The Children of Kilimanjaro Orphanage, or COKO for short, was started by Marine Corps Vet. Jay Rowe.
Jay had traveled to East Africa in 2011 on a 5-month solo backpacking trip and to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. While having a cup of coffee in the village of Makuyu, which was just a few hours northeast of Nairobi, Kenya, Jay met a young girl who was volunteering at an orphanage close by and asked him if he would like to visit. Jumping at the chance, Jay went but, instead of staying for a few hours, which was his original plan, he stayed for a month. While helping out and having so much fun with the children, he soon realized the money coming in from donations and volunteers that paid $400 per week for room & board, was not being used to help the children, but instead lining the pockets of the founder/director. The same meal is served 3 times a day every day and right before Christmas the founder said there was no money for Christmas dinner or gifts. Jay knew something was not right and that the founder was just keeping the money for himself. Soon after Jay left, the orphanage was closed by the Kenyan Government.
Jay soon became very curious about how other orphanages were run and contacted one in Tanzania and asked if he could come and visit. Upon arriving in Tanzania, the Founder/Director Bob (Babu) Manire sent his driver Yusuf Msuya to pick Jay up at the airport and a strong friendship was formed. So strong that years later they became partners in COKO. Jay learned a lot from Bob which helps him in the running of COKO.
Jay returned to Africa many times. He and Babu helped out at many more orphanages but always found the same thing; money coming in but not being used for the children but instead going into the directors' pockets. The last orphanage they helped out at had the worst conditions he ever saw for the children and yet had the most money coming in with lots of volunteers paying upwards of $600 per week to volunteer.
In the spring of 2017, Jay and Babu thought about how they could start their own orphanage where 100% of all money coming in would stay right at the orphanage to care for the children. After Jay made several more trips to Africa, he and Babu continued to talk. In December 2019 they made a final decision to become partners and open an orphanage in Africa. Jay knew COKO would be one of the "good ones".
Babu took care of the licensing in Tanzania and Jay took care of the legal set up back home in the USA. On March 15, 2020, the Children of Kilimanjaro Orphanage opened its doors with 5 children and 2 staff members. Two weeks after opening, the Coronavirus pandemic hit. This made it very challenging for COKO, but soon donations started coming in.
Today, COKO has 30 children and 9 staff members. In June 2023, Jay and Babu purchased land right on Mt. Kilimanjaro where they are currently building their new orphanage which will be able to accommodate 50 children and even more staff.
COKO is always bustling with the children playing. Visitors from all over the world come to visit and volunteer. COKO is a big family made up of our children, wonderful staff and donors from all over the world helping us and making us a true success story.
Goto www.helpcoko.org to read more about our us.
