Wandia (3)
Wandia Chiuri, is a social media specialist, an avid reader, and fledgling social entrepreneur. She has worked in the sales divisions of two major corporations, Medtronic Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company and serves on the boards of two non-profits, Alliance for Pharmaceutical Access and Heroes Against Diabetes in Africa (HADIA). She has successfully launched several social media initiatives, including a pioneering pilot at Lilly utilizing high touch, low cost technology to increase productivity and retention with the Gen Y. She spent her formative years at Maji Mazuri Center where she developed a passion for women empowerment. Quick to see the possibilities of new ideas, she has cultivated a reputation around her investigative, interested and inventive nature. She is currently focused on the advancement of women entrepreneurs and professionals around the world by providing access to top tips and tools in the Web 2.0 era through Vfirefly.com.
Maji Mazuri has had many meanings to me. The project was born three years after I was and like a last born child this baby got a lot of attention from my mother, the founder. No doubt there were times I was a little resentful. But this project was born from the heart and 25 years later I am blown away by the profound impact the center has had on so many lives!
I hear powerful stories incessantly from volunteers who have been there about how the time they spent working on one component or another transformed their lives. More importantly, I see lifeless faces of children I was raised with transformed into the radiant glows of empowered young adults.
Maji Mazuri changed me too. Without that experience I would not be the person I am. I may never have been driven to go to college. I may have blown off causes that I am truly committed to and the consequent growth I gained. I did none of these because I was acutely aware of the unique opportunities garnered upon me in my upbringing. Acutely aware that many were not so lucky.
Maji Mazuri reminds me daily that I am my brother’s keeper by virtue of the break I was granted simply by the circumstance of my birth. Unto him much is given, I have learnt, much is expected. More importantly, Maji Mazuri continues to empower me. Through the project I have seen people do incredible things. The ripple effect they have created shows me that my actions matter. As Margaret Mead rightly stated, a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
Maji Mazuri is such an embodiment of synergy. Incredible people have come together to make an impact on a problem where the solution seemed improbable for so long. Thank you so much for all you are doing to change the lives of so many people whose biggest misfortune is lack of opportunity!
Maji Mazuri has a network of volunteers from Kenya to Canada, the UK, Australia and the United States to The Netherlands (Duara).
The center has several successful and on-going projects including the Mavuno Micro-enterprise project, the Youth Group, Kiserian School, a head-start program and the Kiserian Farm Program. The center provides a home to over 40 children, who are either mentally or physically handicapped. Several children in the center are also orphaned.
Since 2005 Maji Mazuri USA has raised over $600,000 while incurring expenses of less than 1%. Expenses are funded separately by our supporters. Maji Mazuri USA is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization recognized by the IRS.
Water-related diseases are one of the most devastating consequences resulting from a pervasive lack of clean water, destroying not only lives but also local economies. In 2004 alone, 2.2 million people died due to unsafe drinking water, most of which were children under the age of 5. This amounts to around 6,000 deaths a day. In addition, it is estimated that 50% of all hospital beds in the developing world are currently occupied by patients with diarrheal illness as a result of exposure to contaminated water. If the world does not act to provide basic access to clean water, as many as 135 million additional people will die from these water-related diseases by 2020. On top of the massive death toll, local economies and household budgets are drained by the constant need to purchase expensive medicines in order to combat the effects of consuming polluted water.
The solution to ending the cycle of poverty and disease in these impoverished communities is crystal clear: investment in the creation and strengthening of basic sanitation infrastructures to provide access to clean water. Improving sanitation infrastructure in these impoverished communities could reduce diarrhea-related deaths in young children by more than one-third and if hygiene promotion is added, such as simply teaching proper hand washing, deaths could be reduced by two thirds. Access to water must be a human right that all can enjoy and yet globally, it does not exist.
