Hundreds of children. One woman’s vision. A farm to help fulfill it.
Gatune Farm in Kenya is growing a future for children at Huruma Children’s Home and school. With your support, it can expand into a farm business that provides nutritious food, helps fund the home and school, and creates education and career opportunities for young adults who grew up there.
Mama Zipporah, at Gatune Farm in Kenya
Gatune Farm is helping build food security, meaningful work, and a more sustainable future for Huruma Children’s Home and school in Kenya.
Near Ngong, Kenya, Mama Zipporah and her team give orphaned and vulnerable children from just infancy through age 18 a home, an education, and people they can count on. Generous neighbors, sponsors, and donors help make that care possible.
Mama’s vision is for Huruma to become increasingly self-supporting. At Gatune, that vision is taking root through food production, farm sales, and the young adults who grew up at Huruma and now help steward its land.
Gatune is coming to life before our eyes. Community. Opportunity. Hope.
Want to learn more? Contact our lead volunteer for the Gatune project, Deborah Polite, at dpolite411@gmail.com.
The Vision: From Depending on Donations to Building Self-Sufficiency
Gatune brings together food security, practical learning, meaningful work, and community development. Mama’s answer is Gatune Farm—land, water, crops, and livestock developed into a business with a mission:
Nourish the children. Provide fresh vegetables, eggs, and a more varied diet with the protein and nutrients children need to grow, stay healthy, and learn.
Give them a future to grow into. Turning 18 shouldn’t mean facing the world alone. At Gatune, young adults who grew up at Huruma grow food for the children now sitting where they once sat. They’re helping sustain the home that raised them while gaining a place to live, skills, and an income to build a life of their own.
Help Huruma stand on its own. Growing food lowers what the home needs to buy. Profits from farm sales can help pay for meals, care, and schooling. Your gift helps build a business that can keep supporting children year after year—so Huruma can rely more on what it produces and earns, and less on the next donation.
It’s Already Happening
Led day-to-day by an exerpienced farm manager, John Munguti, former Huruma students now live and work at the farm - learning from John’s wealth of knowledge, experience and mentorship. Together, they are helping build the opportunity that can support the children coming after them. Here are just a few things in the works today:
Growing food and finding customers. Gatune has brought five of its 15 acres into cultivation, supplying fresh vegetables grown on its land and in FMFM-funded greenhouses to Huruma and selling into a local market that’s already buying. Businesses including Hotel Rudi in Karen and Karen Provision Store have ordered its produce, and potential buyers have expressed interest in eggs and honey as the farm expands.
New chicks arrive at the farm as part of the Hurume-Gatune Poultry Pilot
The Huruma-Gatune Poultry Pilot is underway. A smaller project at Huruma is testing the egg business before expansion at Gatune. The plan prioritizes eggs for children with particular nutritional needs and sells remaining production. Huruma currently relies largely on donated eggs, purchasing more when donations do not cover those needs.
The project began the summer of 2026, with a pilot flock of 200 birds, with the goal of providing fresh eggs for Huruma’s children and selling surplus locally to help cover costs. Huruma graduates will help care for the flock, track production, and gain practical experience in running a farm business. Lessons and successes from the pilot will guide a larger egg operation at Gatune—1,000 laying chickens—building an important protein source for the children and an essential source of ongoing income for the home.
Turning farm waste into healthier soil. The team makes its own compost using chicken manure and other organic materials. Properly composted, these materials return nutrients to the soil, support healthy crops, and help reduce spending on purchased fertilizer.
A foundation is in place. Earlier investments have brought water access, a farm pond, irrigation, and a greenhouse to Gatune. The next stage builds on that progress.
Raised at Huruma. Growing its future. Joseph grew up at Huruma. Today, he’s helping lead the poultry project, caring for a flock that will help feed children growing up in the home he knows so well. Alongside other Huruma graduates, he’s helping care for the next generation while building a future of his own.
Our Role
Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds has worked alongside Huruma since 2012, supporting its food and water priorities. Together with Huruma’s leadership and partners, we’re helping connect Gatune’s next stage with funding, equipment and expertise. The roadmap below follows a practical sequence: strengthen water, food production, and daily operations first, then expand as the farm’s capacity and results support it.
