Our partnership with Mwanzo

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. 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.

Our partnership with Mwanzo supported the construction of the second floor of their school building, where four classrooms now teach grades 5-8. The expansion of the school building has the capacity for nearly 320 students from Rabour and the surrounding villages. Beyond empowering students with education, this project also provided a place for the larger community to gather for meetings, celebrations, funerals, and other extracurricular activities.