Welcome to Maisha Bora Foundation. Maisha bora is a Swahili word meaning good life.
The foundation was the brain child of Bonface Ndili who experienced the good life when he was sponsored by the charitable organisation World Vision.
Bon grew up in a little village called Ikutha in the eastern province of Kenya. The sponsorship
enabled him to progress through education toward a better life for himself and his family. Now a qualified
social worker and local government officer for Derby City council Bon founded Maisha Bora to help other such families in the region.
Maisha Bora is an enabling charity who’s mission statement is to Help children and families in disadvantaged communities through health and education, primarily but not solely in Kenya.
Currently the charity is very small having gained charitable status in May 2006 and made up of four trustees and the founder member. This has not stopped us from consulting with villages within the region, and identifying sustainable projects which benefit the whole community and surrounding area.
Initialy we were set up as a well digging foundation as families are walking up to ten miles a day to
fetch water, however after speaking to village elders and community groups it very soon became apparent that
if they walked far enough they would eventually find water. However no matter how far they walked they could
not find books or educational materials to help the children through school, and thus onward to a better life.
It was a very humbling experience to find that out of anything they could have had on a wish list a library was
at the top. (See Bon's story below)
What does the good life mean to you? Holidays, wealth/ Nice house and car? To the people of the ikutha region it is the ability to walk 20 miles to read a book.
The foundation has now partially completed its first major project we have built the community a library 500 miles into the bush. We have installed computers with electicity provided by solar power.
We are now fundraising to equip the library with books and a photo copier. Please take the time to look at our website where you will find ways to help, of course donations of money are important but we also need members to help drive the charity forward onto other projects.
Thank you for your time
Bob Thompson
Chair of the board of trustees
The background of Maisha Bora Foundation.
"time to give back what I reaped, no matter how little to help other realise their dreams and achieve
their full potential".
I was born and raised in Ikutha division, Mutomo District (previously known as Kitui District) in 1963.
My parents had 12 children and I was the 4th child. When I was 7 years old my parents separated because
my father wanted to marry a second wife and my mother was totally against it. Normally when African couples
break-up, fathers and their relatives look after the children. Mother’s rarely leaves their husbands’ with
their children.
However, in 1970, my mother left my fathers family with all of us and with relative ease but she took
nothing with her i.e no clothes or cooking utensil or beddings. On reflection, I can not help to think that
my fathers’ family did not want anything to do with us. When my mother left, we had no specific place to
go i.e town or relatives we were going to going to stay with. We moved to Ikutha town where we settled and
collectively applied ourselves to causal labour just to survive. For example, we sold water, fire woods to people
in this little town. We also sold sand soil, stones to people building houses and we worked in people's farms just
to buy food.
Due to hardships my mother experienced, particularly lack of food and medical care, I lost five siblings
within a space of 5 weeks. I vividly remember my sister and I digging a grave to bury my little sister because
community members were scared of my family. They suspected that they might “catch something” deadly disease
because they couldn’t make sense of what was happening to my family.
Education was not talked about or thought of in my family because my mother was not in a position to feed us
let alone sending us to school. My older sisters and a brother attempted to go to primary school but they
soon withdrew not mainly due to lack of school fees but more worryingly due to lack of food and clothes. So with no
hope of going to school, I mysteriously got involved with church. I joined church choir and it became everything
to me since nothing else was happening in my life.
In 1973 my church pastor announced that an organisation called World Vision International was planning to
sponsor children in Kenya and Ikutha was one of the places where they intent to set up a family to family
project. The church pastor made it clear that World Vision will sponsor children from Christian family and
those who attend church regularly.
Since my mother never went to church and she had left my father's family, my chance of getting a sponsor was
pretty slim. I never even told my mother instead I focused on my Sunday school because it was my sanctuary or a
“respite care” for me. Nevertheless, my name was put forward by one of the church ladies and the church leaders
agreed to for me to be considered if my mother can afford to pay for my photograph which was to be send to
World Vision Headquarter abroad.
The cost of the photograph was 5 Kenyan shillings equivalent to 5pence. My mother was unable to pay 5 pence
for my photograph. She tried to borrow it from her relatives and my fathers’ family and there was nobody within
my family able or willing to pay it or lend her. During the day of the photographs, my mother asked me
to go and look after my neighbour animals (goats) in order to buy food, one of the church ladies
offered to pay for my photograph and I was withdrawn from my duty of looking after my neighbours animals, at
least for that day.
Since it was not a definite that once you have your photograph taken you will have a sponsor we had to wait.
The waiting was hard for me because this was the only chance I had for me to go to school. Whilst I was waiting
to hear about my sponsorship, my two older sisters got married with a hope that their husbands will pay dowry
to help me and my other brothers to got to school. After almost a year of waiting, the church pastor informed
me that I have got a sponsor from Canada. I was child number 100 in Ikutha family to family project.
This was the turning point of my life. The World Vision International sponsored me through my primary to secondary
education. After my schooling I moved to work in Mombassa in 1986 and I was employed in tourism industry where I met
my wife who we Planned to get married in England in 1993.
In 2000 I returned to Ikutha, my place of birth and the old lifestyle of woman working all day long to feed their
children was evident. I saw women doing the things I did with my mother of selling water, stones, fire woods etc.
Still children without stable families are less likely to achieve meaningful education improve their quality of
life all. Children and young people are particularly forced into marriage to help educate their siblings.
It is easier for girls to be married off than attend education.
This trip triggered a lot of emotions about my own life. I critically examined myself and no matter how much
I thought about things, one question was nagging me, how can I say thank you to the sponsor who changed my life?
Will I ever see him or her? What about if it was God’s plan for this sponsor to help me? How can I thank God or
show his love for me? How can I claim that I love God when I don’t show my Love to people I see every day and
I don’t see God?
With all these questions in my mind, I returned to England and shared my experiences with my friends. I suggested
forming a charity and the idea was embraced whole heartily. I named the charity Maisha Bora Foundation which means
good or better life. I felt the only way I could repay what I got out of World vision International or say thank
you to God and show my love for Him was to do something to help the people I see every day.
I believe that every individual has the facility and capacity to achieve their full potential and improve their
quality of life if given right support and opportunities. I totally believe and uphold the Ubantu principle
that, people become who they are because of others.
Thank you for taking time to read the birth of this Village focused charity. Every little help you will give,
no matter how small, will go along way.
