The Nyumbani Children's Home was founded by Father Angelo D'Agostino and Sister Mary Owens in 1992 to serve mostly abandoned children

Child abandonment

Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring with the intent of never again resuming or reasserting them. Causes include many social and cultural factors as well as mental illness. An abandoned child is called a foundling .-Causes:Poverty is often a...

 created by the AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 pandemic

Pandemic

A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...

. Originally a medical doctor in the US Air Force, D'Agostino joined the Jesuits early in his career, focused on psychiatry, and held various teaching positions. But it was through his experience working with multiple Jesuit charities that D'Agostino learned of the dire need for specialized facilities for abandoned children in Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. Today over 100 orphans or abandoned children live at Nyumbani Home located in Karen

Karen, Kenya

Karen is a suburb of Nairobi in Kenya, lying south west of the city centre.It is generally believed that the suburb is named after Karen Blixen, the Danish author of the colonial memoir Out of Africa; her farm occupied the land where the suburb now stands. Blixen herself declared in her later...

, Nairobi.

In 1998, the recognition that there was a need to expand the basic initiative of Nyumbani Home to other locales which gave birth to the Lea Toto program. This is "a community-based outreach program providing services to HIV+ children and their families in the Kangemi, Waithaka, Kawangware, Riruta, Mutuini, Ruthimitu, Kibera

Kibera

Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa...

 and Kariobangi

Kariobangi

Kariobangi is a low-income residential estate in northeastern Nairobi, Kenya. It consists of both apartments and slum-type dwellings. It is split into two parts, Kariobangi North and Kariobangi South...

 communities of Nairobi, Kenya."

Based on past success, a related effort called Nyumbani Village was spawned to support both orphans and elders impacted by the AIDS pandemic. Located on 1000 acres (4 km²) donated by the Kitui District

Kitui District

Kitui District is an administrative district in the Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Kitui. The district has a population of 515,422 and an area of 20,402 km² .- Government :...

County Council, Nyumbani Village is conceived to support between 1280-1600 individuals via a self sustaining agricultural based venture.