About
We are a rising non-profit organization supporting the ElMaMa Kindergarten in Watamu, Kenya as well as other educational projects.
Our Mission
Education
ElMaMa’s main objective is to provide and improve education for children in eastern Kenya. Our main enterprise to that end is the ElMaMa kindergarten in Watamu, Kilifi County. We further support schools in the extended area as well as individual students and families.
Learn more about our projects.
Direct Help
We are a small organization with a direct connection to the communities we support. Our help is given from our mebmers directly to the teachers, families, and students who need it. As of now, we have very little administrative work which is done voluntarily by our members. All the money that we raise goes directly into materials, food, and the salaries of our teachers.
Sustainability
Our goal is to grow sustainably, both environmentally and as an organization. We keep our fixed costs at a reasonable minimum to protect our projects against fluctuations in funding. We furthermore invovlve the communities who carry some of the cost of our projects, both as a means of engagement and empowerment but also to promote long-term sustainability. Our goal is to seed projects that can be sustained and grown by the communities without having to rely on external funding indefinitely. Whenever possible, we favour investments that lead to long-term savings in material costs and reduce negative environmental impacts. For instance, our new kitchen is more energy efficient than cooking on open fire which saves both costs and protects resources (firewood is becoming an increasingly scarce comodity in Kenya).
Equitability
We strive to make access to our support as equitable as possible. We support children irrespective of religion, gender, ethnicity, or background. Everyone is welcome at ElMaMa! Our kindergarten provides facilities such as its playground and water tanks to surrounding community and has become a lively gatering place for neighbours and their children.
Working with the communities
Our team is deeply rooted in the communities we support. Prisca is a village Elder in Watamu and thereby well familiar with the traditions and customs of the people we support. Danson has been a teacher for the last 4 decades and knows all ins and outs of the Kenyan education system. He tought innumerable students and knows the families and communities both in Watamu as well as in the other schools we support. We are not coming in as outsiders to impose our own ideas of welfare, but instead work with local traditions to generate change and growth from within. When we feel that these goals conflict with others outlined above, we work with the communities to find solutions with mutual benefit. For instance, the community in Dalu decided to add a woman to their previously all-male board of village elders to promote an equitable distribution of the received support across all members of the community.
Check our blog to learn more about our most recent updates!
