Our Story

The goal was to create businesses that would both give employment and invest profits into an all girls boarding school, Uhuru Girls Academy.

From humble beginnings...

Bumping down the pothole­-riddled Kenyan road, our team arrived at a resettlement village.

Jikaze was destitute­ 145 weather­worn tents that sat 100 feet off the dusty highway. The village was home to the survivors of tribal warfare. In the conflict, 600,000 were left homeless and over 1,500 killed. The survivors lost everything­ family, homes, and jobs. They were displaced and despairing.

We wanted to provide education for the community, a key tool to break the long term cycle of generational poverty. Previously, we had built up the facilities at a school in the Kibera slum and another in Mombasa. With the average family living on $0.30 per day, we knew we could serve Jikaze by providing education for their youth.

Within minutes, 1,000 Kenyan survivors gathered around us and ushered us to a circle of plastic chairs where the community leaders awaited. The needs were obvious, and we yearned to help. Christine, speaking on behalf of the community, responded to our goal of establishing a boarding school for the children: “You are right that our children need education, but, more than education, we need food and jobs. Our children sell themselves to truckers who give them money for food in exchange for sexual pleasures.” Christine’s pleaded, “We are desperate for work.”

This kind of poverty can’t be felt through a statistic, and a need this great begged a response. With the permission of the community leaders, we sprang into action. Uhuru Child, now renamed Freedom Global, began a holistic approach to bring independence and hope to the village. The community needed emergency food relief, but as crises were resolved, we moved toward job development solutions. We partnered with Global Connections to replace tattered tents with community -built mud homes, joined hands with the Polish Embassy to provide water to the community, and brought in an organization to grant micro­finance loans.

We learned that of the 1,000 people, 29 were farmers prior to the post-election violence. With the community’s blessing we purchased one greenhouse and employed nine adults to grow and sell produce­. It was our first social business. The produce flourished, first one greenhouse, then three, five and seven. One acre of land became five, ten, then thirty. Before long, we were not only giving employment in one community, but we were hiring more staff to help with the processing of the produce, selling to the top three distributors in Kenya, and renting land in various parts of the country to test corn and wheat growth. The model for Freedom Global began to take shape. 

The goal was to create businesses that would both give employment and invest profits into an all girls boarding school, Uhuru Academy. The school was started in 2013. Investing in lives through business and education naturally opened the doors for us to share Christ love with our students and staff through our discipleship programs. We know the Lord is just getting started with this mission. 

Where we are today

Today, Freedom Global is making a larger impact in the developing world than ever before.

Our leadership in Kenya is a team of Westerners and Kenyan nationals. The Lord has truly blessed our school, Christian discipleship and employment programs. By the end of 2023, we witnessed: 

  • 300+ girls receive education
  • 50+ people provided with meaningful employment
  • 720+ hours of school-wide worship + study of Scripture
  • 3,500+ one-on-one discipleship conversations
  • 100+ Bible study leaders discipled and sent
  • 542,500+ meals served (and counting)
  • 90+ graduates receive higher education
  • 18,000+ teaching hours

Our school’s renowned education, which teaches critical thinking within a learner-centered methodology, has become the top private school in the region (one of the top in the nation) three times. 

We’ve experienced Uhuru alumni coming back to the school to invest in the next generation and make disciples with our current students. We weekly mentor students and staff, lead bible studies, and teach life skills through Freedom Camps. This strategy has opened the door for us to not only disciple our students, but also mentor Somali students at an Islamic school, disciple students at a vocational training home for women with mental and physical disabilities, and hold camps for orphaned and vulnerable children across western Kenya.

The Lord is on the move, and we are so grateful to be a part of it. Since 2009, serving in Kenya has felt like putting up our sails and holding on tight as the Holy Spirit moves us in the direction He is going. The result? We have the joy of walking alongside the most incredible people in the world as God meets their deepest needs.

Freedom Global started in Kenya and has a vision to expand around the world. We invite you to come to Kenya on a service trip with us. Join us in standing in awe of how God is redeeming lives in Kenya, come build relationships with our students, work beside our staff on the farm, pray alongside us, and then come back to the United States energized to help us expand our network and impact!