History of Kulea Villages
From building orphan villages to strengthening families.
A Vision Began
Kulea Villages was established in 2009, inspired by the vision of its founder, Deborah Brown Magaya. Her journey began during a mission trip to Watoto in Uganda, where she observed their model of caring for orphans during the peak of the HIV epidemic in Africa. Watoto's approach involved creating family-style villages consisting of individual homes, each led by a house mother who cared for 5 to 8 children, with schools and a church in the village. Deborah felt called to replicate a similar ministry in Tanzania and later Kenya.
Building Our First Programs
Kulea Village's early work focused on caring for orphaned and vulnerable children through family-style homes and educational support. Working alongside local church leaders, we established our first children's home in Tanzania, supporting four children with education and daily care. From the very beginning, compassionate sponsors made this work possible. Following this, Kulea Villages purchased land, completed the engineering plans for a future children's village, and later drilled a community well.
Kulea Villages then established a second site in Kenya, receiving significant support from Manna Bible Church. This new site was dedicated to ensuring children have access to education with consistent, strong local support. These early programs allowed us to serve children in immediate need while developing trusted partnerships with local churches, community leaders, and families.
Lessons Along the Way
As Kulea Villages grew, so did our understanding of what creates lasting change. Working closely with local social workers, caregivers, and community leaders taught us that children thrive best within their families of origin whenever possible rather than in orphanages or other forms of institutional care. Local leaders also helped us understand that a "childcare village" is usually viewed as another type of institution.
These early experiences taught us to continually ask one important question: "What is truly best for the child?" We learned that working alongside local social workers and community leaders helped us identify children with the greatest need. We also discovered that providing food, infant formula, educational support, and other essential resources directly better met a family's needs than providing cash alone.
Perhaps our greatest lesson came from the communities themselves. In African culture, extended families embrace the responsibility of caring for orphaned children within their family. We learned that supporting the entire family—not simply paying school fees for one child—helped caregivers build stable, self-sustaining futures.
Building Stronger Families
When Kulea Villages was founded, HIV had devastated Tanzania, leaving many children orphaned and creating a great need for orphanages. As the HIV crisis declined, the greatest need became helping children remain within their families, an approach encouraged by the Tanzanian government and reflected in our NGO registration. So, we returned our land in Tanzania to the community for farming and as a water source and shifted our focus from building children's homes to strengthening families so they could care for their children themselves.
Under the leadership of Deborah Brown Magaya, who lives in Tanzania, and our Country Directors, Kulea Villages partners with local social workers and community leaders to strengthen families through education, crisis support, infant nutrition, caregiver education, and business startup assistance.
Rather than building homes for children, we now invest in caregivers, strengthening families, creating healthier communities, and ensuring that more children can grow up where they belong—in the care of a loving family. Although our approach has changed over the years, our purpose has remained the same: ensuring every child has the opportunity to grow up safe, loved, and full of hope.
