“We believe every orphan and vulnerable child should be afforded a healthy, safe childhood with the prospect of a brighter future.”
How it All Began
Agape Hope Children’s Center is an orphanage that started in 2002 by Papa, Oliver and Mama, Maggie Chiraba. The orphanage caters to orphans and needy children in Nairobi, Kenya and its surrounding areas by providing a home, food, clothing, medical attention, and other amenities to help these children live a normal childhood. Some came from broken families and others were made orphans, all due to death, abandonment, child abuse, early pregnancy, infections with HIV/AIDS, as well as post-election violence. It all started, when Oliver and Maggie began feeding street children on a daily basis with the little funds they had as well as kind donations from friends and well-wishers. They started noticing that street children would move from place to place since they had no permanent spot to call home.
Through their philanthropic heart, they researched the day to day lifestyle of these children so that they could understand their needs best and the methodologies they could use to intervene and help them. Over the years and through the mercy of God, they were able to come up with a Center, Agape Hope Children’s Center, that sustains over 90 orphans and provides education to more than 300 needy children. They are continuously striving to offer better opportunities of growth and education to the older children as they attempt to face the world on their own by providing youth programs that teach trades and the empowerment of women. This Center is special and different from others as it makes its best efforts to provide opportunities for these children to become successful adults and contributing citizens in their society.
OUR STORY
We are the Hughes Family. Our family has always loved serving in our community and around the world. We have taken multiple humanitarian trips where we saw unthinkable circumstances be completely changed into huge success stories because of generous donors. However, our hearts were changed in January 2019 when we chose to go to Kenya for a service mission and ended up at the Agape Hope Children’s Center. While there, we, as well as our daughters, Heidi and Ashley, saw the charity of Oliver and Maggie to the children they hosted as well as to their entire community.We also noticed the immense need that surrounded us which we had not seen before with other well-funded charities. Heidi and Ashley came to us and told us of their desire to help these children and their orphanage. We all knew we could do more to help out!
They came up with a plan to develop a website that would help people get to know Agape and their needs. Agape believes wholeheartedly in self-reliance and we knew that we, as well as others, could help them to achieve that goal. Oliver and Maggie are genuine, kind, loving and honest. We personally witnessed them open up their hearts and home to any in need. Organizations like Serving Orphans Worldwide have visited Agape and seen the great good they are giving to the most destitute in Nairobi and have chosen to partner with them. Agape scrapes by to function every day and whatever you can donate will go a long way to blessing the lives of these children. Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” Please join us in our endeavor to give these children their own success story they so desperately deserve. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela
“To care for every child within reach, in a comprehensive manner, fostering good physical, emotional, and spiritual health.”