Why Maji Mazuri?
There are thousands of organizations out there looking for financial support...So WHY support Maji Mazuri?
This is why....
- 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!
- 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!
- 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!!!
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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!
- 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!
- 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.
- 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!!!
