Supporters of Bega Kwa Bega know that scholarships are a critical part of our vital partnership. That is certainly the case for BKB affiliate Friends of Huruma.
Founded in 2016, Friends of Huruma provides financial support for the Huruma Centre Children’s Home in Iringa. In 2024, Friends of Huruma provided almost $46,000 on behalf of nurture and education of the children residing at the Huruma Centre and those youth and young adults in educational programs at other sites. Of course, it isn’t Friends of Huruma that provides this support, but people like you in the Saint Paul Area Synod, other parts of the United States, and our partners in Berlin, Germany who give in support of the children.
Last year, for the first time, financial support from Friends of Huruma for scholarships exceeded support for operating expenses. This chart shows how support for scholarships and other school costs has increased. The vertical bars show the amount of Friends of Huruma scholarship funding each year, and the black line shows the amount of Friends of Huruma operating support.
The chart shows the steady climb in scholarship funding relative to operational support. In 2017, we provided just one scholarship, for $416 U.S. dollars. But, then, when I visited Iringa in the second half of 2017, the Director of the Huruma Centre and I began to discuss scholarships for secondary boarding schools. Soon the word was out among the children at the Centre: if they worked hard, they could receive a scholarship to attend secondary school!!
The next year, 10 students received scholarships for secondary school, while those who did not qualify received scholarships for vocational education programs. From that year onward (except 2022 when the number of scholarship students briefly declined), the number of secondary students has increased.
Beginning in 2021, the number of students receiving post-secondary scholarships rose sharply. The large number of secondary students from the Huruma Centre combined with post-secondary scholarships led to the large increase in total scholarships seen in 2024. Now, in 2025, through Friends of Huruma, a total of 50 students from the Centre receive scholarships for secondary and post-secondary education. Combined with younger students in residence, the Huruma Centre is now home to 95 children, youth, and young adults. When students who are away at school all come home at Christmas, it is quite the celebration and every nook and cranny is used for sleeping quarters!
By itself, Friends of Huruma could not raise funding for 50 student scholarships. To support such a large number of scholarships requires partnership. The Iringa Diocese invites Huruma Centre students who are eligible for post-secondary certificate and diploma programs to apply for scholarships. In Germany, the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Church District in Berlin provides assistance for secondary scholarships, and Berliner Missionswerk provides support for post-secondary scholarships. Students attending university receive some support from government loans. And, in 2024, Friends of Huruma received a timely and necessary grant for scholarships from the Mary Alphonse Bradley Fund.
Even with all of these partners, the lion’s share of scholarship funding (and all operational support funding) comes from congregations and individual households who give directly to Friends of Huruma. Through you, children from the Huruma Centre know that, if they work hard, they have the assurance of education and a bright future. The two words the children and youth of the Centre repeat to me most often about education are “promise” and “hope.” Friends of Huruma and the Huruma Centre mean the promise of an education, and an education gives them hope. And, above all, amid all the traumas that the children have experienced, promise and hope mean healing.
I would be delighted to visit with you or your congregation to tell you more about the work of Friends of Huruma. I regularly preach and lead adult learning events at congregations in the Saint Paul Area Synod and beyond. And, I regularly connect with individual households to share information. Please contact me, at 651-253-4997 or friendsofhuruma@gmail.com. Thank you!
Pastor Chris Smith
Coordinator, Friends of Huruma
