Members of Desire foundation preparing food during one of their visits in a children's home./PHOTO ; Courtesy
In Kenya, much of the community support and social initiatives have traditionally relied on international donors and well-established organisations.
Then, when funding is cut, many programmes struggle to survive, and some even cease to exist, leaving gaps in communities that rely on them most.
Amidst this landscape, a new generation of grassroots changemakers is charting a different path.
They are creating meaningful impact without relying on external donors, using their own resources, energy, and ingenuity to bridge gaps while giving back to their communities.
Two examples of this new model are Desire Foundation and Vision Bearerz, organisations led by young Kenyans who are building sustainable ways to feed, mentor, and empower their communities.
Desire Foundation: From four friends to 54 members
Desire Foundation began in 2022 under the name Vee Foundation, founded by Veronica Ngina.
What started as a one-person idea was integrated by 3 friends with a shared desire to give back to the community.
Soon, the number grew to 54 members, based in Nairobi, with most from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication.
Ngina explained that her motivation came from personal experience. She did not grow up with everything she needed and witnessed firsthand the struggles faced by children and young mothers living on the streets.
“Walking around Nairobi, you see people sleeping under bridges, covering themselves with sacks. You see young mothers and their babies sleeping in the cold. It is dangerous,s and it breaks your heart. That was more than enough reasons that pushed me to act,” she said.
In 2022, every Saturday, Ngina and her friends would contribute part of their pocket money go to the streets to meet children, provide meals, and spend time with them.
With a bigger number, it meant big initiatives; they started visiting children’s homes.
They organised a mandatory 4 visits yearly and other sub-visit supporting other changemakers.
They do take foodstuffs, cook for the day, engage the children in games, and bond with the children through talent shows.
From the early days, the initiative has fully relied on contributions from just its members.
“We started with a few of my friends. We would contribute small amounts every Saturday. That is how everything began,” Ngina recalled.
The approach has remained consistent; members contribute what they can from allowances or personal funds.
Since its inception, the group has visited over 20 children’s homes, offering continuity and care that is often missing in formal systems.
Growing impacts through consistent giving
Over time, Desire Foundation has recorded milestones that Ngina considers deeply fulfilling.
She said one of the biggest achievements is the consistency the team has built despite being young students with limited income.
She noted that the number of children’s homes they have managed to support.
“We have visited more than twenty homes since we began. Every visit teaches us something new about compassion and responsibility,” Ngina said.
Ngina also considers the growth of her team an important achievement.
From four friends to more than 50 young volunteers, saying that the foundation has created a network of students who are actively shaping their community.
“Seeing my team give their time and their allowance without expecting any reward is something I treasure. They have brought life and colour to everything we do,” she said.
The foundation has also become a platform for developing confidence and leadership among young people.
During visits, volunteers run games, perform for the children, organise talent shows, and coordinate activities.
“Many have discovered new strengths through these interactions. I believe this personal growth is part of the impact they hoped to create,” Ngina shared.
Challenges on the journey
Despite the progress, Desire Foundation faces a number of challenges that slow down the work they hope to do.
One of the biggest hurdles is finances; the group depends entirely on contributions from members, manyof whom are students surviving on limited allowances, says that at times, it is not enough.
“When the economy is difficult or when students face personal financial strain, contributions drop,” she explained.
“This affects the number of visits we can make and the amount of food we can prepare for the children.”
Coordination also becomes challenging as the team grows, Ngina admitted, “With more than 50 members, ensuring everyone attends planning meetings and remains committed can be difficult.”
However, Ngina said she appreciates that each member gives what they can and shows up in their own way.
“We are all students with different pressures, yet everyone finds a way to participate. Even when it is difficult, the commitment is still there,” she said.
Looking ahead, vision for greater impact
Despite the challenges, Desire Foundation is driven by a clear vision for the future.
Ngina said the team is working towards expanding their programmes so that they can reach more children and offer more stable support.
One of their long-term dreams is to establish their own children’s home where they can provide shelter, food, and guidance to children living on the streets.
“We want a place where children feel safe and cared for. A place where they know they can come back to,” she said.
The foundation hopes to register as an NGO and also plans to increase the number of visits to children’s homes in a year. Instead of four mandatory visits, they hope to make the visits more frequent.
