Wavizi is the Giryama word for help. Playing a significant role in Malindi’s community, this organization seeks to live up to that word as it fills a need among vulnerable children. In 2005 Mike Karabu, Margret Kihara, Daniel Chengo, Stephen Thethe and Simeon Nzai realized a need for alternative orphan care in Malindi and surrounding villages. They sorted out how to come alongside extended families to help them care for some of these children by providing fees necessary for school so that they could remain an active part of their community within the family and not miss an education.
Home-Based Orphan Care: an orphan living with a relative or person in their community who cares for them in their familiar home environment
Currently,
Wavizi helps sponsor 320 children in 40 different primary schools and
16 secondary schools through home-based orphan care. They organize support from donor and outside organizations to pay for school needs and keep a savings account in the name of each child as a resource for future secondary schooling. This type of system benefits family members who desire to care for their orphaned kin but cannot afford to support their education needs.
"Children in orphanages do not learn their natural culture, but when they are a part of the whole community, they do"
– Mike Karabu
other pieces of wavizi's work
Upper Level Studies: Along with paying for primary school levies and basic financial needs, Wavizi collects the remaining funds from the organizations sponsoring the children and creates a savings program for each one. When the child is ready for secondary school or other upper level training, these funds are available for that child.
Wavizi partners with Lamukani (Wake Up!) U.S.A., which is an organization supporting university and college fees to eligible students. At present, 9 students are in university/college while 6 others have completed university. This allows capable students to prepare themselves for their future.
Health: Wavizi provides feminine sanitary items for secondary school girls and other things that affect educational opportunities and often get neglected.
Leadership: Wavizi is currently researching how to make an impact with children in town. They have begun mentoring 32 kids in four primary schools who were identified by their teachers. Each child is met with once each week. Every month they meet together as a group to discuss different life or leadership skills.
Future Plans: Wavizi is making plans to identify particular schools to cluster the children into fewer schools so that those sponsored can be closer together and Wavizi staff is able to spend more time with each one.
Christian Relief Fund's Vice-President Bobby Moore visited Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre (MMEC) this summer and suggested that it become a designated CRF school. In order to discuss that possibility and understand more of what that would involve, Jim and Phyllis Beck took a trip from Lubbock to Amarillo, Texas, in December to present Wavizi's and Mahenzo's questions. They met with Milton Jones, the President/CEO of CRF as well as Emily Bell, who is in charge of Child Placement for Kenya.
The main detail that Milton and Emily explained was concerning secondary students. CRF will offer any of Wavizi's students who successfully complete the KCPE (Kenya Ceritificate of Primary Education) Examination the opportunity to take CRF sponsorship to MMEC. Wavizi's students are spread out among various schools in the Malindi subcounty area. Combining more Wavizi secondary students at one location will allow them to work with these students more closely. This arrangement shows CRF's shared values with MMEC as well as confidence in their competence in education.
In front of CRF's model structure representing the type of home many of their sponsored students live in across the globe is Kenya's sponsorship child-placement administrator Emily Bell.
Information for potential CRF sponsors who would like to sponsor a student at MMEC:
Emily works with students all over Kenya. She coordinates sponsorships through local Kenyan directors. She has come up with a system on CRF's website, https://christianrelieffund.org/location/africa, to help a potential sponsor recognize students from Malindi and even, specifically, MMEC (Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre). Pictures and a few details for each child are available on this site.
Note these letters at the beginning of their CRF identification number ("K" represents Kenya.):
KMZ indicates a primary student who is at Mahenzo.
KMZS indicates a secondary student at Mahenzo.
KMD currently indicates a child in Malindi in any other school.
All of the new students appearing with these letters in their identification number are to be under the administration of Wavizi in Malindi once a sponsor is in place.
Sponsoring students' education is said to be one of the most effective ways to contribute to their potential success in overcoming poverty. Its effects reach beyond the individuals to their families and into their communities in the present and into future generations.
Wavizi administrator Mike Karabu made a trip to Uganda to meet up with other East African Christian Relief Fund (CRF) administrators for their annual meeting. After this meeting, CRF's Vice-President of Global Operations Bobby Moore and board member Rick Chandler made a visit to Wavizi in Malindi. CRF has sponsorship of over 300 students all around Malindi under the direction of Mike Karabu and his Wavizi team. Their time on the Kenyan coast was short, but they managed to check in on a few pieces of CRF's work through Wavizi.
