2010-2021: A Decade of Impact

KIWOCE (Kilimahewa Women’s and Orphan’s Center for Education), also referred to as Kilimahewa, began as a group of mamas from a subsistence farming community, who came together to find a way for their children  no longer in school to keep learning. These women and their children gathered each day under a tree on the property of their leader, (Mama) Grace Lyimo.

From under the tree, instruction moved into a small two-room turquoise building where volunteers (local and foreign) taught the children English and math.  In 2010, KIWOCE’s future changed radically when three of these volunteers joined forces to make it a focal point of their newly-created 501-c3 non-profit, EdPowerment.

Beginning with a major Water Project,  school supplies and the employment of qualified local staff, EdPowerment's operational support enabled KIWOCE/Kilimahewa to become a vibrant educational outreach to the many left behind by the formal system.  For 11 years, EdPowerment closely partnered with Kilimahewa, later KIWOCE Open School, to activate critical thinking and nurture positive behaviors that enabled vulnerable post-primary students to achieve futures unfettered by their backgrounds.

In 2021, the property's owner, Grace Lyimo, changed the Open School to a private, formal school, the Kilimahewa Modern Secondary School. This change in mission ended  EdPowerment's partnership. However, our investment in KIWOCE's infrastructure and teaching tools continue to serve the school's students.

The following outlines EdPowerment's programs and investment that impacted thousands of lives over our 11 year collaboration.