Lwala is different from the other stories you’ve heard about Africa. It’s not a top-down initiative by an enormous international development organization, it’s not a charity, and it’s not a government bureaucracy. It’s an African community facing its challenges and creating its own solutions. It’s a global network of friends coming alongside in solidarity to learn, to listen, to give, and to be changed. It’s a story of pride and responsibility on a continent where taking initiative is considered tempting fate. It’s a story of humility and respect in an international development culture where they’re all but absent. It’s a story about hope.
OUR MISSION
We are an alliance of communities whose mission is to build the fundamental human capacity of the people of Lwala to advance their own comprehensive well being, including physical health, educational opportunity, economic freedom, cultural vitality and spiritual growth.
OUR VISION
An empowered and equipped village movement for health and well being in Lwala and beyond.
OUR VALUES
1. Long-term Commitment
We will make a lasting difference in Lwala and the surrounding communities, both by sustaining our commitment and by helping the community achieve self-sustaining project leadership and funding structures.
2. Community Ownership and Solidarity:
Lwala community members founded the LCA and provided the local resources and volunteer labor to build the Lwala clinic. We aim to advance that sense of community independence, ownership, responsibility, self-efficacy and volunteerism by offering solidarity, not charity.
3. Accountability:
We will ensure excellent stewardship of all funds through rigorous reporting standards and the integral involvement of indigenous village accountability structures.
4. Cultural Sensitivity
We are a cultural product of Lwala and we will continue to value, be sensitive to, and learn from Lwala’s values and traditions. We will attempt to reduce the negative impact of outsiders by regulating their numbers and by educating them toward a sense of cultural humility.
5. Holism
We will build the fundamental human capacity of the people of western Kenya to advance their comprehensive well being as they define it.
