Weber State University senior, Rachel Koch, is doing an internship with the Asande House, an orphanage based out of Kenya. The Asande House has been home to 32 orphans since 2000.

“I know how much these people are working to help, and receiving nothing in return,” Koch said. “Every little cent that we raise goes directly to the kids.”

The Asande House was started by Rosefina Royce. Royce was building her dream house in Kenya when she noticed a young boy begging for food.

“I have always loved children, and I know that they are a perfect gift and creation of God given to us,” Royce said in an interview on Kaiizen Foundation’s website. “Whether (the children) are my own or my friends’ or my neighbors’, I love them the same.”

Nearby orphanages were at capacity and were unable to house anymore orphans. Royce and her sister, Jeska Machanga, couldn’t turn down these children so they decided to transform Royce’s dream house into an orphanage.

The Asande House is looking for donations right now in order to raise money to put in new latrines for the children.

“The kids really need new bathrooms, so that’s the main thing I am focusing on. They are basically going to the bathroom in a hole in some little hut by their house,” Koch said. “We are only $200 away, so that’s really awesome.”

In Kenya, “asande” means thank you. Since all of the orphans were saying Asande as they entered the house the orphanage was named the Asande House.

Royce went back to the U.S. in 2006 when her mother passed away. Royce’s sister stayed in Kenya in order to help raise and take care of the children. Royce continued to work in the U.S. and send money back to the children and her sister.

The Asande House wasn’t receiving funding from anyone until Royce met up with Kate Parkinson, who had quite a bit of experience with nonprofit organizations. Parkinson and Royce teamed up with the Kaiizen Foundation, which has helped sponsor the Asande House.

“Last year a lady in my church congregation was introduced to me,” Parkinson said. “I was told that she had 32 orphans and that intrigued me. She was telling me how much she loves them.”

Parkinson continued to tell us that Royce has been working three jobs in order to take care of all 32 orphans. They created a website where people could donate and become sponsors for these children.

Many of these children were not going to school so with being sponsored this gave the children a chance to receive an education.

Most of the children in the Asande House are younger but there are some young adults who could attend college.

“Another one of my goals is to make sure all of the college students could get to school and that we could raise enough money to find funding for them for college,” Koch said. “They are hoping that once these kids graduate that they could help bring more money into the orphanage.”

People can go to the Asande House’s website and choose what cause within the Asande House they would like to donate to.

“It was cool to see families across America and even Canada and Europe reached out and wanted to get involved in changing these kids’ lives,” Parkinson said. “You can read the kids stories, how they got to the orphanage and their dreams and ambitions.”