BIG DREAMS FOR AFRICA

VISION FOR BIG DREAMS FOR AFRICA

I have a vision of a world where all children go to bed well fed and are loved, looked after, and in school getting an education so they can have a chance at a good future. These children will be trained to be kind to animals and therefore save the wildlife around them.

I am Geoffrey Ndoigo, Founder of Big Dreams for Africa. I consider myself a global citizen, an entrepreneur, and most importantly, a Humanitarian.

Big Dreams for Africa will be there for generations to come. I am here for a season,I am here for a reason,I am living for something that will outlast me, something bigger than me, something that will remain long after I am gone, something that will for centuries to come be here to keep making the world a better place. I invite you today too to join me, so that together let's make a difference in our world, and leave this world a better place than we found it… let's live for something bigger than us. Big Dreams for Africa.

Contact us at [email protected]

HOW BIG DREAMS FOR AFRICA CAME TO BE

Ever since I was a young child, I had a dream of helping other children so that they did not have to endure the same hardships that I did. My feet hurt as I had to walk 15 km to school barefoot every day, carrying clean water and firewood on my shoulders so that the teacher could have something to cook our food with. That is on the good days … when we had food. Other times, I went to bed hungry with no food in my belly. Life was hard. Thankfully, with help from family and friends who believed in my capabilities, I was able to get an education and get a good job right out of university.

This is why I have devoted myself to making a difference in the lives of the disadvantaged children. At the age of 21, I worked for a number of international not-for-profit organizations, including World Vision. Unfortunately, in 2013, the people who were running these organizations left our city, even while the need for aid continued to grow.

When I walk down the city streets, It breaks my heart to see children trying to survive by eating from the dumpsters.

That is why I established Big Dreams for Africa, a community-based organization. Our mission is to rescue children and get them off the streets of Nakuru, Kenya. We provide them with a safe home, so they have a chance at being part of our family, can get food, clothing, shelter and have a chance at an education.

EMPOWERING WOMEN WHO ARE MOTHERS OF SMALL CHILDREN

In addition, we opened-up a daycare on the premises to help empower single mothers who are struggling, so that they can go to work during the day and have a safe and loving place to bring their children while they work.

WORKING ON BECOMING A REGISTERED NGO

We are working to have Big Dreams for Africa designated as a Non-Government Organization (NGO) so that we can be officially recognized as an international registered charity. Although the cost to apply for this designation is more than we can afford right now, we pray that one day we will be recognized as a charity so that we can expand our work beyond Nakuru. In fact, my big dream is to one day establish a centre that will house 200 children–a successful charitable project that will continue to make a positive impact for generations to come.

Please get to know us and follow our journey. Here is how to connect with us on social media:

TOUGH TIMES

In 2018, I opened a store to sell hand-made goods. That, plus some gifts from friends and donors helped me and my team to meet all the needs for the 15 children we had rescued from the streets of Nakuru. Things worked well until Covid-19 closed down our store and our main source of income to support the children was wiped out. We eventually lost our store and our home, and now live in a shanty and tents. Although some good people have been trying their best to help us, on many nights, the children have gone to bed hungry and with empty stomachs.

Geoffrey proudly showing his store before it was shut down.

MORE ABOUT THE CHILDREN

Most of the children we help ended up on the street because they were orphaned, others because they are not safe staying with their families. There are children from baby all the way to high school age.

In addition, we help children of a number of single mothers in our community by offering daycare services for their children so that they can go to work and provide food, shelter and clothing for them. These devoted moms are doing their best to make ends meet during times of hardship, so we offer them support by keeping their toddlers safe, feeding them during the day, and helping to meet other needs as they arise.

Tour of the Daycare facilities for the babies.

As for the older children, they are beautiful souls who have dreams of growing up to be good, civil adults who contribute positively to the community. For instance, some shared with me that they want to be pilots, nurses, entrepreneurs, and pastors. We believe in them and want to help make their big dreams come true for a chance at a better future.

