Foundation Watu Wangu aims to empower the people in Africa, particularly Kenya. We do this by stimulating mutual cooperation, investment, and education. We support grassroot projects that lead to social resilience and economic independence. We set up facilities for the weak in the community and establish education facilities. We do this in cooperation with our local partner Watu Wangu Kenya.

Our premise is that we offer people the knowledge, means and power to take control of their own lives.

At this moment our focus is on a training program for women, specifically single mothers, with no (completed) education: Watu Wangu Academy. In addition, as always, we have several other projects underway, such as emergency aid for the elderly, who are at risk of starvation due to the consequences of the Corona virus, and a project for the rebuilding of a church in Tulia, of which the pastor actively works for young people , addicts, and victims of sexual and domestic violence.

Watu Wangu Academy

Watu Wangu Academy is currently the focus of our activities.

Lack of education is one of the major causes of poverty. This affects girls and women more than boys and men. In Kitui West sub-county live many young women, many of them single mothers, who have hardly any education or none at all, as a result of which it is very difficult for them to find employment. This means that they depend on others for their and their children's livelihood. These others may be their parents or grandparents, who are often very poor, themselves. Many children who grow up in such a disadvantaged situation have far fewer opportunities to progress and remain at the bottom of society when they reach adulthood.

The solution to this problem is education. Over a period of several years, Watu Wangu Academy will be giving over 700 young women and, incidentally, men, with priority to single mothers, the tools to take control of their own lives. This has positive consequences not only for the participants, themselves, but also for their children, for those on whom they now depend, and for the entire community in which they live.

In 2019 we started with a pilot group; in 2020 we have been able to run 2 complete groups; in 2021 we were able to run three courses.

Each course group is set up as a standalone project that can be carried out once the previous group has been completed and funding is secured. We aim to continue consecutively.

For more information on this project, please check out the page of this program.

Watu Wangu Driving Education

Kenya's is the economic engine of East-Africa, and its economy is developing strongly. With the help of China, Kenya works hard to improve its road infrastructure. This includes the dirt roads in Kutui West sub-county, which are being tarmacked.

Currently there is a growing demand for drivers. Many young men and women are interested in this opportunity, but acquiring the necessary papers to be a professional driver, first of all a driving license is expensive.

In association with local school Mutonguni Vocational Training Centre we offer driving courses, to train these men and women for their driving license.

Watu Wangu Wakisukuma Wazee

Many elderly people in Kenya depend on others for their livelihoods, in most cases their children and grandchildren or other family members. Because these supporters are not well off themselves, these elderly people live in great poverty. Due to the economic consequences of the measures against the Corona virus, such as lock-downs, support has partly or completely disappeared for many of these elderly people, because the people who maintained them barely manage to survive themselves. For some of them it is so bad that they are in danger of starving.

Watu Wangu Wakisukuma Wazee is a project with which we want to provide food, water and medical assistance to these elderly people in the most distressing cases in the coming period.

Want to know more or support this project? Get in touch with us! Your help is more than welcome!

Rebuilding MOC

Mission Outreach Church is a church near Tulia, founded by Pastor Stephen Mutua. Pastor Mutua is an 'action, not words' kind of guy. He is actively involved in counseling and, above all, active and practical support for victims of sexual and domestic violence; addicts; homeless people; and young people with problems.

He performed his work from a simple building that he had built himself in 2015 and on which he spent almost all his money. In early 2020, the region was ravaged by extreme rainfall. The building, made of pressed and dried clay blocks, turned out not to be resistant to this, and it almost completely collapsed. This complicated Pastor Mutua's work considerably.

We recognised and acknowledged his many good works for the community and helped him, with financial support of the Foundation Sybren Jochems Looijenga Fund, to rebuild his little church. As from March 2022 Pastor Stephen Mutua is fully operational again.

Want to support Pastor Mutua? Donate or get in touch with us!

Watu Wangu Children's Centre

Watu Wangu Children's Centre is the project for which Watu Wangu Foundation was established in the year 2007.

After completion of the build of the children's home in 2011, we have cared for a large number of orphans and abandoned children for over six years, until they could be placed with families in the area.

Due to a combination of circumstances the children's centre was closed in 2017. At this time, there are no plans to restart the children's centre, but we do not rule this out for the future, as there is great need for care facilities for orphans and abandoned children.

Utoo Primary School - Sanitation and Hygiene

Utoo Primary School is the primary school in Utoo, a hamlet near Tulia. The toilets of the children were collapsing and there was a shortage of water; the children each had to bring a few liters of water each day for use in the kitchen, for drinking and to wash their hands. Many children took water that came from the river. The hygiene situation was really bad, because most days there wasn't enough water for washing hands after toilet visits and for cleaning the toilets.

This was an untenable situation. Thanks to the help of Rotary Walcheren and a number of private sponsors, we have renovated the toilet blocks there, built a sink, placed a water tank and connected it, and repaired the drain. Through the collection of rainwater and the supply of water from a borehole, the school now has sufficient pure water for their daily use. The results were quickly visible, through a significant reduction in absenteeism due to illness.

