Celebrating Women's History Month - Mwanzo Style!
Risper Angugo: The Strength of a Grandmother’s Love
Some women carry entire generations with quiet strength and unwavering love. Risper Angugo is one of them. A grandmother, guardian, and caretaker, Risper is a cornerstone of the Mwanzo Wetu community.
Though her days are full and often exhausting, she moves through them with a kind of grace that can only come from deep-rooted purpose. Raising her grandchildren, caring for animals and crops, and supporting the school with everything from cleaning to cooking—Risper gives of herself without hesitation.
Her story is not just about hard work—it’s about heart work.
Long before the sun rises, Risper is already in motion. At 5:00 AM, she steps into her garden, tending to her crops—whether it's harvesting maize, weeding, or preparing the soil for the next season. By 6:00 AM, she’s fetching water and preparing her three grandchildren—Vivian (10), Sarah (7), and Sammy (5)—for school. She has raised them with unconditional love, stepping in as a guardian when they had no one else to care for them after losing their parents to AIDS.
Risper then walks with her grandchildren to Mwanzo Wetu Center of Excellence Academy, where she wears many hats…
As students settle into their morning lessons, she is part of the team that helps keep the grounds clean, meetings and classrooms ready for use and organized, gathers corn plus other grains needed for school meals, and if that’s not a full day, Risper also assists in the kitchen to help prepare lunch for nearly 450 students each day. Her afternoons include washing dishes, tidying up the school, and ensuring that the dining area is clean for the next day.
At 4:30 PM, she gathers her grandchildren, fetches another jerrycan of water, and begins the journey home. Even after a full day of work, her responsibilities continue. She collects firewood, feeds her cows, tends to her kitchen garden, and prepares dinner. By 8:30 PM, her grandchildren kneel beside her in prayer before heading to bed. Yet, her own day isn’t done—she stays up two more hours, removing maize from cobs for storage before finally resting around 10:30 PM.
Despite her relentless schedule, Risper remains deeply grateful for her place at Mwanzo. With her always present and warm smile, she often includes in her conversations and check-ins with MD:
“ Who would employ an old woman like me? I don’t think I’d still be alive if not for this kindness. Thank you for giving me purpose.”
Risper’s story is one of devotion—not just to her family, but to an entire community of children who benefit from her selfless work every day. She is the kind of unsung hero who makes MWCEA not just a school, but a home.
Mollyenter Awuor: The Importance of Paying It Forward
Some paths are shaped by hardship, but what’s truly remarkable is how people like Mollyenter Awuor choose to walk those paths with purpose and compassion. Her story is one of quiet resilience—of transforming personal loss into a lifelong commitment to uplift others.
Coming from a family of educators myself, I understand the deep passion and reverence that lives in the heart of a teacher—the belief that education can open doors, shift futures, and heal communities. Mollyenter lives that truth every day.
As both a teacher and a mother, Mollyenter embodies the heart of an educator at MWCEA. She brings empathy, patience, and wisdom into every classroom moment, drawn from her own experiences as a child who once needed the very support she now offers. She teaches not just from textbooks, but from a place of deep understanding—a living example of what it means to give back.
As much as we want to protect the smallest ones in our lives from the hardships of life…
The little ones aren’t always lucky. Like many of the kids she teaches, Mollyenter’s childhood was shaped by loss.
After both of her parents passed away, she became an orphan, navigating life with the help of Mango Tree Orphan Support Trust (MTOS). Recognizing her potential, the organization sponsored her through high school, ensuring she received the education her parents would have wanted for her.
Mollyenter excelled in her studies, and as part of her scholarship agreement, she dedicated two years to community service at an orphanage, caring for young children and assisting in their daily routines. That experience ignited her passion for education, leading her to train as a primary school teacher at Asumbi Teachers Training College.
After earning her certification in 2016, she moved in search of work. It was there that she met her husband, a construction worker who later joined the team building MWCEA.
Through him, she learned about an opportunity at the school…
She applied for a teaching position in 2016 and a month later, she was interviewed alongside four others.
She got the job! (Mollyenter is in the red!)
Since January 2017, Mollyenter has been shaping young minds as a Grade 2 teacher, drawing from her own experiences to connect with and support students who, like her, have faced loss and hardship.
“I can relate and empathize with their position... These children are in a place where they are not just educated, but deeply understood.”
Her journey hasn’t stopped there. With Mwanzo’s support, Mollyenter has been able to pursue her diploma in education, ensuring she continues to grow as an educator and mentor. Through the stability of her salary and the support of the Mwanzo community, she has not only built a career but also a family, raising her own children alongside the students she teaches.
“I am ever so grateful for Mwanzo, it has given me the opportunity to lift others up just as I was lifted.”
Mollyenter Awuor