The Plan: Four Phases to Self-Sustaining
Mama's roadmap — built with Huruma's leadership and FMFM — sequences the build by one rule: fund what unlocks everything else first.
Phase 0 — The pilot. Currently underway.
200 birds, learning the egg business end to end before scaling it. Learn more.
Phase 1 — The foundation. Currently seeking funding / partnership support: $135,098.
Water first — $29,176. Tanks, pumping, and irrigation. Water is the foundation for food production.
1,000 laying hens — $26,667. Eggs for the children, egg income for the farm, manure for the crops — a closed loop that turns one investment into three returns.
A farm vehicle — $25,098. Customers exist today; reliable delivery is what turns harvests into revenue.
Washing, drying & storage — $19,608. So a harvest becomes inventory, not waste.
Greenhouse & nursery — $10,078, plus safety & training $6,039, 200 fruit trees $5,490, compost & soil $4,706, and a working-capital reserve $7,843 to run it like the business it is.
Phase 2 — ~$24,471. More revenue lines: dairy, broiler hens, expanded honey production, cultivation equipment.
Phase 3 — ~$14,431. Resilience: solar power and production-scale tools, sized to proven demand.
Phase 4 — ~$73,725. The launch pad: a training and education hall, staff housing, and classroom technology — where the aging-out pathway becomes a formal agricultural training center, with accredited instruction and Huruma's own graduates among the teachers.
How Can You Help?
Fund a priority. Potential projects include water and irrigation ($29,200), the laying-hen package ($26,700), or dedicated farm transport ($25,100). These are included within Phase 1.
Contribute useful equipment. Help provide tools and materials that the local team can use and maintain.
Share your expertise. Agriculture, poultry, irrigation, food safety, and farm business knowledge can help the team build on its progress.
We’ll track results and food supplied to Huruma, farm sales and expenses, production results, and employment and learning opportunities—using those results to guide the next investment. Huruma’s team leads the work on the ground, with support from FMFM and Hope for Huruma.
Help Grow What Comes Next
The people, land, and vision are already here. Your partnership can help turn that foundation into more nutritious meals, dependable farm income, and opportunities for young people preparing for life beyond Huruma.
Start with a conversation. Meet the team, explore the priorities, and find your part in Gatune’s future.
Follow the Farm
The Gatune team posts progress as it happens — harvests, hatch days, deliveries. Package sponsors receive build updates on the piece they funded.
Follow @GatuneFarm on Instagram.
Community Diabetes Screening Initiative
FMFM is bringing diabetes screening, education, and follow-up care closer to underserved communities. Building on successful pilot clinics in Kenya and Malawi, the initiative works with trusted local partners to connect people with the support they need to prevent and manage diabetes.
Bringing diabetes prevention, education, and care closer to the communities we serve.
Diabetes is rising worldwide, but access to diagnosis and treatment remains uneven. The World Health Organization estimates that 54 million adults in its African Region were living with diabetes in 2022, with more than half undiagnosed and untreated. When screening, medication, and ongoing care are difficult to access, people may not get help until complications develop.
For more than a decade, Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds (FMFM) has worked with local organizations across sub-Saharan Africa to improve nutrition, clean water, food security, education, and community health. We’re building on those relationships to address diabetes alongside the conditions that shape people’s ability to prevent and manage it.
Our role
In June and July 2026, FMFM launched pilot medical camps in Ngong Hills and Gatune, Kenya. More than 500 people received services that included diabetes and blood pressure screenings, nutrition education, disease prevention resources, and training to help them manage their health.
The response showed a need for accessible diabetes services and helped inform our next step: building a continuous path from prevention and screening to treatment and follow-up. FMFM is working with trusted local leaders, healthcare providers, and community organizations so the program can strengthen care already available in each community.
Our approach brings together:
Early detection: Community-based diabetes and blood pressure screening
Practical education: Nutrition, prevention, and diabetes self-management guidance
Access to care: Connections to medications, monitoring supplies, and local healthcare providers
Ongoing support: Follow-up that helps people act on their results and manage their health over time
The outcome
The Kenya pilot camps reached more than 500 people. FMFM is now working to turn what we learned into a sustainable model that helps more people identify diabetes earlier, understand their results, and access the support they need after a screening.
