The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, who have been present in Kenya, East Africa for 31 years, have been ministering on the slopes of an ever-growing village on the mountainous slopes of Timau since 1982, with a four-pronged ministry.

They run a pre-school and lower primary school for orphans, disadvantaged, squatters, migrants, and destitutes called St. Elizabeth School which currently has 232 students.

Secondly, they have built and run St. Clare Technical School which trains youth in skills for future livelihood. These skills include  metalwork, carpentry, dressmaking, tailoring, machine knitting, masonry, and computer studies.  Students from other schools may do their attachments (apprenticeships) at St. Clare's.  They are also encouraged to use the workshop facilities for learning to start small businesses and take in self-employment contracts.  The sewing departments make all the uniforms for the project's sponsored children.  The metalwork and carpentry students do all the roofs and make the window frames, doors, railings and furniture of the new buildings as part of their learning experience. 

Thirdly, they run a development office for construction of needed buildings relevant to the needs of their other programs.

And fourthly, the sisters, since 1995, have been running a CFCA project(Christian Foundation for Children and Aging) which operates out of Kansas. This wonderful CFCA family operates all over the world and its website may be viewed at www.cfcausa.org for more information on their programs.

Through this CFCA program, needy children and aging from the Timau area are linked up with sponsors through the Kansas City office. The aim of these linkups is to foster a mutual understanding among cultures. Children and aging receive monthly much-needed survival benefits. The relationship is maintained through letter writing and through mission awareness trips (MATS) to the project by sponsors who want to come and meet the child or aging he/she has been helping.

The CFCA Kansas office has also given the Timau project an annual grant for the care of AIDS patients. As of October 2008, the Timau office is now assisting over 100 HIV/AIDS clients,some of them comprising entire families,  affected by this "new leprosy". Medical testing, medicine, transport to clinics and hospitals, supplementary food, orphanage/hospice care, home visits, counseling, and a support group are among the assistances rendered. 

The CFCA Kansas office, as well as friends of the sisters, give educational scholarships to the teens in the project. Many teens had not been going to school as their parents/guardian were not able to raise the fees. In large families, often only the boys attend high school, so this gives a chance to the girl child.  We are also trying to provide houses for families who are crowding many members into substandard rented rooms.  During 2008 we built houses for about 20 such families.

In a nutshell, this CFCA program addresses people's most basic needs, i.e. food, clothing, nutrition, shelter, and education.  Home visits are a core part of the program, and school and institutional visits are also done. 

During this past year, refugees including orphans from the post-election violence are being assisted with blankets, shelter, medicine, food and education. Some have seen their family members brutally killed and have escaped with great fear.  They are going to carry those scars with them throughout their lifetimes.

Friends of the sisters also assist with medical needs and operations beyond which the project funds can go.  The numbered of sponsored children and aging reached two thousand and five in October 2008.  Each month a few new individual from the waiting list are added to the program.  Changing times and circumstances often force sponsors to have to drop their commitments, and Kansas tries hard to replace them.  If you are interested in sponsoring a child or aging, you can learn about the process from the website mentioned above. 

The Sisters head a dedicated local staff of 40 committed Kenyans and liaise with the principals and heads of many other educational and medical institutions to assist with the needed services for their clients.  From time to time, overseas volunteers also assist in a very big way.

Through Sr. Mary Balthasar and the friends of the Sisters, a wonderful library, in memory of Margaret Duggan, was constructed, and is the meeting point of students, parents, various groups, and staff.  All enjoy the fruits of such a venture, an initiative which is over and beyond survival needs, something which enriches their minds and spirits.

Updated October 22, 2008