ABOUT US
WHAT
A partnership of Kenyans & Americans working together on the following projects:
Sonshine Vocational Training Center in Usueni: our largest project is a boarding school in rural Kenya with classes in welding, carpentry, electrical, masonry, sewing & tailoring, and cosmetology. (LINK TO FB)
Preschool in Mombasa: this church-based preschool allows mothers to work while their children are safely cared for in a nurturing Christian environment.
Special Needs: We support Lucy, a blind teacher in Kenya whose 2-year teaching certificate was paid for by SAP and enabled by donations of a laptop (used with a screen reader) & braille-to-print device. Lucy is now pursuing a 4-year degree with our support. We are currently working on a scholarship for Doreen, a vocational school student who has dwarfism.
Future Projects: We hope to improve sustainability at the school by adding agriculture (training for students & growing crops on campus), and a water kiosk that will enable clean water to be sold to the community (instead of using unfiltered river water). A better devotional curriculum is another need at the school. Additionally, the local pastors have requested seminars to help learn how to better understand the Bible and to minister more effectively.
WHO
Founding missionaries: Robert & Lois Carr lived in Kenya for 17 years (1990-97 & 2003-13). Robert was a church-planter who developed close relationships with Pethuel & Patrick, the two pastors who administer the vocational school. Lois’s Kianga Kids ministry established nutritional programs for approximately 1,200 at-risk children in 7 preschools. Her outreach to students with medical needs and children with disabilities is the basis for our continued work in these areas. After returning to the States they led yearly teams to Kenya until retiring in 2025.
Ministry Team: Our current team includes:
Kenya: Rev Pethuel and Rev Patrick who pastor AEPC (African Evangelical Presbyterian Church) churches in rural Kenya and administer Sonshine Vocational Training Center. Rev Octavian leads an AEPC church and preschool in Mombasa.
USA: Our Board of Directors are Phil Peach, president; Christopher Rice, treasurer & Becky Peach, secretary. Our advisors include Sarah Rice (website), Megan Rice (communications) and Cecilia Mutisya Robreno (community development). Cecilia was Lois’s Kenyan partner when both lived in Kenya
WHERE
Usueni - our main work is in Usueni, approximately 6 hrs. northeast of Nairobi. It is a major trading center with people from many different tribes in the area, as well as travelers from nearby Somalia & Ethiopia.
Mombasa- Kenya’s second largest city is on the coast (Indian Ocean) and has a significant Muslim population (approximately 41%).
WHY
Due to poverty, the communities we help include families with significant needs and limited resources. Churches have been planted over the past 20 years, and we’ve developed long-standing relationships with those believers. They are faithful and hard-working but need additional support to become independent. The vocational school was the first step to helping people learn the skills to support their families and their communities. Without job skills, families can be torn apart when fathers and sons leave to seek work in larger cities. The skills taught at the vocational school are skills needed for local jobs.
WHEN
Sonshine Africa Partners became a legally recognized non-profit charity in 2025. However, our projects are based on relationships that started with missionaries Robert & Lois Carr who lived in Kenya for 17 years and traveled to Kenya each year until 2025 when they retired. Current members of our Board of Directors began traveling to Kenya in 2008 & 2014. Building Sonshine Vocational Center began in 2015, the first class started in 2022, and the first students graduated in 2024.