Building on pilot work in Kenya and Malawi, we aim to expand through trusted partnerships in communities where FMFM already works, including Rwanda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. As the initiative grows, we plan to measure outcomes and refine an approach that local partners can sustain and adapt.
What grant support will make possible
Grant support will help FMFM move beyond individual screening events and build a more complete pathway of care. Funding will support:
Expanded community-based diabetes screening and prevention programs
Diabetes and nutrition education
Improved access to essential medications and blood glucose monitoring supplies
Additional resources for local healthcare providers
Follow-up care and measurement to understand what is working and improve the model
“Screening gives someone information, but what happens next matters just as much. We want people to understand their results, have someone they trust to turn to, and get the support they need to care for their health over time”
Our partners
Local healthcare providers, community leaders, and organizations are central to this initiative. Their knowledge and relationships help make programs relevant to the people they serve and support care that continues after a medical camp ends.
Help build healthier futures
Where someone lives or what they earn should not determine whether they can learn about diabetes, get screened, or access care. If you’re interested in supporting this initiative through a grant or partnership, we’d welcome a conversation.
Growing Food, Opportunity, and Hope: Gatune Farm & Huruma Children’s Home Updates
Since December 2023, Gatune Farm in Ngong, Kenya, has been a beacon of growth, not only in acres cultivated but in lives transformed. With five acres of land under cultivation and an efficient irrigation system in place, the farm has been providing fresh vegetables to 450 students at Huruma Children’s Home since August 2024.
Exciting things are happening at Gatune Farm in Ngong, Kenya, made possible by your incredible support. From feeding students to transforming lives and landscapes, here’s a glimpse into the progress:
Transformative Infrastructure Updates
This year, we’ve made significant strides in building the foundation for long-term impact:
On-site water is now available, and electricity is on the way!
A Kenyan agency is planting hundreds of fruit trees around the farm to serve as both a natural barrier and a nutrition source for students.
A $7,000 disbursement has kickstarted the educational building project, making the classroom fully functional with essential features such as desks, chairs, internet, laptops, and a projector. This classroom will be a vital resource for 17 Huruma high school graduates in their one-year paid internship at Gatune Farm.
Looking Forward
The goal is clear: to create a hub where students can learn, grow, and thrive, all while fostering sustainable agriculture.
Your support is turning Gatune Farm into more than just a farm—it’s a place where food, education, and hope flourish. Thank you for being part of this journey! Together, we’re transforming lives and building brighter futures.
Let’s keep growing! Support the next phase of Gatune’s development and be part of this exciting transformation. 🌱
““The Gatune project is transforming lives by providing nutritious meals to over 400 children from its produce, ensuring their well-being and fostering a healthier, brighter community.”
Huruma Children's Home Protein & Composting
In 2012, FMFM helped with funding supplies for gardens at Huruma Childrens Home.
Huruma Children's Home is an orphanage located in the Olkeri Village, near Ngong Town in Kenya. This is, unfortunately, an area of the world where poverty, poor health, HIV/AIDS and massive unemployment are major challenges for citizens - with many children orphaned at young ages, or families that do not have the means to provide and care for them. At Huruma, they care for more than 150 orphaned children ranging from newborn to 18 years of age - providing them with shelter, food and an education. Additionally, they provide an education for 100+ additional children from the local village - which includes a much-needed meal during the day that they otherwise may not receive.
Keeping this many mouths fed on a daily basis is costly. To manage these costs, the children's diets are mostly starch-based, with very little protein or other micronutrients. As a result, the children can have higher rates of malnutrition; stunted physical and cognitive growth; and/or experience reduced energy, immunity and concentration.
our role
With the help of many generous donors and volunteers, we raised more than $4,000 to assist with our project. A group of seven self-funded volunteers traveled to Ngong, Kenya in November 2012 and accomplished the following:
- Purchased 100 chickens to provide eggs and increase Huruma's protein sources
- Built a compost bin and helped the leaders at Huruma to understand how it’ll improve their soil for growing vegetables
- Donated laptops and jump drives to children's University students
- Traveled to Nacchu, the 5-acre lot that was recently gifted to Hurma, and scoped it out for future projects and learned about Mama Zipporah’s vision for the land
- Shared and explained a report on their current soil
the outcome
FMFM knew that with small changes, like introducing protein and vegetables into the children's starch-rich diet, we could make a dramatic effect on cognition and behavior.
