majimazuri.org

Why Maji Mazuri?

There are thousands of organizations out there looking for financial support...So WHY support Maji Mazuri?

1. Maji Mazuri is an organization founded by a local Kenyan woman, a Professor in Social Work, Wanjiku Kironyo. In 1984, Wanjiku selflessly walked away from her prestigious position at The University of Nairobi to begin a microfinance organization for women in the Mathare Valley Slums. When Wanjiku Kironyo walked away from her job as a professor ,she also walked away from any income. For years, Wanjiku worked without any salary to address the needs of her countrymen and women. This organization is headed by a selfless visionary!
2. The US Fund is based in Atlanta, GA and is run by a wonderful retired man who acts as President but is a fully an unpaid volunteer. Anyone "working with" the US Fund IS a volunteer. Therefore this insures 99% of all monies go directly to the Maji Mazuri organization and directly impact the children of Maji Mazuri!
3. Because the Maji Mazuri US Fund is small, and the Maji Mazuri Not-for-profit Kenyan Organization is small, donations do not get tied up in red tape as often happens with a large bureacratic organization. Therefore, any money you donate, you can be sure is not diluted by the time it reaches the child in need! Therefore, you direct impact is huge!!!
   
4. When organizations speak of "tools of empowering persons out of deep poverty" (development, education, healthcare, nutrition) the "means" are quite simple in theory BUT the application of these "tools" are quite difficult for many reasons. Two reasons that come to mind are 1) organizations run by foreigners at a local level can cause friction due to cultural differences and 2) organizations that are so large monies are lost and/or are tied up in the transfer to the people on the grounds and are also used to pay salaries of administrators, etc.
5. Maji Mazuri thinks long-term and in terms of sustainability. They are always thinking 10 years/20 years ahead. Maji Mazuri can shift the organizations needs to have the highest impact.
6. Maji Mazuri is environmentally conscious. Their youth help clean the ghetto with trash removal and raising awareness of others that live in ghettos by using performances and speeches. Maji Mazuri's Kiserian Boarding School use solar panels and a windmill to generate electricity. They also have an organic farm and a water bore for irrigation purposes as well as sustainability!
7. The country of Kenya is currently experiencing a famine of great proportion. This has directly affected the cost of food. So the poor are getting poorer and those most vulnerable, the children are suffering from hunger the greatest. The Maji Mazuri organization makes sure it is able to feed the sponsored children even with the sky-rocketing food prices!
8. This is the only organization in Kenya, that we know of, that assists children with special needs!!!! There is a stigma concerning children with special needs, physical and/or intellectual, in this part of the world. Often these children are left unattended and locked up in houses during their days and nights. Often there have been house fires where these children parish because they can't fend for themselves. When the founder of Maji Mazuri finds out about these children, she goes directly to their parents and asks to have them placed in her care. Once these children are in the custody of the Maji Mazuri organization they are placed in the safety of the Children's Centre. The Children's Centre provides shelter, food, Education for special needs, vocational training and therapies such as Occupational and Physical therapies. These children are engaged. These children are finally safe under the care and guidance of the wonderful Maji Mazuri staff and teachers!
   
9. Maji Mazuri does not have any religious affiliation or angle. They treat those living in deep poverty in a holistic manner assessing each person as an individual as well as their needs.
10. Maji Mazuri is a proven social economic development organization in that it has been running since 1984- Almost 30 years!!! In that time it has pulled thousands of children out of the cycle of poverty and will continue to do so for years to come!!!

THESE CHILDREN NEED YOUR HELP! PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION OF .98 CENTS A DAY!!! LESS THAN THE COST OF A CUP OF COFFEE...THIS DONATION WILL TRULY CHANGE THE LIFE OF A CHILD FOREVER!!! YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! YOU CAN MAKE A HUGE IMPACT IN THE LIFE OF A CHILD!!!

Saturday, January 7, 2012, at 5:30am, a team of six will be running in the Disney World Half Marathon for the children of Maji Mazuri. We are running for the children waiting for sponsorships. We are running for their education. We are running for their shelter and safety. We are running to end their hunger. We are running for their health and physical well-being. We are running for their empowerment. We are running for the innocent children born into the depths of deep poverty. We are running so these children may break the chains that bind them---to end the cycle of extreme poverty they were born into. We are running for their lives!

