Hope has a home here.
Join Us on April 7 (via Zoom) for our Mwanzo Spring 2024 Update.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82448742969?pwd=4Vb9C88AhePLyQJapD5SCH6I9Re1or.1
Meeting ID: 824 4874 2969 Passcode: 284299
The term mwanzo means “new beginnings” in Swahili. Through our community-driven model of rural development, Mwanzo accelerates hope in Rabuor Village, Kenya, and surrounding subsistence-farming communities.
Our mission is to cultivate opportunities through education and community-driven development in Rabuor Village, Kenya, and neighboring communities.
Our vision is a vibrant, restored Rabuor and her neighboring communities, offering new beginnings for generations to come.
Our work is relationship centered. Through deep listening to people’s hopes and dreams, Mwanzo provides resources and organizational support so community members can reach their full potential and thrive.
Education
The Mwanzo Wetu Center of Excellence Academy (MWCEA; recently renamed from Mwanzo Education Center) strives to close the educational opportunity gap in rural Western Kenya, provides safety and nutrition for young children, and promotes hope and new beginnings for families and community members.
Entrepreneurship
In Rabuor and surrounding communities, a number of women’s groups meet regularly. These groups engage in two major entrepreneurship activities: maintaining multiple village savings and loan (VSL) programs and operating a community catering business. These programs build financial wellbeing, while also strengthening the local economy and enhancing relationships.
Health
Mwanzo is dedicated to promoting community wellness, especially among its students at the Mwanzo Wetu Center of Excellence Academy (MWCEA). At MEC, children receive healthy meals and deworming tablets, and teachers ensure that students with HIV take their medication with nutritious food. Mwanzo saves lives by supporting a school environment that nurtures children’s bodies and minds.
Environment
Climate change leads to erratic rainfall and rising temperatures in Western Kenya. In conditions of drought, armyworm pests thrive as they infest maize crops and threaten the subsistence farming communities of the region. Mwanzo helps mitigate the impact of a warming climate by partnering with farmers to mobilize resources that will promote conservation and climate-smart farming.
I want to share with you a story that most women in my situation did not live long enough to tell. I come from a very humble background. My father was a peasant and my mother a housewife raising her 11 children.
Construction is finishing up on Mwanzo’s Community Center. We could hardly have chosen a better time to be building than these past couple years! These are difficult times for people in Kenya.
Scouting, sports, and after-school activities are a central part of life at Mwanzo Wetu Center of Excellence Academy, bringing joy and relaxation to their busy lives and helping students develop as whole human beings. Providing our schoolchildren a space for play is part and parcel of caring holistically for their growth. What a joy!
