A Dream AMIDST THE TEA LEAVES
One man’s vision for an Adventist campus in the hills of western Kenya helps to spread the Gospel despite horrendous conditions. By Dustin Comm
“Though the school offers a high-quality education, the living and learning conditions are deplorable.”
8 | THE VOLUNTEER I S S U E 2, 2023
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n 1952, Paul Sigira attended an evangelistic campaign in western Kenya and began reading the Bible. Five years later, he became a Seventhday Adventist. He started meeting with a small group under a tree on his property, which was surrounded by tea fields. It was the genesis of a congregation that would eventually become the Kimogoro Seventh-day Adventist Church. Later, Sigira visited another campus with a church, school, and hospital on-site, and had a vision that Kimogoro should also be a shared campus. Sigira held onto this dream for years and eventually donated his land on the top of a ridge for a school to be constructed. Finally in 1996, the Kimogoro Adventist School was founded with 35 students. Today, the school serves prekindergarten through 12th grade, educating 230 students each year, with a waiting list. Over the past three decades, thousands of children have learned of God’s love for them here and received the best education in the region, driven by dedicated teachers. But though the school offers a high-quality education, Kimogoro’s living and learning conditions are deplorable. Cramped, rickety dormitory buildings have leaky roofs and termite-ridden frames. Huge gaps in the walls allow in the rain, wind, and cold. Critters scurry across the dirt floors. And because there isn’t enough space, kids are forced to sleep two, sometimes even three, to a bed. This can severely hurt students’ ability to learn and focus. Without a good night’s rest, it can be hard to concentrate and retain information. “It normally impacts the learning process because at times, maybe there is coldness,” says Shadrack Kirui, principal. “The dorm is being rained on. The children might be sleeping in class because they did not sleep well at night.”
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