Maji Mazuri has blossomed

The ability to make an honest living is crucial to self respect. With such an income comes the ability to feed and educate your children, and guide them as they grow to become fully rounded contributors to society. Wanjiku had this critical insight over 20 years ago and started the micro business loan program.

When Wanjiku began her work with the women from the slum in the mid 1980s she was confronted with the concerns these women had about their children and youth. Youth in the slum have very little access to proper primary education and are at risk of becoming involved with crime or prostitution from a very young age. Growing up in an isolated and impoverished environment with very few opportunities to build a life outside crime has contributed to a generally poor self image among these youth. They don’t believe they are able or deserve to have a life unmarked by dire poverty. The lack of hope combined with this low self-esteem make these youth highly susceptible to peer pressure, which often leads them to a path of crime, drugs or alcohol addiction and prostitution.

The post-election violence in January 2008 that scorched Mathare Valley, destroyed homes and businesses and took many lives opened the eyes of many. The unthinkable had happened and the need to prevent the emergence of future conflicts is critically urgent. Many youth in Mathare Valley were involved in the violence as perpetrators, or as victims, or as both. Youth involved with Maji Mazuri did not engage in violence and instead initiated activities to promote peace and community cohesion during and right after the conflict erupted.

Wanjiku began her work that laid the foundations for Maji Mazuri by counseling women form the Mathare Valley slum during the mid 1980s. These women suffered from depression, anxiety and trauma - psychological conditions that could be traced back to the harsh environment in which these women lived and worked. Wanjiku designed a counseling technique by modifying the Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) method, developed in the US, to reflect the social and economic context of women struggling to cope with everyday violence and poverty.