We made this commitment to Maji Mazuiri in July, and now today, October 16, 2011 we begin our real marathon. The real marathon will be finding sponsors for approximately 100 children in waiting. We will truly cross our finish line when we have met our goal of finding sponsors for all 100 children! We plan to train daily and focus on fundraising for the next 12 weeks. We are made up of a team of mothers and fathers. We run knowing, as Marianne Williamson has written, "We are meant to care for the children, not just our own, but Every child." It is not until every innocent child is protected & educated, that we will then be a civilized, safe and moral world.

Today the Maji Mazuri team is asking for your help on behalf of 100 children waiting for sponsorships. We ask for your action.

• If you are a teacher, please take this message with you to your schools. Ask the teachers of your schools to come together collectively to ensure the education of one child from the Mathare Valley Slums. If appropriate, use this as a teachable moment for the children in your class. Show them the true worth and values of their American education. Show them how blessed and lucky we are as a nation as we are guaranteed a "free" education by our birthright. Inspire them to value and honor their education, freedoms, and country, for we are a blessed nation. If you need lesson plans we will help you! You might even consider bringing this idea to your PTAs.
• If you are a business owner, please consider sponsoring a child in the name of your business. We will print your business name/logo on our runner's jerseys in kind!
• If you are an employee & your employer makes matching donations, please consider sponsorship of one of the children in wait and then watch your donation be multiplied to two children!
• If you are a member or a leader of a church, please take this message to the congregation, temple or place of worship. Raise their awareness of Maji Mazuri and our attempts at ensuring the miracle of 100 new sponsorships in 12 weeks time!
• If you are a part of, or a leader of ,an organization or club (i.e. Girl scouts, Boy Scouts, RESULTS, a book club, a knitting club, Bible Study, Big Brother's & Sister's, Junior League, A Woman's League, etc...), please share the idea of either splitting the cost of a single sponsorship or even hosting fundraisers for these children in wait. If you need assistance, we will help you!
• If you are unable to contribute by monetary donation, please help by raising awareness of MM & our campaign! Help this campaign, 'Running for Their Lives,' go viral. Send this blog via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or simply tell your friends!

A sponsorship is an annual fee of $360/per child at the early school aged level ($1 a day), and $840/annual fee at the high school educational level ($2.30/day). This fee can be a one-time donation or an annual sponsorship. It can also be made in a monthly payments or one full payment. The sponsorship fees include coverage of the following: their education, school uniforms, school supplies, nutritional meals, and in some cases room, boarding & medical care. You will be given their name, a photo and updates regarding their educational progress. Maji Mazuri is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and so, all donations are tax deductable.

We thank you for your help. The children waiting for their sponsorships thank you for the opportunities, health, safety & meals you are bestowing unto them! By sponsoring one of these children, you are feeding them, clothing them, providing them a place of safety, and of course gifting them with an Education. The bottom line is Education is Empowerment. The gift of Education is giving them the World! A World of opportunity- a World of knowledge- a World without of poverty!

Help break the cycle of poverty in the Mathare Valley Slums by Educating an innocent child! Please join the Maji Mazuri Organization by becoming a sponsor of a child in need. These children are yearning for food to feed their bodies and knowledge to feed their minds. We are running because we believe EVERY CHILD DESERVES A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY! Please join us in this campaign to educate and feed these innocent and beautiful children! By joining these efforts, You are giving them the World!

With all Our Sincerity and Gratitude, We Thank You for Making a Difference!

Alison, Wyatt, Lauren, Matt, Shannon & Don, The MM Team in Training

High-LIGHT-ing Dr. Wanjiku Kironyo

The pledge for the Stand Up Events was just released! Citizens are organizing all over the world to take part in the Stand Up and Take Action events going on Friday, September 17th through Sunday, September 19th. The Stand Against Poverty Organization is encouraging global citizens to "make noise" so our world leaders will live up to their promises!  If you would like to organize or take part in the Stand, go to http://www.standagainstpoverty.org and see what events are local to you!

The Pledge:

As world leaders prepare to meet at the UN next week to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals, we stand with millions of people around the world to show our commitment to the fight against poverty and inequality.

Today, as we Stand Up together, let us raise our voices, beat our drums, blow our horns and whistles, shout out loud so that the universal echo of citizens across the world calling for urgent and concrete action on the MDGs cannot be ignored.

