Hekima Place is a home in Kenya for girls orphaned primarily by HIV/AIDS. The name “Hekima” was chosen for its Kiswahili meaning: Wisdom. Founded in 2005 by U. S. native Kate Fletcher, the home opened with just 10 girls but has grown to 60 members of the Hekima Place family. The girls are given a loving, faith-based home with nutritious meals, health care, and, very importantly, an education to enable them to succeed on their own once their schooling is completed. At Hekima Place, each girl lives with a loving Kenyan staff member called "mum" – growing within a faith-based "family" with "sisters" (other orphaned girls) as companions and workmates.
 

The home is located in Kiserian, Kenya just outside Nairobi, on property purchased by the U. S. Board of Directors in July 2009.  Construction of the new permanent home for the girls at this site was completed in December 2010. Approximately 20 km south and west of Karen, Kenya (Hekima Place's original location), the new home is in the southern Rift Valley Province and has six cottages and a dining hall along with a significant amount of land for gardening. 

Education is at the core of empowerment for these girls. They attend community elementary and secondary schools throughout the region. Study support is provided at the home by staff and by volunteers from around the world who travel to Hekima Place to share their time, talents and love with the girls.

Family Ties

Hekima Place recognizes the importance for the girls to maintain ties with their extended families.  Three times a year, each girl has an opportunity to return to the family of a grandparent, elder sibling or auntie and renew ties, remember lost parents, forge family bonds for future and renew identity in tribe and family.  Six family visiting days each year allow these same family members to come to Hekima Place for a Sunday afternoon enabling the child to feel important on two fronts.  With these ties continually re-enforced, when the girl graduates school and leaves Hekima Place, she is known and loved by her own family.
 

While the girl is living at Hekima Place and attending school, the family itself is relieved of the burden of educating and feeding her—many times an impossible task, so the best of two worlds is achieved for the girl and for her family.

Changed Lives

 For the girls who came from upcountry farms in Kenya, they no longer are restricted to carrying wood and water for miles, but instead benefit from hours of school and more study at home. Hekima Place offers enough structure to encourage scholarship, yet provides free time for recreation including Girl Scouts, sports, weekly movies, newspaper reading, puzzles and games to stretch the mind. A birthday party for each girl celebrates her uniqueness.