The story of e3kids
When you meet someone new, your life can change forever.
For me, it was two people: Grace and Ngao Mazira.
Back in 2007, I bumped into them as they were visiting the United States for a conference at Fredericksburg Christian School’s beginning of the year retreat. Kenyan born missionaries, the couple started a thriving school together near Mombassa, Kenya just a few years earlier in 2000. Grace was my bunkmate.
Grace and I sparked up a conversation where we discussed how my heart had long called me towards missions, but that it had been put on hold as I was raising my three girls with challenging medical conditions with my husband, Rob.
Ngao and Grace
My husband and I started financially and prayerfully supporting Grace and Ngao and the Royal Comprehensive School shortly following.
In 2008, the Kenyan crisis hit. The violence continued for months, as a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis blanketed the region. Election clashes caused incredible political tensions; Looters struck a number of stores in Mikindani near the school; the school was spared along with hundreds hiding out inside its walls. Their community was now faced with 25 orphan boarders from the effects of the Civil unrest.
In early 2009, I begin selling a few products that Grace had sent me to help raise money for the school, but I knew it was not enough. Ultimately, our family decided to increase our monetary support to Grace and Ngao.
Not much time passed before my husband encouraged me to visit in-person. So, my oldest daughter and I set off for Kenya.
Looking back, I never viewed it as a risk, knowing that God was calling me to something bigger. Ultimately, he provided protection for our trip across the world, though I found that the community we were benefitting needed much greater help than I could have ever imagined. The money that I could have thrown at their needs would have been similar to using a watering can to fight a mile-wide brush fire — it would have had a low-level of effectiveness and resources would have depleted quickly with no lasting impact.
I rushed home, and eagerly shared with Rob that I simply could not ignore this.
At that point, we felt called to start a nonprofit that would benefit the school.
Around that time, we learned that there were 16 young ladies and gentlemen — eighth graders at the time — sitting for their final high school entrance exam. All had passed the exam, but did not have money to continue onto high school. That broke our hearts, but it solidified our plans to take action.
We sponsored our first group of kids so they could pursue an education — that group of 16. To this day, 11 of them have graduated high school, later pursuing college educations and bountiful careers. They are now paying it forward, living productive and meaning lives as Citizens of Kenya.
We did everything we could to spread the word – we told friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors. Sharing the incredible story captured the hearts of a newly formed core group of supporters, which quickly led to the unofficial beginning of e3kids international, “e3kids” for short. Our group of seven devotees landed on founding an organization that would positively support kids in developing countries, but also empower children here in the USA to make a difference in their local and international communities.
Since then, it has been an amazing journey watching the school take shape and form into something that is making a forever impact in Kenya, Africa. It is also amazing to see the lives of children here in the United States change – sharing a greater world through serving others, creating passion around causes including clean water, school sponsorship for orphans, and learning to give to others.
e3kids is now in its tenth anniversary next year. We have helped hundreds of primary students achieve high school graduation, provided nutritious hot meals, teacher pay, tuition, libraries, dorms, technology for e-learning, science labs, new kitchens, and partnerships for thousands of kids in the schools.
We exist to change and improve lives through creative, actionable, and proven effective means.
We hope you join us!
Serving with purpose,
