New classrooms for grades 5-8 in Rabuor Village, Kenya

One Day’s Wages is partnering with Mwanzo to build four new classrooms for grades 5-8 in Rabuor Village, Kenya.

Why Rabuor Village, Kenya?

Prior to the HIV/AIDs epidemic, which devastated much of the sub-Saharan African continent, Rabuor Village, located in Kenya’s Nyanza Province (near Lake Victoria) was a healthy community of approximately 4,000 residents. Loyce Ong’udi, Mwanzo’s founder, grew up in Rabuor. For Loyce it was the happiest place for a child to grow up. When AIDS struck this community and surrounding villages, scores of adults died, leaving thousands of orphans and placing immense stress on survivors. Traditional economic activities collapsed. Youth in many cases were taken in by grandparents or other adults, or were living alone in their homes. Young girls in particular were left without traditional role models, who would have taught them farming and other essential life skills. Children who might otherwise have gone to school had to defer the dream of an education in order to survive.

Those children who never had a childhood or a chance to go to school are now young parents themselves with school-age children. Mwanzo made a commitment in partnership with these communities to bring change and hope. Watch more about Mwanzo’s story here.

ODW + Mwanzo

Mwanzo is partnering with One Day’s Wages to further this commitment to Rabuor village.  Mwanzo is a Swahili word that means “new beginnings.”  Mwanzo Education Center (MEC) is a new beginning for many children and parents in the community. MEC opened in 2012 as an Early Childhood Education program.  Very quickly the student population grew because these parents desired to offer their children the education they themselves missed.  In November 2015, construction of the new building to host the grade school was started, but the project is far from completion.  MEC has added a grade every year, and next year Mwanzo looks forward to welcoming new 5th-graders!

This partnership would support the construction of the second floor of the school building, where four classrooms will teach grades 5-8. The expansion of the school building will have capacity for nearly 280 students from Rabuor and the surrounding villages. Beyond empowering students with education, MEC also offers a place for the larger community to gather for meetings, celebrations, funerals, and other extracurricular activities.

Join us!

Join us in building a bright future by providing accessible, quality education for 280 students in Rabuor Village. The progress bar above includes ODW’s intended match of $14,945 for a total granting goal of $29,890.