Take a moment to meet the children and youth who cared for by the Big Dreams for Africa Project.

Meet The Youth Cared For By Big Dreams for Africa.

“Beauty comes from within, A beautiful heart creates a beautiful person."

--Kenyan Proverb

WHAT WE NEED

We are looking for any help we can get, including help to set us up as a registered charity, help to get food for the children, to pay for high school education for the older kids. Once these immediate needs are met, we need help to cover rent for proper shelter, operating costs for the re-opening of our shop and our organization so that we can establish a sustainable not-for-profit.

Here is a breakdown of our costs:

Currently we are housing 18 children, and we are three adults who care for them.

Urgent Need

• Meals: It costs approximately 150 Kenyan Shillings or $1.50 US per person per day for three meals per day. If food supplies are bought in small amounts, it costs approximately $36 US dollars per day to feed everyone, or over $500 US to pay for food for two weeks. The good news is, if we manage to raise $200 US in donations, then that permits us to buy enough supplies to feed everyone three meals per day for an entire two weeks.

We also provide clothing, and we need mattresses for the kids to sleep on so they are not on the dirt floors.

• For Babies and Preschoolers: For the youngest children, we need the necessities.

Needed by May 2022

• Schooling & Education: In Kenya, we need to pay a fee to send teenagers to High School. Four of our young men are going to be high school age and we hope to be able to send them to high school so that they can get a good education and get a good job when they grow up. It costs approximately 300,000 Kenyan Shillings or close to $300 US for High School. For elementary school children.

• Development for Babies and Preschoolers: We hope to be able to add play structures and play equipment and soccer balls so that children can play, which is a very important part of socio-emotional development.

Medium to Long-term Needs to Ensure Sustainability

Part of my Big Dream for Africa is that it become a designated charitable organization so that it be sustainable for the long-term, so the children in our care never again go to bed hungry, that the kids have proper shelter, clothing and get a good education so that they can launch as young adults who contribute and give back to the community. We also want to expand our operations to eventually house 200 children and teens.

Here are some of the Operating Costs:

• Website and domain: Approximately 70,000 Kenyan Shillings or $ 600 US, for domain, initial set-up, and then hosting, plus ongoing maintenance fees.

• Re-open the store and diversify products to fund charitable projects: We hope to re-open the Big Dreams for Africa Store so that we can have a source of steady income to provide for the children.

• Non-government-organization (NGO) application to be recognized as an international registered charity: It costs approx. 30,000-40,000 Kenyan Shillings or approximately $260-350 US to apply for registered NGO status, plus other related fees such as legal fees to assist with the application process, which can bring costs. We are also looking for help from anyone with expertise to help us file our applications and prepare government and NGO funding proposals.

• Establish a Building to properly house 200 disadvantaged children: This is our very big long-term dream. So once we meet the needs of the current group of children, then we will look for ways to grow Big Dreams for Africa to house over 200 disadvantaged children. This facility for 200 children will cost approximately $25,000 USD to build and begin to operate.

MEDIA APPEARANCES TO GET THE WORD OUT

If you work in media, we are looking for ways to get the message out, for example, here is a video interviews/podcasts:

• Interview with Timea Ashraf

• Interview with Dawn Elizabeth Schary on Facebook

• Featured in IP Resilience Global Magazine

Notice for Transparency: To make it easier for people to donate from different parts of the world, we are running two fundraisers concurrently: One on ‘Go Fund Me,’ and one on ‘Go Get Funding.’

AWARD WINNER

GRATITUDE & THANKS

We wish to thank all those who continue to offer their prayers, support, their ideas, encouragement, and donations. Every little bit helps, and adds up so that we can make our Big Dreams for Africa come true.

“Do your little bit of good where you are, it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

—Bishop Desmond Tutu

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY LEADERSHIP JOURNEY IN THIS INTERVIEW