Members of the New Life Christian Center church group went to the grand opening of the orphanage and are seen posing with the plaque. (Photo from Zippie Irari)
WESTFIELD – A local church organization has helped build an orphanage in Molo, a town nestled in the Nakuru County section of Kenya.
The New Life Christian Center, a church located in Westfield, brought six members to Molo to attend the grand opening of the orphanage. Five more people from the North Kingstown Assemblies of God church of North Kingstown, R.I. joined New Life Christian members.
The 11 individuals arrived on June 25 and stayed until July 3. On June 27, a dedication took place at the orphanage with a plaque, followed by the grand opening ceremony on June 30. The orphanage has officially been named the Call of Molo Organization.
Zippie Irari, who’s a native of Molo and has been a member of the New Life Christian Center since 2013, has helped spearhead the creation of the orphanage and was so grateful to be a part of the grand opening experience.
“Everybody was just clapping and just going crazy and being so happy about it,” said Irari. “Two years of work has been put into it, it was a blessing.”
After finishing high school in 2000, Irari started to have a vision. In 2001, Irari would invite several children to her parent’s home in Molo, to give the children meals and provided them food to leave with.
It was a passion for Irari that stayed with her in 2005 when she decided to become an American citizen. In 2005, Irari first lived in Arizona, and then shortly moved to Burlington, Mass., since she had family that lived close to the area.
Seven years later in November of 2012, Irari became a resident of Westfield. Irari took a job as a nurse at Genesis Westfield Center, where she is still currently working.
Pastor Wayne Hartsgrove of the New Life Christian Center has always had a desire to go to Africa and was ecstatic to achieve that goal and help Irari with building the orphanage.
“It’s fulfilled a vision for me,” said Hartsgrove. “It was a successful trip.”
According to Irari, over 600 people from the community of Molo attended the grand opening of the orphanage.
The emergence of the orphanage all stems from when Irari joined the New Life Christian Center in January of 2013. Two months after joining, Hartsgrove called up Irari to the front of the church during a service to lead a prayer for struggling missionaries in Africa.
Moving forward, Irari would become acquainted with other members of the church and would learn that others had the same passion as she did to build an orphanage in Africa. A town filled with poverty and tribal clashes, the children of Molo were in danger of being affected by the problems that were occurring in their community.
The orphanage in Molo, Kenya had its grand opening in June, featuring three floors. (Photo from Zippie Irari)
In 2014, raising money by sending sponsorship letters to local small businesses, the church was able to send 14 people to Molo. Just two years later in June 2016, members of the New Life Christian Center broke ground on the orphanage and began the construction.
The orphanage is around 9,600 sq. ft. and features three floors that will hold up to 40 children. There is also a soup kitchen that allows the kids to have meals. Although the orphanage is finished, the facility isn’t ready for the children to live in, but the soup kitchen has already been used to feed the kids. Irari noted that she’s waiting on approval from the Kenyan government to allow the children to reside in the orphanage.
The total cost of the project for building the orphanage was around $75,000, with all of the money coming from donations within the community and the members of the church. The New Life Christian Center is expecting to pay about $3,000 a month for schooling, clothing, food, and other expenses involved. The construction for the building was done by a contractor in Molo, along with the help of Zippie’s father, Irari Mugo, who lives in Molo.
Equipped with a kitchen and dining hall, the orphanage also has showers, a flower garden, and other amenities.
Irari added that anyone interested in donating towards the orphanage, can do so by visiting the website, The Call of Molo. In the process of filing a 501(c)(3), Irari will soon be giving people the option to make a donation online and can receive a tax receipt. If the gift is over $250, the person will receive a tax statement at the end of the year.
