Building the Boy’s Cottage and Basketball Court for Our Kitalale Home

27 Nov Building the Boy’s Cottage and Basketball Court for Our Kitalale Home

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
Zechariah 8:5

It’s no surprise that our children love to dance, sing and play. With 50 kids in each home, we use games and activities to bring our family together through laughter and fun. A few months ago, we experienced incredible amounts of joy in our Kikuyu home after inaugurating our very own basketball court. In a short time, we’ve been able to see tremendous physical and behavioral benefits this new space has brought to our kids which is why we’d like to build a court in our Kitalale home as well.

Donate to Basketball Court Fund

Building on the success of the basketball court in our Kikuyu home, we are seeking funds to build another full-sized basketball court for our Kitalale kids. We have the opportunity to build it in tandem with the expansion of the boy’s cottage, which will the most cost-effective approach as we’ll already have contractors on site. Thanks to the contributions from the gala, we were able to gather sufficient funds to build the boy’s cottage and will need to raise the remaining $10,000 to be able to build the proposed basketball court.

The Power of Play

Play can be described as the “work” our kids do. In our homes, kids partake in activities that allow them to learn about the world around them and more importantly, themselves. Research has found that play contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. 

Basketball is making a resurgence in Kenya and is appealing to youth because of its fast-paced nature, need for coordination and teamwork. Due to its recent increase in popularity, it has become difficult to enroll our kids in a school team because the facilities aren’t big enough to accommodate the recent surge in interest. Even though the demand exists, building a court is a costly investment that many local schools simply don’t have the budget for or capacity to take on.

Need for a Basketball Court in Our Kikuyu Home

Using exercise as an outlet, a few of our kids’ conduct has improved thanks to the Aunties/Uncles who use playtime as a way to reward positive behavior. This improvement hasn’t only impacted our kids for the better but it has also created a new way for us to do community outreach and invite other kids from our local community to play and take advantage of the court. For this reason, we want to build a court in our Kitalale home. We see this space as an investment and way to promote community and the development of skills like teamwork, brain-body coordination and physical exercise.

“The new basketball court will be fun since it will be a full-sized court and we will play a real game with the kids from the community. Can’t wait to see it built.“
Kevin Kiplang’at from our Kikiyu home

Boy’s Cottage Project

By building the basketball at the same time as the boy’s cottage we are looking to help reduce construction and permit fees. The boy’s cottage will allow our older kids between the ages of 12 and 13 to feel connected to their heritage and most importantly, each other. At this age, kids in Kenya go through a rite of passage which marks the transition between childhood and adulthood which means they get to live in a separate complex within our home’s ground. 

The current cottage was once a chicken coup which was converted into what the kids are currently using. This complex has two rooms which houses three boys in each one and an additional room for the house father. Since this space was once a coup, there isn’t an indoor bathroom and is lacking space for additional facilities. By the end of 2020, we will need a bigger cottage to accommodate the number of boys in this age bracket. Because of this, we will be tearing down the current complex and building a new one with more space and facilities that can be enjoyed by our boys.

The Current Need

Thanks to your contributions at the gala, we are ready to update the boy’s cottage which will help accommodate our growing youth. Today, we need your help to raise funds for the Kikuyu home basketball court which will help promote our kids’ cognitive, social and physical development. 

The total cost of the entire project is approximately $410,000 with the following breakdown.

• $400,000 Boy’s cottage (Funds raised thanks to the Gala).
• $10,000 Basketball court construction.
  • Any additional funds raised past the $10,000 will be used towards updating the plumbing in our Kitalale home.

Will you consider partnering with us for this update?