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Upendo Orphans Support Project |
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Below are some of the people who are involved with the Upendo Orphans Support Project. Where we have supplied an address, you may contact them for verification of the project's authenticity. Note that the email addresses themselves are not linked, to avoid spammers. Please type the address into your email program. Thank you!
Joanne Jenkins now lives in Oxford and is a part-time GP in addition to being a full-time mother. Joanne also acts as a contact person for making donations in the UK. Contact her at:
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Grace Mzungu is one of the hardest working people we know - a true superwoman! She has been the driving force behind Upendo since its inception. She is there almost every day to oversee the running of the project, but in addition she works directly for the Methodist Church of Kenya, in the capacity of organising the Women's Fellowships across two Synods - Kilifi and
Pwani;, counselling, teaching, organising, giving talks. She is also involved in the Farming Group, mentoring people learning to produce their own food, and with the Table Bank, teaching people about responsible money handling, and how to borrow to set up their own small businesses such as hawking vegetables. Since the poverty of the church doesn't allow for transport for its workers, Grace covers hundreds of miles across her two districts by public transport and by foot every month! Yet this amazing woman will
always make time for anyone who needs her. Grace is the contact point for information, for physical/material donations, for arranging to come and help with the orphans, or to organise to visit the project. Email her at:
Dr. Margaret Mackinnon is a research scientist at the local Kenyan-UK research institute Kenya, specialising in Malaria. She became interested in the Upendo project when she and a friend of hers from the UK, Joanne Jenkins, noticed a small boy begging in the streets to support his younger crippled brother. They asked around to see if something could
be done, and were told about the Upendo Orphans Support Project run by the Methodist Church Women's Group. At this stage the women were supporting the children out of their own pockets. Joanne and Margaret immediately began to tell their friends and colleagues overseas, raising funds from personal contacts as they were able. After Joanne returned to the UK, Margaret continued her involvement at the Kenya end, determined to have a proper building for the children. She raised funds through contacts she had, and
put her own finances into it, too. The new building was opened on 17th December 2006. Margaret and Joanne are the contact points for making monetary donations to Upendo from outside Kenya. Email Margaret at: 
Bishop Cosmas Motano Tuji is probably the youngest man ever to be elected to the rank of Bishop in the Methodist Church, being appointed at the age of 31. Now 37, his enthusiasm, charisma and commitment still inspire and motivate those around him, and his love and passion for his work, his God, and his people, drive him on in spite of the incredible difficulties
produced by the lack of finances in this, the newest of Kenya's Synods. His official vehicle is an ancient pick-up truck that often won't go, and like Grace, Bishop Tuji spends a lot of time walking great distances to carry out his work. The Bishop's father died when he was very small, and his mother a few years later; he has known what it is to be an orphan, brought up in the homes of extended family, and to be so poor that meals only come round every few days. Looking back, he sees the hand of God in not
only the sponsors who put him through school, but in his very existence. He believes wholeheartedly in the Upendo project, its goals and its future. Email him at:
The Reverend Doctor Stephen M'Impwii is the Presiding Bishop of Kenya - which is a little like saying the Archbishop of Canterbury in England, in the Anglican church of the UK! The Bishop has a special interest in the coastal synods, and took time out of his busy schedule to drive to Kilifi from Nairobi to officially open the new Upendo Orphans Support Project
building (seen here cutting the tape). We lunched together afterward, and his concern for the people of Kilifi - and for the advancement of Bishop Tuji's upcoming doctorate - came through. He believes passionately that the African churches are being neglected by their rich white counterparts in the UK and USA. While these churches build gymnasiums and spend money on entertainment, their brothers and sisters in Kenya can barely scrape together enough to eat once a day. "Go back," he pled with me, "and
tell them! Make them understand the poverty here; make them see how we need their help!" - You can email Bishop M'Impwii at:
Tiffany Slater and Lexi Spies came from Australia to spend a week of their holidays with the Upendo orphans. They had the time of their lives! Likewise the kids, who received some rare attention, hugs and fun-time. After their stopover with Upendo,
the girls went on to Tanzania, where they climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and visited Zanzibar before returning home to start their work and studies in the New Year. They spoke to me about how that week had changed their lives, and could not recommend enough that other young people come to Kenya and do the same. Grace says that people who give their time to the orphans are giving a far greater gift than money. Through their interaction with strangers from the rest of the world, the children experience a wide social tapestry
that enriches both their lives and their visitors'. Lexi and Tiffany did projects with the children - artwork, painting chairs, making Christmas cards, gardening, etc. If you'd like to follow in their footsteps, but want to know more, please email the girls at:
... And this is me, 