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Phyllis Keino is a Kenyan philanthropist known for her work with the Lewa Children's Home and the Baraka Farm, which serve orphaned and impoverished children in Eldoret, Kenya. [1]
She was the wife of the Olympian runner Kip Keino with whom she founded the orphanage and farm. In addition to the work with the Lewa Children's House and the Baraka Farm, she serves as the volunteer spokesperson for the non-governmental organization Bread and Water for Africa. [2]
Keino became a registered nurse in 1976 after several years of training, during which time she became committed to improving the lives of orphans and abandoned children living in poverty. [3] In partnership with her husband Kip Keino, she undertook numerous humanitarian efforts including founding the Lewa Children's Home, Kazi Mingi Farm, Baraka Farm, and the Kipkeino schools in Eldoret. [4]
In 1987, she organized with a Benedictine priest to secure funding to acquire 500 acres of land from the Craig family, members of the Lewa Conservatory, on which she could construct a home for orphans and children living in poverty. [5] [6]
In 2003, Phyllis and Kip had significant disagreements which led to their separation and a split between her humanitarian efforts and his foundations. [7] She has given birth to eight children with Kip Keino and has adopted many others. [8] [9]
Lewa Children's Home
Keino is the founder and director of the Lewa Children's Home in Eldoret which serves orphans from all over Kenya. [10]
The home provides food, shelter, healthcare, education, clothing, and counseling regularly for over 80 children with three full-time caretakers in addition to Keino and her mother. [6] [11] In addition, over 190 children receive food, clothing and money for school fees through Lewa's home-base sponsorship program annually. [12]
A 2014 profile estimated over 600 children have been housed at the orphanage since its creation. [4] While Kip used his winnings to provide much of the initial funding, he credits Phyllis with maintaining the orphanage saying, "My wife is the one who has organized and made this work." [8]
Kipkeino School
Keino is the founder and director of the Kipkeino Primary School which was founded in 1999 to provide education for the children in the Lewa Children's Home and the Eldoret area. [13]
Baraka Farm
As part of her management of the orphanage, Phyllis is also the director of the Baraka Farm, founded in the mid-1990s, which provides food for the orphanage and the school as well as providing hands-on agricultural training for youth. [14]
Bread and Water for Africa
Keino is the volunteer spokesperson for Bread and Water for Africa. [15]
Kipchoge Hezekiah Keino is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete. He was the chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee (KOC) until 29 September 2017. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today. In 2000, he became an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2012, he was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame.
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. There may be substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home, or the parent may simply be unwilling to care for the child. The legal responsibility for the support of abandoned children differs from country to country, and within countries. Government-run orphanages have been phased out in most developed countries during the latter half of the 20th century but continue to operate in many other regions internationally. It is now generally accepted that orphanages are detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of children, and government support goes instead towards supporting the family unit.
Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, Eldoret is the fifth most populated urban area in the country after Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Ruiru. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) at the airport to more than 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) in nearby areas. The population was 289,380 in the 2009 Census, and it is currently the fastest growing town in Kenya with 475,716 people according to 2019 National Census. Eldoret was on course to be named Kenya's fourth city, but was edged out by Nakuru in 2021.
Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is part of the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ɛnaɨpɔ́sha , meaning "that which heaves," a common Maasai word for bodies of water larger enough to have wave action when it is windy or stormy. Naivasha arose as the British attempt to pronounce the Maasai name. Literally, Lake Naivasha means "Lake Lake."
Kitale is an agricultural town in the northern Rift Valley, situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherangany Hills.The town has an elevation of around 1,900 metres (6,200 ft) Its population is 162,174 as of 2019. Kitale is the headquarter town of Trans-Nzoia County. Kitale is reachable by air through Kitale Airport. The postal code for Kitale is 30200.
Noah Kiprono Ngeny is a Kenyan former athlete, Olympic gold medalist at 1500 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and world record holder in the 1000 m.
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Kipchoge Keino Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Eldoret, Kenya. It is named after the athlete Kipchoge Keino. It holds 10,000 people.
The men's 1500 metres event at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City was held on 18 to the 20 of October. Fifty-four athletes from 37 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Kenyan Kip Keino, who beat World record holder Jim Ryun, who struggled to adapt to the altitude of Mexico City. It was the first medal for Kenya in the 1500 metres. Ryun's silver was the United States's first medal in the event since 1952. Bodo Tümmler took bronze, the first medal for West Germany as a separate nation.
The Tuskys Wareng Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in November near Eldoret in Kenya. The name is derived from the sponsor, Tuskys Supermarket, which is based in Wareng County.
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The Shoe4Africa 5 km is an annual women's road running event over five kilometres that is held on Christmas Eve in the village of Iten, Kenya.
The Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) is an academic medical partnership between leading North American academic health centers, primarily led by the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Moi University School of Medicine based in Eldoret, Kenya. It is the first integrated healthcare model to be established in Africa, encompassing both medical treatment and pharmaceutical provisions. The program aims to deliver comprehensive HIV care services and is guided by a three-fold mission: providing care, conducting research, and offering training opportunities. Currently, AMPATH serves a population of 3.5 million individuals, operating over 60 clinics in urban and rural areas of Western Kenya.
Abebech Gobena was an Ethiopian humanitarian, and the founder and manager of AGOHELMA, one of the oldest orphanages in Ethiopia. She was often called the "Mother Teresa of Africa".
Rift Valley United Football Club is an association football club based in Eldoret, Kenya. The club currently competes in the Kenyan National Super League, and was known as Hotsprings Football Club until 31 March 2014.
The Howard Colored Orphan Asylum was one of the few orphanages to be led by and for African Americans. It was located on Troy Avenue and Dean Street in Weeksville, a historically black settlement in what is now Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City. The asylum gradually deteriorated due to lack of funding, and closed in 1918 after an incident involving burst water pipes, which resulted in two students contracting frostbite and having their feet amputated.
Anna Merz was an English conservationist who established the Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary in 1983. She postponed her retirement in Kenya in 1976 to take up the task of saving black rhinoceroses from poachers wanting to slaughter them for their horns. In 1990, Merz was named to the Global 500 Roll of Honour by the United Nations Environment Programme. Following her death, a female rhinoceros calf was named Anna after her and two fictional books about Merz and a rhinoceros named Samia were published in the late 2010s.