Nikki Reising, the founder of Children of Bungoma, traveled to Kenya through a study abroad program in June 2010. Unhappy with the experience she was receiving at the University, she decided to leave the University to learn more about Kenyan culture. Her travels took her two hours away to a small, rural town called Bungoma. While in Bungoma, Nikki met a group of boys, living on the street and asked if she could spend time with them. The boys agreed and for a month Nikki and the boys spent everyday learning about one another's lives. Before returning back to America, the boys asked Nikki to help them get off of the streets and into schools.

A month later, Nikki returned to America and immediately started Children of Bungoma. Fundraisers were organized and the help of volunteers enabled Nikki to move to Kenya to lay the ground-work for the organization. She traveled back to Bungoma in September 2012. Children of Bungoma is now a fully staffed organization that has attended to the feeding, housing and educational needs of 13 children.

In December 2011, Nikki was invited back to Kenya through one of Children of Bungoma's current partner organizations, River Jordan Orphanage. While in Bungoma, Nikki spent more time with the kids in order to figure out exactly what they wanted and needed. During a meeting she called for all of the kids to attend in the town center, the kids explained to Nikki that they wanted a house where they could all live together and a chance to attend school.