In 2002 the former British probation assistant Joan Smith founded the Tumaini „Home of Hope” close to Mombasa, Kenya, with the help of Kenyan public authorities as well as private Kenyan individuals.

The donation of two neighboring properties from Kenyan industrialists enabled the construction of a one story building in which the housing of children, who often are in life-threatened, critically ill states, is provided non-bureaucratically – sometimes even without indications about family, family history or origin.

The children’s stories of their life and sufferings are a mirror image of the Kenyan reality in which children that either come from HIV positive surroundings or are infected themselves, belong to the outcasts of society and generally only have limited prospects in life.

By 2009 the house was expanded and a second story was added so as to include more children. The German Tumaini Children’s Home development association provided a substantial grant to fund the construction expenses.

The orphanage itself is solely financed by donations and does not dispose of own income up to date. In 2007 the German Tumaini orphanage association was founded, along with a British development association and a Kenyan Trust. Because the majority of the  German members are active in medical or social fields, we see the provision of medical and social care as our principal duty.

The Kenyan state makes the medicine for containing the HIV-virus available free of charge and further offers regular medical check-ups of the children. In cases of three children the amount of virus in the blood system could already be reduced significantly, so that they now can again be considered HIV negative.

These treatment measures totaled about 4000 Euros of hospital costs in 2011, which could be funded by the Tumaini orphanage association donations.