The long-term strategic goal of Just One Africa is to empower local leaders who care for vulnerable children within their community with sustainable solutions. These solutions provide long term access to clean and safe water, quality education, life skills training, adequate safe housing, and more efficient agricultural methods. These continuing viable solutions will reduce the reliance on outside sources of funding, and furnish them the means and ability to provide for themselves, as well as those they care for.
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much ― Helen Keller
We have found it paramount to work closely with our local leaders by investing in who they are, and building deep relationships with them based on trust and respect. We take a great deal of time to listen and ask questions to determine what they desire to see happen in their communities. It is from that input that we move forward creating sustainable solutions that will be managed, constructed, and maintained locally.
John and Leah Njoroge
Valley Light Home is the dream realized and long term commitment of a couple, each born and raised in Kenya. After years of planning and careful strategy, Valley Light Home opened its doors to take in 6 children in August 2011, the youngest little one a child of 6 weeks. The mission is to provide holistic care to children who have been orphaned or abandoned, or from families who are not able to look after them. To date, VLH houses 27 children.
Valley Light Home was carefully constructed to be a home rather than an institution for up to 36 children (infants to 18 years of age). The project is managed by a local staff, including a full-time social worker. House parents live at the home full-time where family life includes providing professional care and guidance for physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs. As some of the children placed here are HIV+, caregivers are trained to administer medication, monitor nutrition, and care for individual health needs.
John is a member of the speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. He speaks frequently on university campuses, leadership forums, conferences, and churches around the world.
John and Leah both have PhDs. John has his in Philosophy and Leah has hers in Education.
John and Dorcus Parit
John and Dorcus Parit are the founders of Lenkai Christian School based in the Kimana area of south eastern Kenya. This is a private Christian school with over 250 students ranging from Baby Class (Pre-School) to Class 8 (or 8th grade). Their vision is to offer a holistic education to local Kenyan children, to equip them with the best possible education, and to develop their individual potential while molding them into future leaders.
They are also the founders of Hope Beyond Transitional Center which cares for children from needy cases such as FGM, child marriage, child neglect, forced labor, human trafficking, and other abusive realities. The Center also offers non-residential support to orphans and other needy cases such as Albinism, within the neighboring community. Hope Beyond provides trauma therapy and counseling for these precous children.
John is the African Director of The Olive Branch Mission, a US and Kenyan registered nonprofit with diverse projects in Kenya, including the world famous conservation program at Sidai Oleng Conservancy. This conservancy offers a wide spectrum of conservation of wildlife, water, and indigenous species of plants within a 7,000 acre conservation area managed by The Olive Branch. John is currently finalizing his dissertation for his Master’s Degree in International Management through the University of Liverpool.
Dorcus is the Volunteer Coordinator of the Water Filter Project by Just One Africa which involves training and distribution of the filters to communities. The Water Filter Program has seen distribution of over 1,000 water filters to various communities within a 150 kilometer radius from the school with tremendous success and great impact. Dorcus is also an active leader within the local and national stage where she is serving with the Local Peace Committee. She is the Kajiado County Treasurer of the National Women Organization, and sits on other local and national committees involved in fighting for the rights of women and children while advocating against FGM and other forms of child abuse. She is also passionate about empower women and providing many sustainability opportunities for them.
Together they have 6 amazing children, 3 girls and 3 boys.
Valley Light Children’s Home
Valley Light Home is a faith based, non-profit organization that provides residential care for orphans and abandoned children in a home or family setting. VLH is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty that leaves children without proper care while meeting the emotional, medical, educational and social needs of the whole child. The home was started by John and Leah Njoroge in response to the overwhelming need to care for children within Maai Mahiu and surrounding areas. The home opened its doors on July 31, 2011 when six orphaned children stepped through the gate of Valley Light Home to be welcomed by the Njoroges and a group of loving and dedicated staff. As of July 24, 2018, Valley Light is home to 31 children.
The town of Maai Mahiu lies at the bottom of the beautiful Rift Valley along a major route that connects the coast of Kenya (by the Indian ocean) with many countries in Eastern and Central Africa. It is approximately an hour and a half northwest of Nairobi. Over time, Maai Mahiu has developed into a popular trading center that is a prominent stopping place for truckers and other weary travelers. Due to its warm weather, easy access and relative proximity to Nairobi, Naivasha and Narok — not to mention the fact it is along the way to the world famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve — Maai Mahiu’s population continues to increase almost on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, one of the reasons for the town’s popularity with truckers is due to the high rate of prostitution. Prostitution, which continues to increase, is the greatest contributor to the high number of orphaned and abandoned children in the area. lt is one of the reasons why moving Valley Light from the center of Maai Mahiu is a key objective of Valley Light Projects, as we will see below. We are determined to prevent our children from repeating the cycle of prostitution and poverty and that made them orphans in the first place.
Valley Light is registered as an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) with the NGO board of Kenya. We are registered as Valley Light Projects — which is the umbrella organization for all of our ministry activities in Kenya. Valley Light Home is one of the ministries of valley Light Projects. There is the possibility that we will change the nature of our registration in the future to better fulfill our mission and objectives.
Mission:
The purpose of Valley Light Home is to cater for the needs of orphans and impoverished children who are languished by disease and poverty in the town of Maai-Mahiu, Kenya. Our goal is to restore the emotional and physical wellbeing of children through an array of services in a loving and nurturing environment.
Vision:
Our vision is to nurture deprived children through the love of God.
