Since our currently rented house is too small for Maisha Bora and does not meet the requirements for a children's home, a new building is necessary for our long-term operation. The new home should be simple, functional, and optimally tailored to the children's needs. In 2023, we acquired building land, and in 2024, water wells were drilled on the property and a wall was built around it. In April 2025, the architect's plans were finalized. On June 20, 2025, the long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony took place.

As mentioned in previous reports, our journey to build a new children's home began two years ago. Although the total cost has not yet been fully covered, we have started construction with the aim of completing it before the next heavy rainy season. The construction work got off to a good start. Masia is on site every day, documenting, checking, and supporting with great dedication. The Maisha Bora team is doing a great job on site and is working hard to organize donations of building materials to help the project move forward. Masia is in charge of construction management, and he and Leah are purchasing all the materials themselves.

We started with the Makuti House, a traditional building with a palm leaf roof. In the future, it will provide children with protection from the sun and rain while they play outside. Currently, it is the place where our construction workers can relax during their breaks from the intense sun. The Makuti House was then quickly equipped with electrical connections and a fire extinguisher.

Measuring work began at the end of July in preparation for the excavation work. The weather was on our side, so the construction workers made good progress. The trenches were dug by hand with picks and shovels in painstaking work. In the hot midday sun, the workers are grateful for the shade provided by the makuti roof. Drinking water from the site's own well is available to the workers, and after lunch together, work continues.

Much of the work is carried out by hand on site, such as the bracing made from a large delivery of iron. With impressive dedication, the workers cut, bent, and welded—the conditions on these construction sites are almost unimaginable by European standards.

Concrete was poured and bricks were laid diligently. We at NUKIA are always excited to see the pictures that reach us, as we are constantly amazed by the way they work. We learned to trust them, because step by step, the construction project took shape. You won't find any machines here, apart from the trucks that deliver all the materials and a concrete mixer that is powered by hand.

Work is progressing rapidly, and the stones that were laboriously excavated a few weeks ago have now been broken up, by hand of course. They have now found their purpose again, and the foundations have been laid for all three buildings.

After a two-week break to allow for drying, work resumed. In the following two pictures, we see the foundation walls of the children's home on the left and those of the shower rooms on the right. The upper two and lower two pictures were taken just one day apart.

Thanks to the warm and sunny weather, the walls are drying well. So far, everything is going according to schedule. Leah and Masia are very busy shopping for building materials. They want good quality, but the price has to be right too. They know exactly where and when to negotiate.

Ten days later, another large quantity of iron bars was delivered. The reinforcements for the ceiling of the outdoor kitchen were made by hand and installed. This is where the two large water tanks for the house will be permanently located.

At the beginning of October, the security bars for windows and doors were laboriously crafted by hand on site – and there are quite a few of them. In the meantime, all bars have been given a red protective coat of paint to prevent rust. Once this has dried, a final coat of gray paint will be applied.

They were also able to start work on the wooden roof structure at the beginning of October.

To bring some greenery to the new children's home, Leah has started showing the children how to grow new plants from seedlings. The children are now taking responsibility for caring for the young plants themselves so that they can later be planted at the new location. We are also working on creating a vegetable garden and an area for chickens. In the future, eggs, fruit, and vegetables will come from our own garden, contributing to the sustainable supply of the children's home.

We are very grateful for the smooth progress and calm atmosphere that have characterized this challenging project in East Africa so far. A big thank you goes to our generous donors, who are making this new children's home possible! We still need CHF 65,000 to complete the Maisha Bora children's home. Currently, two-thirds of the project costs are covered.

We look back with great satisfaction on the past two years since purchasing the building land. It fills us with joy and gratitude to see what we have already achieved together with the fantastic team on site during this time.