Greenhouse Project

The care for children costs money, and quality food is expensive. To save costs and to generate income, thanks to the support of several sponsors, among which main sponsor Jan Koeman, we were able to build four greenhouses to grow tomatoes and vegetables. We used the produce of the greenhouses primarily to feed the children, and any surplus was sold to Naivas supermarket in Kitui.

The greenhouses are still in use. The revenue is now used for maintenance and guarding of the Watu Wangu Centre.

Storage for Maize & Beans

Maize and beans are among the staple foods in Kenya. Especially due to prolonged droughts, however, it happens regularly that harvesting fails. Then the prices of these products will increase up to four times or more compared to the prices in years with a normal harvest. As a result of increasing demand, prices of other food products will then also go up considerably.

To counter the effects of these peaks, we have built a storage for maize and beans. In times of good harvests, we buy maize and beans so that they can be used in times of scarcity. This not only saves costs, but also offers some certainty about the availability of food in times of scarcity.

The storage is set up for the benefit of Watu Wangu Children's Center, but it has already proved its worth to the poor local population, which we are able to provide with food at a reasonable price in expensive times, and in some cases at no cost in the form of emergency food relief.

Food Relief

The population of Kenya is often poor. That certainly applies to the residents of Kitui West sub-county. It is an arid area where people are laboriously engaged in some agriculture and livestock farming, mostly for their own use. Due to prolonged drought there is often a shortage of food, sometimes even to such a degree, that many people are threatened with starvation.

Thanks to our greenhouses, the gardens, the goats, and the storage for maize and beans, and with the financial support of donors who care about these people, we then give food relief to the poorest of these people.

Seeds for Maize & Beans

In Kitui West sub-county people are poor and many of them laboriously engage in some form of agriculture and livestock farming, especially for their own use. This is of vital importance to them, because they do not have sufficient means to buy food.

Due to prolonged periods of drought, it regularly occurs that crops fail. This not only means that these people have much less food, or no food at all, but often also that there is no seed for the next crop. In addition to food aid, we give seeds to the poorest people for maize and beans, and for vegetables, so that they can plant again.

Water

Water is of vital importance. That certainly needs no argument. This is of course most visible where water is scarce. That is the case in the dry area of Kitui West sub-county. Moreover, many people in this area are poor and therefore unable to buy water. They will often get their water from the river, if there is any in it, or from other surface water sources. That is very unhealthy due to a variety of bacteria en parasites in the water. Many people become ill from it.

To help with this, we have constructed 2 boreholes in the region. A borehole is a drilled hole in the ground with a diameter of about 15 centimeters in which a pump is installed to pump the water up. The depth of a borehole depends of course on the depth at which the water is located. A hydro-geological survey is carried out in advance to determine where sufficient water is available and accessible; this is partly dependent on the nature of the above soil layers. Our boreholes are resp. 45 and 120 meters deep.

One of the boreholes wat meant primarily for Watu Wangu Children's Centre, but additionally also to supply the local people with clean drinking water. Those who can afford it, will buy it at cost price; those who cannot afford it, will receive it at no cost or, in some cases, for a service in return.

Medical Aid

Many poor people cannot afford medical aid, which means that they do not receive the medication or treatment they need to cure their sickness. Others need transportation to visit the doctor or the hospital. In many such cases we offer assistance

The old lady in the picture, for example, suffered from several physical complaints that got gradually worse and hindered her in her every day life. She had no money to go to the doctor to be examined. We took her to the hospital, where it was found that she had severe high blood pressure. After administering medication, she quickly recovered. We have paid for her medication against high blood pressure.

Such medication is not expensive, but make a world of difference for the quality of life.

Education Support

Education is extremely important for building a good future. Everyone has the right to education. For various reasons education is not accessible to everyone. It also happens that students drop out of school due to reasons beyond their fault, for example due to domestic circumstances or illness. In some cases we help individual students, such as Lucy (picture), to pick up and complete their training again.

Setting up a Small Business

In order to provide for their own livelihood and to get ahead in life, many enterprising people try to start their own business or trade. However, there is a lot involved, even when such a business is set up on a small scale. Not everyone has all the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully start a business. We have helped various people with information and training, and sometimes with a small start-up loan.

Among the businesses that we have helped to set up are a shoe stall, a barber shop, a small cinema, a beauty salon, a goat farm, and a market garden. Most of these businesses are still operational and provide an income for the owners and their families.

Farming Projects

Healthy and sufficient food is, of course, of vital importance. Farming is at the basis of the food supply. We have started a number of farming projects, including a goat farm, for dairy and meat products, and a number of market gardens where maize and beans, as well as a variety of fruits and vegetables are grown. The produce is sold at the local markets or are part of the food relief programs when the need arises.

Support Local Special Needs School

Tulia has a primary school for children with a physical or mental hendicap: Tulia Special Needs Unit. In small classes the children receive education on their individual level and possibilities. It's a mixed boarding school.

In hard times we have helped this school with food, clothing and learning materials.