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.  The sewing departments make all the uniforms for the project's sponsored children.  The metalwork and carpentry students do all the roofing, 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 even through the occasional visit to the project by a sponsor who wants to come and meet the child he/she has been helping.

The CFCA Kansas office has also gives the Timau project an annual grant for the care of AIDS patients. As of May 2008, the Timau office is now assisting 60 adult and 48 children HIV/AIDS clients affected by this "new leprosy" with testing, medicine, transport to clinics and hospitals, supplementary food, orphanage/hospice care, home visits, and counseling.

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.

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. 

Friends of the sisters are trying to help a group of about 100 refugees from the post-election violence with blankets, shelter, medicine, food, and education.  These internally displaced persons can not be sponsored, as one criterion for Kansas’ sponsorship is that the relationship between child/aging and the sponsor not be of a temporary nature.  The CFCA program was founded for relationships ---- crisis assistance for transients is not part of its mission.  So the refugees’ needs are being met by help from other sources.  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.  We currently are trying to assist a middle-aged man with a hip replacement as he is in very great pain and immobilized by his condition, and another man with a flesh-eating wound in his hand.  The latter may have to have an amputation.

The number of sponsored children is expected to reach 2000 by May 2008.  Each month a few new individuals from the waiting list are added to the program.  The waiting list is long and circumstances often force a sponsor to have to drop his/her commitment. 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, 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.