Rafiki Foundation

Rafiki has been serving in africa over 30 years and is helping africans to know god and raise their standard of living through bible study and education with excellence and integrity. This work is overseen by the staff at the Rafiki home office in eustis, Florida and the 39 missionaries out in the field in africa. Rafiki operates in ten african countries and has built a Rafiki training village in each of the ten countries. Each village consists of anywhere from 20 to 30 buildings. Rafiki has five programs: 1. Education 2. Advanced learning institute 3. Childcare (orphan care) 4. Bible study 5. Widows classical schools-one k-12 school at each of its ten villages. These schools provide a high quality education for both resident children and day students from the community. The Rafiki schools currently educate more than 3,525 students which includes the 381 orphans living at the Rafiki villages and over 3,144 impoverished day students from the surrounding communities. The children are taught using Rafiki's christian classical curriculum which has been developed specifically for africa. This curriculum provides both textbooks and lesson plans and has been written to international standards, incorporating african national syllabus requirements. All courses are written from a biblical world-view and are culturally relevant to africa. The schools not only provide a high quality education in core courses in mathematics, language arts, and sciences, but also in athletics, art, music, and vocational courses. Students graduate with a well-rounded education, critical thinking skills, and tools for lifelong learning. The advanced learning institute program (currently operating in 7 of Rafiki's 10 countries and has over 99 students) is the capstone of Rafiki's educational program, providing post-secondary education for adults in teacher training, business, music, and art. The first part of this program was launched in 2013 and is training future educators for african church schools through the Rafiki institute of classical education. This three-year course is programmed learning on a computer with a combination of lecture, discussion, computer-based, and practicums at Rafiki's k-12 school. Students receive courses in computer, keyboard, classroom management, early childhood development, record-keeping, art, music, english, math, science, and world history. With unemployment running as high as 70% in these ten countries, and with the great need for better education, this program will supply two major needs: jobs and quality schools for Rafiki's african church partners. The participants will not only be educated through the classroom materials but will also participate in a practicum at Rafiki's school. Upon completion of the course, they receive a complete set of Rafiki's curriculum and bible study to use in one of Rafiki's african partner church schools. The childcare program provides a permanent home for orphans within each of the ten Rafiki villages. Each village is equipped to provide complete care for up to 100 children, including housing, clothing, meals, education, recreation, and medical care. Rafiki supports a total of 635 orphans ranging in age from eleven to twenty-eight who live at the ten villages. These children are raised in a family-like setting with ten children living in a cottage with a trained african woman who serves as their mother. The Rafiki mothers are trained and supervised by a qualified childcare administrator (a missionary) who oversees their work. Rafiki provides a christian classical education to these children from preschool through grade 12. When the children graduate from high school, they are enrolled in college or vocational programs so that they can live independently and become godly contributors in their home countries. The Rafiki bible study program provides a comprehensive bible study (553 weeks of lessons covering all sixty-six books of the bible), primarily for Rafiki's k-12 schools and partner church schools. The bible study has been developed by theologians in the u.s. and africa and is written at various age-comprehension levels by individuals experienced in teaching children. This material is being used by all program participants in Rafiki's childcare, education, widows, and advanced learning institute programs. Financial notes: Rafiki is a member of the ecfa and maintains high standards in terms of managing its financial resources. Rafiki's fundraising depends heavily upon prayer. In addition to bible study and prayer each day at all Rafiki villages in africa, the Rafiki staff members at the Rafiki home office in eustis, fl start each workday with prayer and bible study. There are currently about 100 Rafiki prayer groups throughout the world praying regularly for the work of Rafiki. The Rafiki widows' program has helped hundreds, even thousands of poor women in all ten of Rafiki's ten countries. Working in partnership with local african partner denominations, Rafiki provides design guidance and quality standards for handcrafts which are representative of crafts produced in their local economy. Rafiki markets these products in the u.s. to support the women and cover the cost of shipping and marketing.