miles4mukunga
"Investing in the future one Education at a time"
M ILES 4
MUKUNGA
Mission Statement
Miles 4 Mukunga is a nonprofit organization funding educational opportunities for orphans from rural Kenya, providing them with the skills to impact their home communities.
Background
Miles 4 Mukunga Incorporation was established in 2015 to improve educational and economic opportunities in the rural Nyeri region of Kenya. Our primary focus is to help raise money to support the education of two orphaned girls, Winfred (15) and Rebecca (12).
Our organization was inspired by Mukunga Ibrahim Wachiraga, an aspiring marathoner, and his touching story of continued perseverance to overcome mounting hardships. We work in coordination with an Estonian charity that is working to fund primary and secondary education for Winfred and Rebecca in Nyahururu, Kenya.
While inspired by Mukunga's journey, Miles 4 Mukunga Inc. seeks to benefit Kenyan orphans. The focus of our work is funding higher education for orphaned children. In the future we aim to target the improvement of educational infrastructure and the availability of education in rural communities. By focusing on education, we are able to allow Kenya citizens to impact their nation in ways that agree with their ideals and beliefs without imposing our own views.
We believe in an incremental approach to foreign and domestic aid programs. There is no cure-all for world poverty, but there are small changes that can foster growth to help individuals improve their situation.
Goals
The primary goal of Miles 4 Mukunga is to set up a college scholarship fund for orphaned Kenyans. These scholarship funds aim to provide a high-quality, American university education for children who want to impact their community and who would not have this opportunity without your help.
Our long term goal is to improve the quality and availability of primary and secondary education in rural Kenya. We also seek to provide more opportunities for high-level education scholarships to Kenyan citizens. Our goal is not to directly change Kenyan ideals, it is to provide more and better opportunities so that Kenya citizens can shape their own future.
WHERE DO MY CONTRIBUTIONS GO?
Every dollar you contribute will be set aside to a college scholarship fund for Winfred and Rebecca to attend a University in the United States. Once we achieve our goal for Winfred and Rebecca, we hope to maintain a scholarship fund that is self-sustaining, allowing one orphaned Kenyan to be studying in the United States university system every year. To make a self-sustaining fund, we need $350,000. This would allow a scholarship to replenish itself through the interest the account gains.
As Miles 4 Mukunga continues to grow, we hope to open new accounts that will benefit more Kenyan orphans attain quality educations through achievement-based scholarships for secondary schooling in Kenya. In this phase of our plan, the highest achieving male and female student from orphanages in the Nyeri region would be granted a scholarship to a high-quality high school in Kenya and be on the path to earning one of our self-sustaining college scholarships in the future.
Beyond scholarships and awards. Miles 4 Mukunga is currently considering the availability of quality education for orphans in Kenya. In the coming years we plan to provide better school materials, rebuild educational infrastructure, and work with locals to improve academic retention rates.
OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP
Miles 4 Mukunga Inc. is partnering with the Ironhorse half-marathon in Midway, KY. This event will help to further our organization's impact in Kenya through charitable donation. You can help by volunteering to help on the racecourse. The race will be held October 11, 2015.
Our organization is also always accepting donations, of any amount, to help fund our work in Kenya. If you would like to volunteer to help with the race, fundraising, or a specific skill please contact us here.
Miles 4 Mukunga is a nonprofit organization funding educational opportunities for orphans from rural Kenya, providing them with the skills to impact their home communities.
Background
Miles 4 Mukunga Incorporation was established in 2015 to improve educational and economic opportunities in the rural Nyeri region of Kenya. Our primary focus is to help raise money to support the education of two orphaned girls, Winfred (15) and Rebecca (12).
Our organization was inspired by Mukunga Ibrahim Wachiraga, an aspiring marathoner, and his touching story of continued perseverance to overcome mounting hardships. We work in coordination with an Estonian charity that is working to fund primary and secondary education for Winfred and Rebecca in Nyahururu, Kenya.
While inspired by Mukunga's journey, Miles 4 Mukunga Inc. seeks to benefit Kenyan orphans. The focus of our work is funding higher education for orphaned children. In the future we aim to target the improvement of educational infrastructure and the availability of education in rural communities. By focusing on education, we are able to allow Kenya citizens to impact their nation in ways that agree with their ideals and beliefs without imposing our own views.
We believe in an incremental approach to foreign and domestic aid programs. There is no cure-all for world poverty, but there are small changes that can foster growth to help individuals improve their situation.
Goals
The primary goal of Miles 4 Mukunga is to set up a college scholarship fund for orphaned Kenyans. These scholarship funds aim to provide a high-quality, American university education for children who want to impact their community and who would not have this opportunity without your help.
