Changing Course: From Building a Children's Village to Strengthening Families

When we first began Kulea Villages, we had a clear vision. We believed we would build a children’s village — a beautiful, safe place for orphans and vulnerable children to grow, attend school, and thrive. Many of you generously gave toward that vision. Together, we purchased 65 acres of land. We dug a deep water well. A professional design team from Engineering Ministries International created a development plan.

It felt exciting, Tangible, and Big. But then something happened that required humility.

The Trip That Changed Our Direction

In our early years, we took a group of Kulea leaders from the United States, Kenya, and Tanzania to Uganda to visit Watoto. We met with their executive leadership and teams overseeing social welfare, child protection, education, construction, sustainability projects, infant care, and village administration.

We went to learn how to build a village well. Instead, we received unexpected counsel. The leaders told us that when Watoto began in 1994, villages to house orphans were urgently needed. At that time, HIV infection rates in parts of East Africa were around 26%, devastating families and leaving countless orphaned children on the streets. But more than 20 years later, the crisis had shifted. Infection rates had dropped dramatically — closer to 5% in many regions.

Their advice to us was clear: “The best place for a child is in his family. Focus your efforts on family-based care, not on building a village.” It surprised us. We had assumed we were preparing for the future. Instead, we were being asked to reconsider our plans.

Why We Chose Family-Based Care

Not long after that trip, we met with regional social welfare leaders in Tanzania. They pointed us to the country’s Law of the Child Act (2009), which emphasizes that extended family members are the preferred caregivers when parents are absent or deceased. East African

culture strongly emphasizes extended-family care and works to protect the larger family.

We were told something that has stayed with me: A childcare village, no matter how beautiful, is still an institution or larger orphanage, and children raised there will carry the stigma of being raised in an orphanage into adulthood.

That conversation required deep reflection.

• We had land,

• We had plans,

• We had donors who believed in the initial plan of building a village.

And now we had to decide: Do we continue forward because we already started? Or do we listen to those working daily within the legal and cultural realities of East Africa? We prayed. Our board discussed. Our leaders in Kenya and Tanzania weighed in, prayed and over time — not quickly — we chose to change.

Using the Land to Strengthen Families

Those who have followed us for years saw us pivot.

Instead of construction, we launched an agricultural project of growing habanero peppers for sustainable income. We opened our well to provide free, clean water to about thirty neighboring families, many of which are headed by widows.

Some donors understood immediately that listening and adapting are part of excellence in leadership. Others understandably struggled. They had invested in a specific plan. With each major change, we lost a few donors, which was painful.

But ignoring what we were learning would have been far worse. We had to keep asking, "What is best for the child?"

Why Education Alone Is Not Enough

As we shifted toward family-based care, we initially focused heavily on education. We believed, and still believe, that education changes trajectories. But through conferences, conversations with nonprofit professionals across East Africa, and meetings with social welfare leaders in Dodoma (capital of Tanzania), we learned something important:

A child with school fees paid, but who still lives in deep poverty, remains a child in crisis.

The education of the child alone does not stabilize a family. Children are not raised independently but in the context of a family. So we kept learning.

Learning From African Child Protection Leaders

In 2020, we became especially interested in the model developed by Forever Angels, called Maisha Matters, particularly their approach to family stabilization and small business development for caregivers.

Several members of our board had long hoped we would help caregivers start businesses to reduce long-term dependence on our aid. This model aligned beautifully with that desire.

Forever Angels invited us into a social franchise, meaning we could complete all the steps with their help and then open our own Maisha Matters program. After much discussion throughout 2020 and prayer, we decided to expand our work by adding an infant program, currently in Tanzania. We spent 9 months preparing to launch the program and learned directly from Forever Angels. They, in turn, invested $15,000 in Kulea Villages to purchase the first 6 months' worth of infant formula for 25 babies. They also paid for all of our staff to fly to Mwanza and covered housing for two weeks of hands-on training. We studied every detail of the model and opened our program in November 2021.

Some Kulea donors were confused during this time. They wondered if their support was going to another organization. One by one, we explained carefully: we were not sending funds elsewhere — we were learning from Forever Angels and receiving their support to expand our work to address the needs of newborns without a lactating mother.

The first baby we enrolled under this new model was named Blessing. His mother died of a stroke during a C-section caused by eclampsia. His father was desperate for a way to keep his son, but had no money for formula. Later told us that “Without Kulea’s help, we would have grieved not once, but twice, for losing my son to an orphanage.” His story reminded us why supporting babies who have lost their mom is so important. It preserves families.

We later applied what we learned about small-business training and business start-ups across our child sponsorship programs in both Kenya and Tanzania. Today, moving a caregiver through entrepreneur training and helping them to start their own business is critical to our mission.

How Kulea Villages Strengthens Families Today

Today, Kulea Villages focuses fully on family-based care. We provide:

• School fees and educational support

• Infant nutrition when mothers cannot breastfeed

• Small business training and startup support for caregivers

• Food and rent assistance during crisis periods

• Family counseling as needed

• Social services aligned with local child protection frameworks

Most importantly, we discuss an exit plan at enrollment. From the very beginning, caregivers know the goal is sustainability. Business development and income generation are not add-ons; they are central to the plan. The most powerful testimony comes from a caregiver who once needed help and now confidently supports her children through the work of her own hands. She stands tall. Her children are healthy, in school, and they live at home.

Why We Will Continue to Listen

I will be honest: change has not been easy. Receiving an email from an unhappy donor is personally so difficult for me. These major decisions were not rushed. One of our directional changes took nearly three and a half years of research, discussion, the counsel of many, and prayer.

I can promise our donors this:

• Our board of directors in the United States will remain prayerful and diligent.

• Our leaders in East Africa will continue to guide decisions with cultural and legal context.

• And we will continue to LISTEN.

If demographics shift again, if laws change, if better models emerge… we will once again research, discuss carefully, seek counsel and input from all parties, including our donors, and pray before making adjustments.

Because our commitment is not to a building plan. It is to children — and the families who are best positioned to raise them.

About Deborah

Deborah Brown Magaya is the Founder and Executive Director of Kulea Villages. A former teacher and school administrator, she founded Kulea Villages in 2009 after God called her to serve vulnerable children and families in East Africa. Deborah is passionate about keeping children with their families whenever possible and considers it a privilege to witness God's faithfulness through the lives transformed by Kulea Villages.

Kulea Villages

Kulea Villages is a U.S.-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in partnership with Kulea Villages entities in Tanzania and Kenya. Rather than dramatic rescues, their child protection model focuses on stabilizing families through a process that typically lasts 1-2 years, prioritizing education, nutrition, and family income generation through a business. Join our email list for new blog alerts. We appreciate your support.