TULIP's Purpose

• Transforming the lives of underprivileged, vulnerable  teenage girls from poverty situations in informal settlements in Nairobi

TULIP’s Vision

• To be the leading organization in supporting teenage girls in informal settlements  to achieve their God given potential, restore their hope and dignity and become responsible and mature women in the society through holistic Christian education

TULIP’s Values

• Honour God
• Respect for human dignity
• Passion for excellence
• Trust and accountability

Leadership and Management of TULIP

• TULIP is managed by a Board of Directors, comprising of seven members. The current Board has been in place since early 2008. The Board provides guidance to the organization
• The Founding Director of TULIP, Mary Muthoni is currently away for a one-year study leave.
• The day-to day running of the ministry is facilitated by a management team that is answerable to the Board.

TULIP's Current Operations

• TULIP is currently supporting and sponsoring a total of 61 girls in high school. Five of the girls are in different boarding schools from around the country, while fifty six girls in our day school located at Lucky Summer residential estate that is adjacent to Korogocho slums.  The school is also our center for all ministry operations of TULIP.
• Other community based initiatives include:

  • evangelism through sports,
  • community empowerment projects
  • parents visitations,
  • discipleship and pastoral care of the girls under our care  

History of TULIP

Mary Muthoni, the founder of TULIP, became a Christian as a teenager, graduated from Nairobi University with a B.A. in Anthropology and developed a desire to impact girls from underprivileged situations for Christ.

After a voluntary mission with FOCUS in Norway, she joined a one-year internship at Nairobi Chapel in Kenya. During this year, she served in the social ministry of the Nairobi Chapel`s Tumaini churches which are situated in the slums of Nairobi. She also ministered in their medical clinics.

During this time, God opened her eyes to the plight of women and girls living under the oppression of poverty. She noted many single mothers, with little education or skills to provide for their families. Often these women engaged in vulnerable or dangerous practices to support themselves.

Trapped in the cycle of poverty, unable to attend school and lacking positive role models, their daughters would follow them into similar lifestyles. In response to this, after completing her internship, Mary began TULIP home in early 2002 to give refuge, rehabilitation and education-training for young girls in the slums.

We seek to empower teenage girls from the poverty that plagues the slums of Nairobi. The Ministry started as a Social Justice Initiative of Nairobi Chapel in the year 2002 after it's founder, Mary did her internship at Nairobi Chapel. Though several members of the board are from Nairobi church, the TULIP runs indipendent of the church leadership. TULIP is registered as an NGO in Kenya and is run by a board that oversees an on-the-ground management team.

We are located in Lucky Summer Estate, right next to Korogocho slums in Nairobi's sprawling Eastlands areas. All the girls we minister to are from Korogocho, though our hope is to be able to minister to underprivelleged girls from all informal settlements in Nairobi, eventually.

The name’ Korogocho’ is synonymous with the word 'chaos'. Due to abject poverty (household heads earn less than one dollar a day) Korogocho has been characterized by disorder in the form of drug abuse, alcohol abuse (chang'aa, a lethal local brew), prostitution, violence, child labor, racketeering … as residents struggle for survival.

Amidst all these, the girl child is the one at the highest risk of abuse, exploitation. Girls and eventually women suffer the blunt of the abject poverty of the slums. It is this knowledge that moves our hearts to respond compassionately and invite others to join us to rescue as many girls as possible from this malicious cycle of poverty. We earnestly invite you to join us in making the difference in the life of one of the girls.

Informal Settlements of Nairobi are our target areas, where real poverty condition is spelled out as follows:

Families in the slum live on an average income of approximately one dollar a day

This population form 60% of the entire Nairobi population and only occupies 2% of the space, meaning there is congestion, scarce amenities such as water, sewage, medical, schools

Many households are headed by single mothers without an education beyond elementary level (class 8).These women possess limited skills to compete with the challenges of the urbanization

Such women heads are victims of broken families as a result of infidelity, domestic violence,teenage pregnancies multiple partners or widowhood

Most of the family heads are unable to access employment and have no sources of capital to facilitate income generation activities. This makes it difficult for families to access basic needs such as food, adequate shelter, health and education among others.

These situations results to many youths especially girls dropping out of school because of lack of school fees, engaging in child labour, risks child abuse, engaging in crime, alcohol and other substances abuse, street children, promiscuity that endangers them to the risks of HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy and early marriages

TULIP focuses on the girl child with the aim of helping the girls in such poverty and vulnerable situations towards growing positively despite their challenges, realise and develop their potential, talents in leadership and career options so as to facilitate personal and community responsibility.

On a broader scale, the TULIP girls reach out to the entire community such as the children, youths and the parents with the aim of empowerment and capacity building towards a better society.