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Education is the Most Sustainable Path out of Poverty

The Makena Children’s Foundation (MCF) offers love, encouragement and academic opportunity to children growing up in rural Kenya. Since its founding in 1997, dozens of children from the subsistence farming village of Maraigushu, near Naivasha, have pursued an education funded by their generous American sponsors.

Many of the Makena Kids are orphans because of the AIDS epidemic, other diseases, accidents or abandonment; some have a single parent. Sponsorship allows these children to attend excellent Kenyan-run private or public boarding schools near their village.

MCF is a true American/Kenyan partnership. Our Kenyan management team, dedicated brothers Charles and Francis Karanja, who grew up in the village, share in decision-making and in responsibility for our success. We work together when American leadership personnel travel to Kenya once a year, and communicate through email on a daily basis the rest of the time.

This project is a labor of love: no American working for the Foundation has ever taken a salary or stipend. All are volunteers. We work from our homes so overhead is extremely low.

We are somewhat unique because we support our students through higher education.