Our long term goal is to improve the quality and availability of primary and secondary education in rural Kenya. We also seek to provide more opportunities for high-level education scholarships to Kenyan citizens. Our goal is not to directly change Kenyan ideals, it is to provide more and better opportunities so that Kenya citizens can shape their own future.
WHERE DO MY CONTRIBUTIONS GO?
Every dollar you contribute will be set aside to a college scholarship fund for Winfred and Rebecca to attend a University in the United States. Once we achieve our goal for Winfred and Rebecca, we hope to maintain a scholarship fund that is self-sustaining, allowing one orphaned Kenyan to be studying in the United States university system every year. To make a self-sustaining fund, we need $350,000. This would allow a scholarship to replenish itself through the interest the account gains.
As Miles 4 Mukunga continues to grow, we hope to open new accounts that will benefit more Kenyan orphans attain quality educations through achievement-based scholarships for secondary schooling in Kenya. In this phase of our plan, the highest achieving male and female student from orphanages in the Nyeri region would be granted a scholarship to a high-quality high school in Kenya and be on the path to earning one of our self-sustaining college scholarships in the future.
Beyond scholarships and awards. Miles 4 Mukunga is currently considering the availability of quality education for orphans in Kenya. In the coming years we plan to provide better school materials, rebuild educational infrastructure, and work with locals to improve academic retention rates.
OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP
Miles 4 Mukunga Inc. is partnering with the Ironhorse half-marathon in Midway, KY. This event will help to further our organization's impact in Kenya through charitable donation. You can help by volunteering to help on the racecourse. The race will be held October 11, 2015.
Our organization is also always accepting donations, of any amount, to help fund our work in Kenya. If you would like to volunteer to help with the race, fundraising, or a specific skill please contact us here.
WHY THIS MODEL?
Studies indicate that countries are most quickly and profoundly developed when they invest in themselves. Education is an opportunity for this type of investment. Miles 4 Mukunga seeks to empower Kenyas through education, allowing them to better invest in themselves at an individual level. The students we select to receive scholarship funds have specific goals to return to their community and contribute to building sustainable growth in their homes. Individual investment will turn into a national investment opportunity as rural populations increase their education and see the opportunity for upward mobility. Empowered citizens will be better equipped to shape the future of their home country helping Kenya succeed and grow.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has highlighted Three Policy Priorities in building for the future in African nations. These priorities are to build infrastructure, build institutions, and build people. We focus on what we consider the key element, people.
Building people (Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF)
Build people—children, youth, workers, and particularly women.
Africa’s greatest potential is its people. They are the key for the region to fully capture the dividends from population growth. By some estimates, a one percentage point increase in the working age population can boost GDP growth by 0.5 percentage points. This is huge.
For this to happen, however, “good” jobs need to be created in the private sector. Today, only one in five people in Africa finds work in the formal sector. This must change. With wider access to quality education, healthcare and infrastructure services, it can change.
The gains to be made by overcoming these constraints are immense—particularly through girls’ education. By some estimates, the economic loss in developing countries from the education gap between girls and boys could be as high as $90 billion a year—almost as much as the infrastructure gap for the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa!
As the old African adage goes: “If you educate a boy, you train a man. If you educate a girl, you train a village.”
Invest in women. It has a great rate of return—economically and socially for the future.
Studies indicate that countries are most quickly and profoundly developed when they invest in themselves. Education is an opportunity for this type of investment. Miles 4 Mukunga seeks to empower Kenyas through education, allowing them to better invest in themselves at an individual level. The students we select to receive scholarship funds have specific goals to return to their community and contribute to building sustainable growth in their homes. Individual investment will turn into a national investment opportunity as rural populations increase their education and see the opportunity for upward mobility. Empowered citizens will be better equipped to shape the future of their home country helping Kenya succeed and grow.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has highlighted Three Policy Priorities in building for the future in African nations. These priorities are to build infrastructure, build institutions, and build people. We focus on what we consider the key element, people.
Building people (Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF)
Build people—children, youth, workers, and particularly women.
Africa’s greatest potential is its people. They are the key for the region to fully capture the dividends from population growth. By some estimates, a one percentage point increase in the working age population can boost GDP growth by 0.5 percentage points. This is huge.
For this to happen, however, “good” jobs need to be created in the private sector. Today, only one in five people in Africa finds work in the formal sector. This must change. With wider access to quality education, healthcare and infrastructure services, it can change.
The gains to be made by overcoming these constraints are immense—particularly through girls’ education. By some estimates, the economic loss in developing countries from the education gap between girls and boys could be as high as $90 billion a year—almost as much as the infrastructure gap for the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa!
As the old African adage goes: “If you educate a boy, you train a man. If you educate a girl, you train a village.”
Invest in women. It has a great rate of return—economically and socially for the future.
Photos provided by Rozenvald Photography