We helped Huruma "feed mouths" by providing the means for a more balanced diet; and "fill minds" by providing computers that would enable and further learning.
““I was so impressed by the progress that Mama Zipporah has made since my last trip to Huruma. The garden, greenhouse, use of methane gasses, and the boys new dorm blew me away. Most of all the happiness and joy that I saw in the children inspires me to be a better person and to be more appreciative of the many blessings in my life.”
“I was very impressed by the warmth and hospitality from all the children and staff. The spirit of Huruma is very strong and Mama Zipporah’s vision and energy for all the children is amazing.”
Huruma Children's Home Farm Pond
FMFM's role is to provide Mama Zipporah's team with the financial resources it needs to research, plan and develop an alternative water source: a farm pond.
RAINWATER HARVESTING & SUSTAINABLE FARMING
PROJECT STATUS: BUILD & FUNDRAISING
FUNDS RAISED TO-DATE: $10,000
TOTAL FUNDRAISING GOAL: $15,000
Huruma Children's Home is a children's orphanage located on the undulating slopes of the beautiful Ngong Hills which is about 25km from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya in East Africa. This is, unfortunately, also a relatively poor area where most people have to struggle every day to make ends meet. Poverty, poor health, HIV/AIDS and massive unemployment are the main challenges people meet. Many children are orphans or live in families that are not able to care for them.
“All of the households around here walk about 17 kilometers (10 miles) each way to fetch water. For these women and children, it takes like the whole day just to fetch water. They don’t have time to concentrate on other issues that would uplift their standard of living. ”
During a recent visit to Kenya, the FMFM team learned that the children's home founder, Mama Zipporah, was gifted a plot of land in the community of Ndeiya.
FMFM worked with Mama Zipporha to create a vision for the land's future - sustainable farming. This would provide the children of Huruma with a reliable and cost-effective food source. But farming requires water. And the land is located near the Great Rift Valley - an area so dry that digging a well was not an option.
OUR ROLE
FMFM's role is to provide Mama Zipporah's team with the financial resources it needs to research, plan and develop an alternative water source: a farm pond.
Project funding covers the cost of the following:
Excavation of the 120-square meters of farm pond (completed)
Construction of silt trap and other masonry works (completed)
Dam liner, ultraviolet resistance plastic (completed)
Metallic roofing structure (fundraising)
Shade-net roofing material (fundraising)
Establishment of drip irrigation systems (fundraising)
Technical support and training (ongoing)
Provisional for survey and design (ongoing)
Additionally, FMFM volunteers from the United States traveled to the farm plot's land in 2012 and 2015. Our work there included:
Meeting with local engineers and project partners to review project plans, finances and progress
Hauling boulders for farm pond walls
Installation of pond liners
Masonry work on farm pond walls
“This project will cut the cost of food production. It will also provide an opportunity for our kids to learn about rainwater harvesting. We are raising these children to be productive citizens of our nation. Going forward, this will be a learning center for the entire community. ”
THE OUTCOME
This project affects Huruma Children's Home and the Ndeiya community in several ways.
It will provide the community with broader possibilities for food and water and set an example of access to water in the semi-arid land.
It will allow Mama Zipporah (the orphanage founder) to develop sustainable food systems for feeding her 160+ children.
Over time, it can serve as a catalyst for Ndeiya’s children to have access to food, increase school attendance, and hopefully, break the poverty cycle.
Once the water and food systems are developed, children will not have to turn to medial work to help the family survive. This will also serve as a best practice and collaboration that can be scaled throughout Kenya and other countries
PARTNERS
“On behalf of Huruma Trust Fund, and Mama Zipporah, I would like to say thank you so, so much. The community has been very, very impressed. They are saying that a bright star has come to our community, and suddenly, everything seems to be opening up.”
