Our story
In the spring of 2010, the seeds of the Mugumo Project were planted by the communal frustration of three volunteers at Nairobi Children’s Home. As participants of a pay-your-way volunteering service, Katie Mattie, Charlotte Greenfield, and Jessie Hagen were each assigned to work at Nairobi Children’s Home (NCH), a government-operated orphanage for children aged newborn to six. The children of NCH came from diverse backgrounds. Some were orphaned. Others were abandoned. Many were abused. A few were physically disabled. The children amazed us with their resilience and their ability to be loving, goofy, zany kids despite the weary circumstances.
As a government institution, NCH is consistently understaffed and under-resourced. The home is designed as a transitional place—a holding place until a relative resurfaces to claim a child or a space opens up in a privately operated home. This process can take years, if it even happens at all. As a result, many of the children come to call the government orphanage system home. Those left in the system have no personal property, few personal rights, and receive a mediocre education at best.
Working at NCH as outsiders, unable to speak Swahili and communicate effectively with the children and staff, was an exhausting and overwhelming experience. All of us had traveled around the world with a strong desire to help and all of us were unable to institute any lasting or meaningful change in the lives of the children we had come to love. Our small attempts at improvement felt insignificant in the face of the broader social injustices at play.
With the help of the volunteer house mama, Charity Nyathirah, a previous NCH volunteer had been quietly sponsoring two boys to go boarding school. We approached Charity and asked to expand on that group with our own sponsored children. Two months before our scheduled departures, we were able to give a small group of children the only gift we knew would stand the test of time: an education. Armed with a quality education, these children would have a foundation for success. The four of us organized a system and the rest is history.
Our Team!
Jessie Hewins
Executive Director
Originally from North Carolina, Jessie holds an M.A. in Media and International Development from East Anglia University and B.A.’s in Film Studies and Political Science from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. The Mugumo Project has been her “labor of love” since 2009 and she has been overcome with gratitude and joy through the years as the organization has grown. She is looking forward to witnessing the bright futures of all the Mugumo kids and seeing what the future has in store!
Charity Nyathirah
Kenya Director of Operations
Charity Nyathirah Muriuki is originally from Eldoret and relocated to Kiambu as a result of the 2007 post-election violence which also made her a single parent to her two girls, Jane and Precious. She has a degree in social work from the Kenya Institute of Development. Seeing abandoned, lost, abused, and orphaned kids gain a bright future and contributing to such a positive change in their lives increases her passion for the Mugumo Project each and every day. Charity thanks God for the people and the opportunities who have got her to this point in her life!
Judy Hagen
Treasurer
Judy became involved with the Mugumo Project after witnessing the passion and determination of her daughter and the other board members in securing an education and a future for the children of Nairobi Children's Home. Traveling to Kenya and experiencing firsthand the joys of sponsorship has been a life changing journey that will continue to inspire for years to come. Judy lives in Montana and is grateful to think of how lives are connected across the globe by caring hearts and willing hands.
Charlotte Greenfield
Board Member
Charlotte is originally from New Zealand and has worked as a journalist in the U.S., Indonesia, Australia, Afghanistan and is currently based in Pakistan. Charlotte is passionate about the development of the Mugumo Project to try to boost access to education for Kenya’s littlest citizens and ensure they receive the schooling opportunities every child deserves.
Katie Mattie
Board Member
Katie is from British Columbia, Canada. She works as a pediatric nurse at a local hospital. Her love for children has continued to grow through her work with the Mugumo Project. Katie has enjoyed watching our Mugumo kids blossom and is eager to see the continued benefits that this project will provide to the future citizens of Kenya.