Partner Page: Rose Bugusu

127 Partners

ROSE BUGUSU

Tumaini Miles of Smiles is a children’s home and school led by Rose in rural western Kenya. Named after the Swahili word for “hope,” Tumaini provides care and protection to their community’s most vulnerable – orphans, widows and abandoned babies. Rose is proud to say that of the 163 students who have finished eighth grade at Tumaini, 100% have continued to high school.

Partner Grant

127 Partners

ROSE BUGUSU

Tumaini Miles of Smiles is a children’s home and school led by Rose in rural western Kenya. providing care and protection to their community’s most vulnerable – orphans, widows and abandoned babies.

Welcome to Tumaini Miles of Smiles!

In 2005, God placed in Rose Bugusu’s heart a vision to provide quality education in a rural community in Kenya. That same year he provided the needed resources to open the Tumaini Miles of Smiles Center in Malava, Kenya. Just one year after her initial steps to start Tumaini, Rose discovered that several of the children attending her school were suffering physical abuse at home. Though her initial vision for Tumaini had simply been a school for the materially poor, she decided to expand it to include a children’s home for those who could not live with their families.

As Tumaini grew over the following year, Rose began to see more and more needs. Sometimes she had no idea how God would provide for the needs of Tumaini, but she followed her mother’s example in prayer and anticipated him to work in wonderful ways.

All these years later, Rose continues to serve as the Director. Rose’s ministry blesses the children in her care, widows that live nearby, and her entire community. Tumaini Miles of Smiles Center is breaking the cycle of poverty by strengthening families, empowering widows, and educating children to become contributing members of society.

Meet Rose Bugusu

Rose Bugusu was born the youngest daughter to a farming family of six in a small, rural village outside of Kisumu, Kenya. While materially poor, Rose’s mother provided a powerful example of reliance on and obedience to God. Despite none of her other siblings attending high school, God worked through Rose’s sister to provide the needed school fees to continue her education. Rose began to recognize God’s active presence in her life during those high school years. Having experienced poverty herself and the difficulties surrounding education beyond the 8th grade, God used Rose’s life experiences to grow a passion in her heart for education, discipleship, and the vulnerable. Today Rose is a mother to Moses and Sara Beth and the Director of Tumaini Miles of Smiles Centre in Malava, Kenya where she runs a children’s home and school, maintains various agricultural projects, and serves her local community.

127 Partner Grant Highlights

High School Student Scholarships

In Kakamega County, where Tumaini is based, fewer than 20% of students advance to high school after eighth grade. But at Brightsmile Hill School, Tumaini’s primary school, the story is different — boasting a 100% graduation rate. Over the past decade, more than 300 students have completed eighth grade and gone on to high school, nearly doubling Kenya’s national average.

127 Worldwide partners with Tumaini to offer full and partial scholarships for these students, believing that education is the key to breaking cycles of poverty and unlocking a future of hope for the next generation.

Family Empowerment Program

Rose’s heart for family preservation shines through this empowerment project. In Malava, widows often face impossible choices and struggles providing for their families. This initiative helps strengthen families by providing seed and fertilizer, enabling widows to grow their own food and sell the surplus to cover school fees.

Launched as a small trial in 2021, the project’s success inspired widows to give back — even donating sacks of beans to Tumaini’s school and children’s home. This year, 49 widows are participating, and we continue to pray for abundant harvests and strengthened homes.