Founder of Eating Stone
Eating Stone was founded in 2006 by Dr Cyprian Lumumba of Kenya.
When Cyprian finished Form 4 (the equivalent of high school in North America) he got a job sweeping tea dust from the floors of a tea factory. He caught the attention of the manager, who promoted him, and he eventually became a tea taster, the highest position in the factory.
Cyprian enrolled in nursing school, graduated, and completed his internships to become a qualified nurse. He then attended medical school at the University of Dar es Salaam, completed more internships and qualified as a doctor. He continued specialised studies and internships and became a surgeon. He moved to Nairobi in 2006 to work as a surgeon at Kenyatta National Hospital.
His story is an inspiration. He is living proof to everyone at Eating Stone that hard work and education brings results.
Eating Stone Organisation Kenya 2008 was officially registered in 2008 as a community-based organisation (CBO) by the Government of Kenya, and became a registered non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Kenya in January 2015. Our board of directors consists of community representatives and trustees from Canada, UK and the USA. Eating Stone Organisation Kenya 2008 operates Eating Stone Children’s Home and Wisdom Academy Primary School.
Eating Stone Children’s Home
Initially located in the peri-urban area of Kabiria on the outskirts of Nairobi, the children moved to their new home in the rural area of Gikambura, near Kikuyu town, on January 1, 2018.
Our children are raised in an environment of loving care by two dedicated women, themselves victims of the post-election violence, who together with Dr Cyprian instil strong family values such as those of equality and respect for others.
Wisdom Academy Primary School
Also on site is the primary school, Wisdom Academy, which runs classes from pre-primary through to class 8. As of January 1, 2021, there are 150 children (including Eating Stone children) attending classes on site. Due to overwhelming demand by the local community and lack of space, two temporary classrooms and a small computer room have been erected on the roof.
With the fundraising heroics of Tracey Farleigh in the UK, a set of laptops have also been purchased and are now in use at Eating Stone. See this page with some photos of the kids gratefully receiving them and putting them into action in the classroom.
Just be kind — the name “Eating Stone” explained
In Bugarika, the village where I was born and raised, there were many orphan children. For some, their parents died from disease. Others were abandoned immediately after being born and their parents disappeared just like that. Still others were street children and their roots could not be traced.
Near our home there’s a big flat rock, and the children liked playing and bursting in the sun there. I could go to school in the morning come back for lunch, and go back again for evening studies come back later in the evening, and I’d find them still there.
The people of our village nicknamed the children “Watoto wa kijiweni”, Swahili for “the children of the rock”.
Something came into my mind, and I heard a voice whispering to my ears and heart: “Just be kind”.
From then I took a step and visited them, taking with me some food stuff and anything they would need as their basic needs.
In the process, I learned that the life they were leading was hard – just like eating a stone. They had no food, no clean drinking water, and no place to sleep at night despite all kinds of weather.
I decided to start the Eating Stone organisation to help those children whose lives were in such pathetic situation – so they could have a good life just like any other child in the word.
The voice I heard is then is still in my heart and mind: “Just be kind”. That’s how I came up with the name Eating Stone.
—Founder Dr Cyprian Lumumba
Funding
The government of Kenya regulates and inspects orphanages, and Eating Stone must continuously meet local standards to continue operating.
The government does not contribute in any way financially. The wellbeing of this family of children is sustained solely through donations by caring people from different parts of the world.