A Brief History
Hope Unlimited informally began in 2007 when church members from Highland Park Presbyterian Church (HP Pres) visited Njuthine, Kenya, a small, under-resourced village northeast of Nairobi without water, electricity, medical care, or adequate school facilities. The conditions were primitive, and people survived by growing food during the two rainy seasons and walking miles each day to scoop up water from the closest river.
They had attempted to improve their village’s circumstances by creating a dispensary for medicines, but it was not successful. In addition, they attempted to dig a ditch for a water pipeline but ran into problems and could not complete the project themselves.
When the church members saw the villagers’ undeniable needs firsthand, they asked HP Pres for help and began working on plans for long-lasting community improvements. From that point on, things began to improve, and the villagers began to develop hope for a better future.
With funding from HP Pres, an engineering firm was hired to help the villagers complete the water pipeline project that they had worked so hard to start. The availability of water to the village changed everything.
Now the women did not have to spend much of their day making four-mile roundtrips for water and they were able to irrigate gardens, grow food year-round, including in the dry seasons, and have extra food available for sale or trade.
With funding from HP Pres and church members, in partnership with the local county government, a medical clinic was constructed. The county agreed to operate the clinic and provide staff, medicines, medical supplies. From day one, the clinic was busy treating malaria and parasite diseases.
Soon, word spread of its opening and five nearby villages began coming for treatment and medicines. The success of the clinic motivated the government to construct a bridge over the river for people to access the clinic more easily and began elevating the clinic into a Health Center with maternity care and 24/7 service. The importance of the clinic prompted the government to bring electricity into the village. This was another major improvement.
Due to the poor condition of the primary school and the low morale of students and teachers, HP Pres funded renovation and expansion of the school. In addition, they outfitted the school with new books and teaching materials, which greatly improved student achievement and their interest in learning. It had been more than 15 years since a student from Njuthine had qualified for secondary school and that meant a very limited future.
Just two years after the improvements were made, three students qualified for secondary school, then five students qualified, then eight students, and in time almost all the students were qualifying for secondary school. Of the first group of three children attending secondary school, two have already graduated from university and are now educated, productive citizens.
This single school upgrade project has helped to bring children out of poverty and change the trajectory of their lives. Since many of the students could not afford the expense of secondary school, HP Pres members started a scholarship program to assist them, and Hope Unlimited is continuing that initiative.
The Christian faith is very important to the Njithune community and there are several churches, but they are small and have limited opportunities for member involvement. The Njithune Presbyterian Church was meeting in a small building that was old and in poor condition.
With the help of HP Pres members, a new building was constructed and Bibles written in the native language were provided. The church began to grow and since then, the building has been expanded two times.
Currently, the villagers are helping to raise funds for a third expansion.
In 2020, COVID-19 hit Kenya extremely hard, and many people were ill and unable to work. The death toll was high, and businesses closed, causing the economy to go into a deep recession. The government, which always had limited funds, was forced to reduce the budget even further. The supply of medicines to the clinic dropped and one clinic staff position was not filled. This shortage of medicine severely disrupted the function of the clinic and the entire healthcare system in Kenya.
Now that the COVID-19 outbreak is resolving it is possible to plan for recovery. To meet this tremendous need, Hope Unlimited was organized as a 501c3 in 2023. The focus is on stabilizing the projects in Njuthine, Kenya and reestablishing the previous momentum so the villagers’ hope is strengthened, and they can become self-sufficient.
The initial tasks of strengthening the clinic, resuming educational support, and expanding evangelism with the Sharing the Bible program are all underway. The Sharing the Bible initiative was inspired by the growth of the Njuthine PCEA (Presbyterian Church East Africa) Church and connects small churches in the area via a computer network. Hope Unlimited supplies the computers, printers, and online biblical materials for distribution and facilitation of Christian programming. Currently, 20 churches are participating, and almost immediately, their attendance grew. A new enthusiasm for learning the Bible and sharing the Gospel has ensued throughout these rural churches. The Sharing the Bible program will continue to grow as funds are available.
Additional priorities are to turn the medical clinic into a Health Center that can provide maternity and pediatric services, and to improve the supply of clean water with the drilling of wells. Once these programs are running smoothly, we plan to help the villagers start businesses so they can establish an economy that will enable them to build their own future.