Let us say to our leaders: “We have just five years to 2015 and the deadline to realize the Millennium Development Goals, no more talking, time for action. Let the voices of citizens follow them to this summit saying loudly and clearly “We expect you to deliver concrete plans of action to meet and exceed the Millennium Development Goals”. We stand today in solidarity with millions of people all over the world. People who believe in a world where poverty and hunger DO NOT EXIST ANYMORE ; where mothers no longer die in childbirth and women’s rights are ensured; where children no longer die of preventable diseases; where every child has the right to quality education and every person has the right to lifelong learning; where the environment is protected; and where our leaders make decisions not in their own interests, but in the interests of those who have been marginalized by poverty and exclusion.

Today and every day we will stand up, speak out and take action for the Millennium Development Goals. The call to our leaders is simple: End Poverty and Inequality Now!

Today marks the ninth anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. A day none of us will ever forget. From the view of my couch, I watched the memorials. I listened to the family members list the names of their lost beloved. I participated in the moments of silence at the timing of the first plane striking the first tower to the last tower falling. And with tears clouding my eyes, I couldn't help but reflect on why this horrible act of violence happened to innocent Americans and other global citizens.

The truth of the matter is extremists will always exist in a world of such vast inequalities.  Extremists will excel where education is squelched. Extremists will thrive where gender inequality exists. Extremists will rule where poverty and hunger prevail. As long as our world is a world where deep poverty exists, extremists will threaten our security and the security of our allies.

In exactly one week from today millions of people around the world will "Stand Up and Take Action" to demand our world leaders end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In September 2000, 183 world leaders signed and adopted the MDGs at the United Nations Millennium Summit. The eight MDG's serve as a roadmap to end poverty and its root causes:

1.    Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2.    Achieve universal primary education
3.    Promote gender equality and empower women
4.    Reduce child mortality
5.    Improve maternal health
6.    Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7.    Ensure environmental sustainability
8.    Develop a global partnership for development

In September 2000 these goals were agreed upon as cutting deep poverty in half by 2015. Although some progress has been made, it is far too little. We are now ten years into the signed declaration and have five years remaining to tackle the root causes that perpetually continue the vicious cycle of deep poverty. The same poverty that ultimately is the root cause of extremism and terrorism.

The weekend of September 17th-19th affords all global citizens the opportunity to participate in the "Stand Up and Take Action" events happening worldwide. Those participating in this event will shine a spot light on the MDGs and let their world leaders representing their country know they stand behind these MDGs and want to see the declarations through. No more empty promises. Today, in 2010, ONE BILLION people live in poverty and 75 MILLION school aged CHILDREN do not have the opportunity to be educated. This is a call to action.

In 2009 more than 173 million people participated in this global event in more than 100 countries. This is something we can all do! Instead of turning our heads and pretending the atrocities of deep poverty don't exist because it is too painful to look at and acknowledge, we can instead look at it head on and be part of the movement and solution that says we will no longer stand for it. Together we can raise our voices and create political will so when our world leaders gather at the United Nations later this month for the MDGs Review Summit, "the voices of their citizens will follow them, telling them, loudly and clearly: "We will no longer stay seated or silent in the face of poverty and the broken promises to end it!"
The promise to the world is one of peace, security, human rights, fundamental freedoms and opportunity. This is the greatest call to action the world has ever organized. We are all connected. We are all global citizens. And as global citizens we acknowledge a universal call that extends beyond the borders of our individual nationalities. It is our responsibility to help our citizens in need, no matter where they reside. Charity has no boundary. Using our voice to stand up for those who are silenced, because of the epidemic of deep poverty, is our responsibility.

It is only when our world is a land of opportunity and equality for all that we will truly be free and safe from terrorism.  It is in these universal actions of peace and love that we honor the lives of those lost on September 11th. WE will never forget. And we won't forget the men, women and children who live in poverty and are victims every day.

Three things YOU can do:

1.    Have our political leaders see through the MDGs they created by 2015- Participate in or organize a "Stand Up and Take Action" event on September 17th-19th (go to www.standagainstpoverty.org)
2.    Support organizations and individuals who are actively addressing the roots of deep poverty, such as the Maji Mazuri organization
3.    Change our mindset- understand we are all global citizens & all are affected by the global issues we face