One of their stops was to Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre (MMEC). Discussions were begun to direct their students from other schools to Mahenzo when they reach the secondary level. This will benefit Wavizi, CRF, and MMEC as well as the students they serve. Malindi's CRF/Wavizi students who have completed primary school and achieved an adequate score on the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination will be offered the opportunity to attend MMEC through their CRF sponsorships.
Mike Karabu (center) travels to Uganda for annual meeting with other CRF directors.
Wavizi has been driving a van all over the Malindi area checking on community projects or visiting schools, sponsored students and their guardians for several years now. The van had been many kilometres and always had some limits on reaching areas when the roads were in bad shape. In recent months it had become unreliable and in frequent need of repair. However, 2018 brought an opportunity to replace the van with a strong and dependable 4-wheel drive.
Now Mike Karabu can be seen driving around to Wavizi projects or schools and homes with the Wavizi team in a dependable Toyota Prado. Christian Relief Fund (CRF) and the Wavizi staff made this purchase possible. Students and schools are still spread over a large area but are now more accessible, thanks to this new addition to the Wavizi team.
Christian Relief Fund's Vice-President Bobby Moore visited Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre (MMEC) this summer and suggested that it become a designated CRF school. In order to discuss that possibility and understand more of what that would involve, Jim and Phyllis Beck took a trip from Lubbock to Amarillo, Texas, in December to present Wavizi's and Mahenzo's questions. They met with Milton Jones, the President/CEO of CRF as well as Emily Bell, who is in charge of Child Placement for Kenya.
The main detail that Milton and Emily explained was concerning secondary students. CRF will offer any of Wavizi's students who successfully complete the KCPE (Kenya Ceritificate of Primary Education) Examination the opportunity to take CRF sponsorship to MMEC. Wavizi's students are spread out among various schools in the Malindi subcounty area. Combining more Wavizi secondary students at one location will allow them to work with these students more closely. This arrangement shows CRF's shared values with MMEC as well as confidence in their competence in education.
In front of CRF's model structure representing the type of home many of their sponsored students live in across the globe is Kenya's sponsorship child-placement administrator Emily Bell.
Information for potential CRF sponsors who would like to sponsor a student at MMEC:
Emily works with students all over Kenya. She coordinates sponsorships through local Kenyan directors. She has come up with a system on CRF's website, https://christianrelieffund.org/location/africa, to help a potential sponsor recognize students from Malindi and even, specifically, MMEC (Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre). Pictures and a few details for each child are available on this site.
Note these letters at the beginning of their CRF identification number ("K" represents Kenya.):
KMZ indicates a primary student who is at Mahenzo.
KMZS indicates a secondary student at Mahenzo.
KMD currently indicates a child in Malindi in any other school.
All of the new students appearing with these letters in their identification number are to be under the administration of Wavizi in Malindi once a sponsor is in place.
Sponsoring students' education is said to be one of the most effective ways to contribute to their potential success in overcoming poverty. Its effects reach beyond the individuals to their families and into their communities in the present and into future generations.
With a visit from Monterey Church of Christ's Senior Minister, an elder and their wives, different groups gathered to learn and share time in Bible study and discussions. Barry and Debbie Stephens and Gary and Lori House came to share love and wisdom as they, in turn, received love and wisdom from the various groups that came together for spiritual leadership trainings.
The first was a group of church leaders and preachers who met at Mahenzo Mission Educational Centre's (MMEC's) conference centre for two days of study and mutual encouragement. The focus of this meeting was on the kind of leadership that Jesus demonstrated and how it contrasts to the kind of leadership more commonly recognized in our world today. Preachers and others who serve in different ways in churches from throughout Malindi's region and beyond attended and shared ideas and experiences.
Small groups of leaders spend time together in applying principles and scriptures.
Because of the number of young leaders associated with Uzima and Mahenzo's work, another day was set aside to meet specifically with this group. A few other interested individuals joined them. Most had also attended the meeting at MMEC.
Barry leads discussions with young leaders.
Over the last six years, a group of couples has been meeting each year to discuss godly marriages so this group came together again, hosted by the American visitors. This year's discussions focused on mutual love and respect and communication.
Those who met together for the day at the marriage conference at Sea View Lodge.
