Mfangano Children's Library Support

Greetings everyone, 

My name is Sawyer Katz, a resident of the United States. My friend from Spain, Alvaro and I are currently volunteering overseas in Mfangano Island, located in the Western part of Kenya bordered by the vast and lush Lake Victoria. This small island of Mfangano holds around 20,000 people, and the economy is primarily fueled by fishing and farming. The people who live here are extremely friendly and welcoming, and enjoy a laid back life on the beautiful island, although behind the calm and joyful appearance, many people here are enduring great struggles for themselves and their family everyday.

My host on this Island is a young man named George Wachara, a 22 year old who lives here with his mother and sister, and has been involved with hosting travelers for over 2 years. When he is not working on the farm in Mfangano, he is traveling over 6 hours to the mainland several times a month to study at a University to attain his degree in Business Management. George’s work ethic through much adversity has given him the oppurtunity to become one of only 5 people in his entire community to graduate from University. The staggering reality of this is one of the reasons why George is so passionate about helping the younger generation in Mfangano be able to achieve what he has worked so hard for himself. 

Aside from the arduous hours he spends getting too and from school, studying and working on all his courses, organizing volunteer stays, as well as the difficult manual labor when he comes home, George still finds time to focus on his true goal, what he wants his imprint in life to be: helping the children of Mfangano. Over the years he has created a community based development program empowering education, the single most important thing leading to success in this region. While in many countries such as my own, education is sometimes a formality that is not necessarily required for success on a career path, in Kenya it is a necessity. It is completely unheard of for anyone to hold a respectable well paying career without devoting ones entire financial and mental resources on achieving the goal of graduating from University. And while education in my country is free and payed for by taxpayers, in this impoverished nation, every level of education, from the earliest grade, costs money. If a family is unable to cover these fees for the semester, the exams, even the uniform, the child is embarrassed and sent home without a moments hesitation. This unfortunately is a common reality for many of the children I have talked to about this.

Education in many parts of Kenya, Mfangano especially, is not nearly at the standards that George believes it should be at. The resources available at the schools are very scarce, and a primary focus of George’s foundation is providing the necessary books and materials for the children to succeed. One of his main projects that he has been working on for the past few years is the construction of a library as well as the collection of books to fill it with. The progress on this mission is remarkable so far; the structure is finished and hundreds of books are being sourced in monthly. However there are still a few hurdles left towards making this library a reality and impacting numerous young lives, and you have the opportunity to help! The one final piece to the puzzle is to finish building the interior and filling it with study tables and chairs. The construction of this is no easy task, but with your help, George’s goal of creating opportunity and hope for the younger generations of Mfangano will become much more of a reality. Even a small donation can help create a huge impact on the lives of everyone in this peaceful, loving community.