Gdp St. Rita

East Africa’s first trauma-informed school for girls

Healing in the
eye of the storm.

Nyahururu, Kenya — a Maasai word meaning “storm”

GDP has partnered with St. Rita Evergreen Girls School to provide sanctuary, healing, and education to girls as young as 12 who have survived gender-based violence, forced marriage, and abandonment. In the middle of the storm, we are building a place of peace.

Fund St. Rita → 2,000+ girls are waiting

St. Rita Evergreen Girls School — where healing and learning go hand in hand

— Student, St. Rita Evergreen Girls School, Nyahururu · 2025

girls currently in care at St. Rita

girls on the active waiting list

East Africa's first
trauma-informed girls school

Year St. Rita opened · Nyahururu

The challenge — and St. Rita’s answer

These girls had nowhere safe to go. Now they have St. Rita.

Gender-based violence, forced marriage, and abandonment leave girls with nowhere to turn. St. Rita exists to be that place — and to give them everything they need to rebuild their lives.

What these girls face

GBV

Girls as young as 12 have survived gender-based violence — assault, trafficking, and abuse that leaves lasting physical and psychological trauma.

⚡

Forced marriage removes girls from education and condemns them to cycles of poverty and vulnerability before they reach adulthood.

Before St. Rita, there was no dedicated trauma-informed residential school in all of East Africa designed specifically for girls in these circumstances.

What St. Rita provides

🏠

A safe residential campus — housing, meals, security, and a community of support, so girls can focus entirely on healing and learning.

🎓

Integrated education and trauma-informed care — classrooms, qualified teachers, and professional counseling working side by side, not separately.

💊

Medical care and counseling that addresses the complex physical and psychological needs of girls who have experienced sustained trauma.

The scale of the need

St. Rita can help 40 girls. Over 2,000 are waiting.

2,000+

Girls on the St. Rita waiting list — right now

Word of St. Rita spread across Kenya faster than anyone anticipated. Girls are arriving from regions hours away — walking, traveling, finding their way to the one place that was built for them. The campus can currently house approximately 40 residents. The waiting list has grown to over 2,000. Every girl on that list has a name, a story, and a desperate need for exactly what St. Rita offers. The constraint is funding — not demand, not will, not capacity to serve. Funding.

Help us reach more girls →

Candid Platinum 2026 · 100% to Kenya · Tax-deductible

St. Rita’s four pillars

What makes St. Rita different

Every element of St. Rita is designed for girls who have experienced trauma. Education, healing, medical care, and safe infrastructure — all under one roof, working together.

Flagship innovation · First in East Africa

Trauma-Informed Care

Every program at St. Rita — from classroom instruction to daily routines — is designed through a trauma lens. GDP and Dr. Phyllis Njoki Kagimbi have established professional counseling, trauma assessment, and healing-centered education that treats the whole person, not just the student. This model is the first of its kind in all of East Africa.

East Africa’s first · Opened March 2025

Education · Integrated

Education & Classroom Learning

GDP supplies St. Rita’s classrooms with vital equipment, qualified teachers, and learning materials designed for girls who may have missed years of schooling due to trauma, forced marriage, or survival needs. Education and healing are not separated — they happen together, because healing happens through learning.

Curriculum designed for trauma survivors

Healthcare · On-site

Medical Care & Health Services

Many girls arrive at St. Rita with untreated injuries, malnutrition, and health needs that have gone unaddressed for months or years. GDP’s investment in St. Rita includes medical care infrastructure — staffing, supplies, and access to trained healthcare providers — so physical healing happens alongside emotional and academic recovery.

Medical care for arriving girls

Infrastructure · Expanding

Campus Infrastructure & Expansion

GDP is actively funding the expansion of St. Rita’s physical campus — additional dormitories, classrooms, a dedicated medical facility, and agricultural land for vocational training. The future vision is a permanent GDP-owned St. Rita facility in Nyahururu that can serve hundreds of girls simultaneously with full wraparound care.

$310K 2026 expansion goal

This is the first place where I felt my child and I were both wanted.

— St. Rita resident · Nyahururu, Kenya · 2025

Here, my son is not a burden. He is a blessing — and they remind me of that every day.

— St. Rita resident · Nyahururu, Kenya · 2025

Learning and healing — side by side at St. Rita

St. Rita campus — Nyahururu, Laikipia County, Kenya

A community built on safety, dignity, and hope

Partnership & leadership

Built on a powerful partnership

St. Rita is the result of two forces working together — the founding vision of Dr. Phyllis Njoki Kagimbi and the resources, infrastructure, and global reach of GDP.

Dr. Phyllis Njoki Kagimbi

Founder · St. Rita Evergreen Girls School · Nyahururu, Kenya

Dr. Kagimbi founded St. Rita with a hands-on vision rooted in the specific realities of trauma, GBV, and abandonment that girls in Nyahururu and the surrounding regions face. Her deep community knowledge and clinical approach to education and healing are the foundation on which GDP’s support is built. Her leadership ensures that every decision about St. Rita is informed by the girls themselves and the community that surrounds them.

GDP’s role at St. Rita

Expanding campus capacity — additional dormitories, classrooms, and medical facilities to serve more girls

Supplying classrooms with vital equipment, learning materials, and educational technology

Hiring and training additional staff — caregivers, teachers, and counselors who work within the trauma-informed framework

Providing medical care infrastructure and access to healthcare for arriving girls

Planning and funding a permanent GDP-owned St. Rita facility in Nyahururu — a sustainable sanctuary for generations to come

Connecting St. Rita to GDP’s global donor network, mission trips community, and 35-year Kenya relationships

The St. Rita journey

From partnership to permanent sanctuary

St. Rita’s story is just beginning. Here is where we have been — and where your gift takes us next.

2024 · Partnership formed

GDP partners with Dr. Phyllis Njoki Kagimbi and St. Rita Evergreen Girls School

GDP identifies St. Rita as a critical gap in East Africa’s response to GBV — a school that could provide what no other institution offered: trauma-informed residential education for girls who had nowhere else to go.

March 2025 · School opens

St. Rita Evergreen Girls School opens in Nyahururu — East Africa’s first trauma-informed school for girls

With GDP’s support, St. Rita opens its doors. Girls begin arriving — from nearby communities and from regions hours away. Word spreads faster than the campus can respond. Within months, the waiting list exceeds 2,000.

2025–2026 · Current phase

40+ girls in residence · 2,000+ on the waiting list · $310K expansion goal underway

St. Rita currently serves 40+ girls with housing, education, trauma counseling, and medical care. GDP’s 2026 funding priority of $310K is directed toward campus expansion to serve more girls from the waiting list. Every dollar donated in 2026 directly expands capacity.

Future · GDP-owned dedicated facility

A permanent GDP-owned St. Rita campus in Nyahururu

GDP’s long-term vision is a purpose-built, GDP-owned facility in Nyahururu — with expanded dormitories, dedicated medical facilities, vocational training spaces, and the capacity to serve hundreds of girls simultaneously. This bold vision will create a sustainable sanctuary that nurtures resilience for generations to come.