Children of Kenya are no strangers to hardship. Today the AIDS virus kills 6,000 people a day in Africa; the nature of the disease naturally involves both parents, and as they die at an early age, large numbers of children are being orphaned. In Kenya alone there are more than one million young orphans. Food and medicine come at a premium, if at all. 

Our Director has an interesting story of his own:  born in 1954, Raymond ran away from harsh conditions at home at the age of seven. He wanted to go to school. In less than a year the little boy met his mentors, a loving Swiss family, on the sun-bleached beaches of Malindi. 

His adoptive family were professional equestrians and Raymond won the National Junior Jumping and Dressage Championships in Kenya at the age of 14, but not at the expense of his dreams for an education.  His parents also gave him the education he needed to succeed in life. 

"Someone came across the globe and helped me when I was a child without food, family or home in Kenya; now I will do all I can for the destitute children of the world, starting in Malindi, continuing throughout Africa and the world” says Raymond. 

AND so the seed of the dream has sprouted.  Today the Thoya Oya Children's Center feeds, clothes, houses, and educates children.  The staff includes a teacher and a matron.  

In the US, eight board members volunteer their time to keep the TOCC on course, while in Malindi, Kenya, a nine member Board of Directors work diligently without salary to keep oversee operations at the Children’s Centre. 

The children study Giriama, Swahili, English and arithmetic. They love to play soccer. Director Johnson Thoya plans to expand the curriculum to include include language skills in the native tongue Giriama, English, and Swahili, a broad spectrum of reading material and world events, debate, and the study and recitation of poetry. 

With the pulse of compassion and gratitude bridging the continents, the staff and board members of this organization appeal to the people of the world to cross this rainbow bridge and join us in planting the seed of generosity for the little children of Kenya, at the Thoya Oya Children’s Center.