TENKARAKI INKERA DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL
Teachers and Christian school leaders regularly ask if there is a Christian school they may visit to observe how our professional development training works out in practice. Tenkaraki Inkera, which means For the Children’s Sake in Maa, is located in rural Maasai-land in the small village of Leboo, in Kijiado County, Kenya. The school serves as demonstration that FTCS’s teaching approaches are working well with a population of the most at-risk children.
Since opening with PP1 and PP2 (PreK and K) in April of 2022, TIDS (Tenkaraki Inkera Demonstration School) has added one grade per year. Another grade will be added each year until Grade 9, which the Kenyan government has decreed should be on the same campus with primary grades. The 2025 school year enrolled 145 students in PP1 through Grade 3.
Sharing God’s love with these children means providing a high-quality Christian education with two nutritious meals each day, because hungry children can’t learn well. For 60% of our students, school meals form the only daily food they can count on. The students are noticeably healthier once starting TIDS.
TIDS has garnered a strong reputation for providing the best education in the entire area. Indeed, about 85% of our students meet or exceed the national standard on required tests. We hold a community-wide “graduation” event at the end of PP2 (K). In an area where ~50% of the adults are illiterate and the small mud huts in which they live have no books, these children have already gained beginning skills in reading, mathematics, Swahili, and English, as well as in the 10 other subjects the Kenyan curriculum requires. In 2024, over 500 people came to celebrate 24 students who finished PP2! Students had opportunity read and recite, and be glad for what they have learned.
Most schools, including government schools, require students to provide their own textbooks, exercise books, desks, chairs, pay enrollment fees, and extra tuition fees for teachers to help them. TIDS provides student uniforms, meals, curriculum, furniture, and all other items necessary for learning. In order to maintain the dignity and responsibility of parents for their children, those who are able, such as government workers or those with a business, pay a small amount each term. Many are not able to pay, so parents are given small tasks at school to earn enough money for their child(ren)’s education with some left over to buy family food. Complete scholarships are available for students whose guardians the Head Teacher knows are sick, old, or otherwise unable to work.
2024 PP2 “Graduates”
Please help support Tenkaraki Inkera Demonstration School
You can help provide an excellent education with nutritious meals each day for at-risk Maasai children, helping share the Good News of God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ.
Giving online is easy and many monthly donors who supporters use that method. For those who prefer to write a check, or to give as Qualified Charitable Distributions or Required Minimum Distributions, the address is For the Children’s Sake, 27985 SE 456th St, Enumclaw, WA 98022.
For the Children’s Sake is a 501(c)3, EIN # 20-5017380. All gifts are tax deductible and very much appreciated!