About Tumaini

In 2009, Think Kindness partnered with Hope Runs to bring running shoes to a rural orphanage in Nyeri, Kenya. When the team arrived, they quickly fell in love with children, staff and happiness of the home. Since that year, Think Kindness has returned every summer bearing gifts, donations, and support. Their story has been shared with hundreds of thousands across the United States to carry out one request by one of the children, "I just ask for everyone, no matter how rich or how poor, that you inspire them to take their privileges and turn them into responsibilities."

The Children

The Tumaini and Haruma Children's Home feeds over 130 orphan children from 6 to 20 years of age. Each child has a story that we can only relate to by the movies we've seen, yet despite their extreme adversity, they posses one of the greatest gifts of all -- happiness. Each child realizes that no matter how bad life may seem, it is a blessing to see the sun rise and set each day, for every breath is a blessing and should not be wasted.

Education

Education, which is taught in English, is looked as their one-way ticket out of poverty. Many of them study 3 to 5 hours each day, even during the summer months. If they receive a B average, they may have a chance at attending a university, college, or trade school. However, they are fighting an uphill battle. Each classroom is packed with 60 other students, one book per 3 children, and the classrooms are without power. When they study, it is purely dependent on the quality of notes they take as they don't have enough study guides nor can they afford tutors.

Athletics

The Tumaini and Haruma Orphanage love sports. The coaches use athletics as a way to teach health, fitness, goal-setting, and team work. Their running team wakes up in the early morning to tackle a 5k sprint before the school day. In the afternoons, it is not uncommon to watch 40 people playing soccer and huddle around an intense ping-pong match. The girls are masters at double dutch and have mastered jump-rope tricks that we’ve only witnessed on YouTube.