HIPAfrica, and were so impressed with his work that we were committed from the moment the call was over. A little over a year later, Livingstone informed us that the country of Kenya had changed its zoning standards for schools, and unless HIPAfrica could raise over $14,000 for three new classrooms, a new washroom, and new fencing, HIP would have to close its doors to the 59 children who attended its school.

We traveled out to Kimilili to survey HIP and the surrounding community in May of 2017. We surveyed that over half of the students would no longer be able to attend a school if HIP closed down. Additionally, we observed that 10 of the students had descended stomachs on Monday morning, and teachers had guessed that up to 15 of them received their only meals at the school.

The structures the school were using were deteriorating, as they were using semi-permanent structures for their classrooms. We found through conversations with a local architect that the bathrooms were about to collapse. It was at a point where it was creating unsanitary conditions for the entire student body.

HIP’s administration was completely committed to doing all they could to help their students. We were inspired to not only help lead a campaign to save HIP, but to look into providing sustainable clean water, nutrition, and educational programs to ensure that HIP’s students were receiving the best long-term education possible.

Click here to read more about our work in Kenya and scroll down to see videos from students that got involved, calls with Livingstone, and a statement about our final donation to HIP.

A “HIP” Experience: Building Relationships in Kenya

Deanna Abrose, OWC Journalist, interviews Jeremy Gulley about his time at HIP.

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Final donation to HIP!

Read about our final donation to HIP and the awesome experiences we had working with them.

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OWC 2017 | Kenya Project Partner Announcement

The Open World Cause is proud to announce our 2017 initiative in Kenya. We are partnered with an educational pioneer named Livingstone Kegode, and we could not be more proud to be working with such an outstanding individual .

OWC Projects for HIP Academy

HIP Academy Fundraising Agreement Summary Published 11/27/2016Amended 12/7/2016 Amended 7/3/2017 Updated 1/16/2018 Updated 1/24/2018 To Whom it May Concern, Given that the following is Open World's first major project in Kenya, we ask that you look at our Kenyan partner Livingstone Kegode's history in education.