Red Rhino Orphanage Project

With the approval of the Parish Council the Red Rhino Orphanage Project was added by the Social Justice Committee to the list of grant recipients in 2011and continued in 2012.  Below is information about progress made by the project taken from their website, www.rrop.org.  For information about the administration of these grants see http://catholicsofpleasanton.org/stewardship/admingrants.html.

Purchased and Secured Land

• Purchased 5 acres of rural land twenty miles southeast of Nairobi, Kenya, and secured title
• Built a fence around entire property
• Panted 10,000 acacia trees on the perimeter (above left)
• Completed a 5,000 cubic meter dam to collect and store seasonal rain water
• Prchased an additional 3 acres of adjacent land for future agricultural use

Initiated an Immediate Impact on Local Area

• Sent a poor local farmer and our first employee (above left), to medical school to fulfill his dream of becoming a surgeon
• Formed a partnership with Springs of Hope - a center for rescued and abandoned babies
• Established a twice weekly vegetable distribution program for orphans in Machakos
• Shipped container of goods from USA to Kenya including medical equipment, construction materials, a tractor, generators, and more

Constructed the Red Rhino Children's Center

• Built a kitchen/gathering/administration building
• Constructed two children's homes that each house 16 children with attached toilets and showers and an adjacent bedroom for the house mother
• Completed two small homes for our resident staff
• Finished the Matron's Home (central caretaker)
• Installed customized rainwater harvesting gutters for all buildings and designed a rain water storage facility
• Created a soccer area and basketball court
   

Officially Opened Red Rhino Children's Home
 

•  Secured mandatory licenses with five agencies
• Obtained NGO Status
• Hired and trained staff
• Introduced children to Red Rhino
• Signed official committal papers adopting the children as our own
• Welcomed children to live permanently at their new home
• Enrolled children in a private elementary school
• Achieved certification as an officially registered children's home with the Kenyan government

Future Goals

• Explore the possibilities of an on-site school
• Develop an Outreach Program for children in surrounding villages
• Focus on a plan to empower girls and women in the local area
• Establish an endowment fund for the future
• Continue to provide long-term security for the children by enlarging our Red Rhino Family Sponsorship Program