Meet Our Team

Lisa Higgins

Lisa is married to Chris, and has 2 grown children. Together with their children, they first visited Ark Quest Education Centre in 2015. Returning in 2019, they joined a team who began the build of permanent classrooms. Lisa continues to be impressed by the impact that this little school has on its students, their families and the wider community. Ark Quest Education Centre exists because one man decided he would support the impoverished children his local community. Let us join with Dr Calvine Ominde, who is now committed to feeding, and educating over 100 students in Mahanga Village, Kenya.

Jan Dean

Jan is widowed, with 2 adult children and 6 grandchildren. She is now retired after teaching at Bethlehem College for many years. Her association with Ark Quest Education Centre began with a school mission’s trip in 2012. She has since returned 3 more times, and has been impressed by the difference this venture, which includes agricultural and horticultural projects as well as a school, is making to the lives of not just the students at the school but to the whole community. Dr Calvine Ominde’s dedication to this school and community development project is inspirational, and Ark Quest Trust is committed to supporting the work until the project can become self-sustaining.

Emma Hodgson

Emma is married to Brad and has 2 children. She is a mixed animal Veterinarian. Emma first met Calvine on a school mission trip to Nairobi in 2007. After remaining in contact over the years she returned first in 2016 with husband Brad, where they worked with Calvine to further develop the school dairy herd. She has since returned again with a team in 2019 to begin building the permanent school buildings at Ark Quest Education Centre. She has passion for Ark Quest and its mission to becoming a self-sustaining entity, designed to lift not just the school children but the village out of poverty, all the while keeping Jesus-focused. She is excited about continuing to partner with Ark Quest and is looking forward to what the future will hold.

Philip Russell

9 March 1948 - 20 January 2022

Phil Russell’s involvement with Ark Quest Education Centre in Kenya began in 2007, when he met Calvine Ominde while on a Bethlehem College school trip. This meeting led to the first team from Bethlehem College going to Mahanga Village in 2010/2011. In 2014, he established Ark Quest Trust to raise money to ensure that the school would be able to continue to provide education to the children of Mahanga Village. He regularly led teams to Mahanga Village to work with Ark Quest Education Centre and support the community projects that developed alongside the school. While Phil is no longer with us, Ark Quest Trust is committed to honouring his memory by continuing the work of fundraising to support the school and to complete the building of a permanent school.