Lastly, another plan is to start a programme specifically for adolescent girls. The group hopes to provide sanitary towels, hygiene products, and mentorship sessions that tackle self-esteem and identity.
Vision Bearerz: Turning urban farming into community support
On the other side of Nairobi, in the informal settlement of Mathare, Vision Bearerz is redefining grassroots philanthropy.
Also, instead of relying on international funding, a group of young people has built a self-funded system that allows them to feed children, support one another, and earn a living, all at the same time.
Vision Bearerz, a 43-member youth group, was formed in 2017. Their work fills a gap left by formal social protection systems: consistent weekend food support for children who often go without a proper meal once schools close on Fridays.
From contribution to sustainability
The group began with a simple idea where each member would contribute Sh20 a day to start something that could transform their lives and the community.
What followed was a series of experiments that eventually grew into a full urban farming system capable of funding their outreach activities.
Today, the group operates vegetable beds, a pigsty, a fish pond, and a black soldier fly (BSF) project that functions as their economic backbone.
Everything is designed to feed into the next step; the BSF larvae are used as protein-rich feed for their pigs and fish.
The frass becomes fertiliser for their crops, and the surplus is sold to locals at up to Sh3,500 for 5kg.
Income from pig sales, fish harvests, and small compost sales is reinvested directly into their programmes.
“In a community where disposable income is rare, this model reduces dependence on donors. We are fully self-funded; whatever we sell, we plough back into the group,” Moses Nyaike said, group chairman.
Feeding 150 children every weekend
Every Saturday, more than 150 children gather at the group’s feeding programme, a ritual that has become a lifeline for the organisation.
“Weekends are particularly difficult for many families; school feeding programmes do not operate, and parents often spend Saturdays seeking casual work, leaving children unattended,” Nyaike explained.
After eating, the children participate in informal mentorship sessions covering confidence, hygiene, and basic life skills.
“It is small, but it matters,” he said.
In most parts of the country, feeding programmes depend on NGO grants or church-based charity drives, but for this organisation, they have created their own micro-economy to sustain itself.
Enterprise as a tool for giving
Beyond farming, the group runs a car wash, provides garbage collection services and operates public toilets, all small enterprises that generate funds for their social programmes.
These activities not only support the feeding programme but also offer members a path to a stable income.
This model of philanthropy, where giving is tied to social enterprise rather than donor cycles, has become increasingly common among their members. They voluntarily contribute to the feeding programme.
“It bridges the gap between survival and service, between earning a living and supporting the community,” he said.
Setbacks and determination
The group’s success has been shaped by learning and experimentation.
Two years into fish farming, they lost around 600 fish due to chlorine-treated water they unknowingly used. Today, they harvest about 300 fish every six months and sell them locally.
Their pigs are vaccinated and well-maintained; they have sold more than fifteen pigs at around Sh20,000 each.
Members undergo BSF training in turns, and the trained ones teach the rest.
“We do not guess anymore,” he said.
Challenges persist, especially limited space and lack of access to grants, because many members did not complete school and find the application processes difficult. Still, they continue to push forward.
“Small groups like ours are often overlooked, yet we are the ones doing the work,” Nyaike lamented.
A growing impact
Over time, through their feeding programme, mentorship sessions, and the example they set, Vision Bearerz have become a stabilising force in Mathare.
Members have joined catering school, learnt phone repair, or secured work through the reputation the group has built.
They meet every Sunday to evaluate their progress, troubleshoot challenges, and plan upcoming activities.
Their name, they say, reflects their belief in transformation. “We called ourselves Vision Bearerz because we had a vision,” the chairperson said. “We believe it can come to pass for this community.
Take on local giving
Ngina summarised the ethos behind Desire Foundation, saying that giving not only helps the person receiving it.
“It builds you too. Generosity starts from within. You should feel like you helped yourself even as you help someone else,” she concluded.
Vision Bearerz’ chairman echoes the sentiment, saying that through their urban farming and enterprise projects, it’s proof that grassroots innovation can sustain both the community and the changemakers themselves.
“In doing so, we are not just filling gaps but also creating models that others can replicate. Local philanthropy is possible even without big mainstream funding,” he said.
