The Story of Coko
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 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 most of the money coming in from donations and volunteers, that paid $300 per week for room & board was not all being used to help the children. The minimum was given for their care, and the rest was lining the pockets of the Founder/Director. The same meal was served 3 meals a day every day and right before Christmas the Founder said there was no money for even a small Christmas dinner or little gifts for the kids. Jay knew something was not right and that the Founder was just keeping the lion’s share of 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 Manire sent his friend Yusuf (Babu) Msuya to pick Jay up at the airport. A very strong friendship was formed between Babu and Jay and it was so strong that 9 years later they became partners in COKO. Jay stayed on and off for three months at the Orphans of Kilimanjaro and learned a lot from Bob which helps him in the running of COKO.
Jay returned to Africa many times over the years. He and Babu helped out at many more orphanages but always found the same thing, money coming in but not all being used for the children, 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 volunteers paying upwards of $400 per week to volunteer and lots of money from donations.
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. More trips to Africa, Jay and Babu continued to talk. In November 2019 they made a final decision to become partners and open an orphanage in Africa. Jay and Babu 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 6 children and 2 staff members. It was a tough start as the coronavirus pandemic started two weeks later. They had a solid plan in place and a lot of hard work in front of them, but everyone dug in, and soon things did get better. Eventually, donations started coming in and within a few years COKO became a true success story. Due in large part to people all over the world believing in the work they were doing.
Today, COKO has 32 children and 9 staff members. In June 2023, Jay and Babu purchased land right on Mt. Kilimanjaro where they are currently building COKO’s new home which will be able to accommodate 48 children and even more staff. COKO is always bustling with the children playing, learning and being able to just be kids. Visitors and volunteers come and go from all over the world. COKO is one big family made up of our children, wonderful staff, and donors from all over the world helping to make us a true success story.
Goto www.helpcoko.org to read more about our us.
