Together, we can change the world
Just One Africa’s vision is to inspire the individual to effect change, resulting in thriving communities with access to clean water and with the capability of providing for their basic needs.
MISSION STATEMENT
Just One Africa cares for orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya by providing access to clean water and by partnering with local leaders to provide sustainable solutions which create hope through care, education, and community development.
Who We Help
Over half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease. About 80% of illnesses in developing countries are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions. One in every five deaths of persons under age five worldwide is due to a water-related disease. Clean Water that is safe to drink is critical to healthy living. We work with those impacted by this water crisis in Kenya, Africa, and beyond.
How We Help
For over a decade, we have worked hard to build lifelong, trusting relationships with local leaders, District Chiefs, and Government officials to apply the most effective methods to create clean water and sustainable programs. This includes distributing water filters, job creation through our Beads For Water project, and caring for orphaned and vulnerable children through local partners like Hope Beyond and Valley Light. With your help, we have reached thousands of individuals and transformed communities.
Why We Help
People. We believe people matter, a lot. We believe that each person is created on purpose for a purpose. We believe that each person can affect change right where they are. We have seen what happens when people come together for a common purpose; the world changes JUST ONE person at a time.
Meet our team
Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. ―Ryunosuke Satoro
The Board
Maureen Starr
Board Member
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Maureen Starr is a Kenyan native who currently serves as Director of Giver Services for Georgia National Christian Foundation. In her role, she enjoys helping generous families create giving strategies and be wise stewards of what they have been entrusted with to experience the greater joy of generosity.
Maureen was born and grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, until moving to the USA in 1999 at the age of 19. She graduated from Southern Arkansas University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Early on, Maureen knew that she wanted to live her life making a difference in the lives of others and being an agent of positive change. While enrolling their only daughter in Kindergarten, it was then that Maureen and her husband Tito met Joanie Fowler, a teacher at the school who also happened to be Amy’s mother. Joanie learned Maureen was Kenyan and shared about the work and ministry of Just One Africa. Maureen was intrigued. And as God’s timing would have it, Just One Africa kept bubbling through conversations in Maureen’s circle and church, and finally, Maureen had an opportunity to meet Amy and Clay Churchill.
Maureen knew that this was a divine connection and the Lord had provided a way for her to give back to her people in a way that truly makes a difference and is sustainable. Maureen is solution-minded and considers it a privilege and a blessing to serve on the board of Just One Africa. Maureen also places a high priority on family and loves to spend as much time with her family as possible. She and her husband, Tito, reside in north Georgia with their teenage daughter.
Joel Stocksdale
Treasurer
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Joel earned a Master’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2001. Since 2001, he has held a number of accounting and regulatory compliance roles, and currently works as a regulatory compliance consultant. Joel has long been interested in clean water projects and was excited at the opportunity to join the Just One Africa Team. As Treasurer, Joel assists primarily with business, finances, legal, and regulatory considerations and functions.
Nelson Guzman
Board Member
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Nelson has been a supporter of Just One Africa from the very beginning. Nelson traveled with Clay Churchill on the first official Just One Africa trip to western Kenya in 2012. After seeing first-hand the fruits of what Just One Africa has been doing in the local communities of Kenya, he knew he wanted to do more. Nelson has always believed in giving back and helping others. As a Malpractice Insurance Broker in business, Nelson helps Doctors determine the best Insurance Coverage for their Medical Practice so they can serve their patients and focus on the best care they can provide. As a Husband of over 20 years, to his amazing wife, and father to their 3 teenagers, Nelson is continually striving for the opportunity to show his family and those around him how making a change, whether big or small, is possible for each of us.
Noel Coleman
Board Member
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Noel started looking at life differently early on. From starting a general contracting company at the age of 12 and reselling “deformed” cookies from a local business on the school bus to winning the Ranatra Fusca individual’s award for creative thinking, looking at the world differently has always moved him toward what’s possible. After leaving Georgia Tech while studying engineering, Noel has developed skills from sales to executive management, strategy, and planning, helping grow and turn around a company from a small print shop to a SaaS model software provider to the healthcare industry. Noel’s love of children (starting primarily with his three boys) drives him to seek ways to protect and serve the most vulnerable, from financially adopting children to getting involved in trafficking advocacy. Noel is very excited to be privileged to serve on the board of Just One and help them grow their reach and abilities. Noel lives north of Atlanta with a wife who’s out of his league and three “all-boy” boys.
Our Partners
John & Dorcus Parit
Partners at Lenkai Christian School & Hope Beyon Center, Kimana, Kenya
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John and Dorcus Parit are the founders of Lenkai Christian School based in the Kimana area of south-eastern Kenya. This private Christian school has over 250 students ranging from Baby Class (Pre-School) to Junior High School (or 8th grade). Their vision is to offer a holistic education to local Kenyan children, to equip them with the best possible education, and to develop their individual potential while molding them into future leaders.
They are also the founders of Hope Beyond Transitional Center, which cares for children from needy cases such as female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, child neglect, forced labor, human trafficking, and other abusive realities. The Center also offers non-residential support to orphans and other needy cases, such as Albinism, within the neighboring community. Hope Beyond provides trauma therapy and counseling for these precious children.
John is the African Director of The Olive Branch Mission, a US and Kenyan-registered nonprofit with many diverse projects in Kenya. John received his Master’s Degree in International Management through the University of Liverpool.
Dorcus is the Volunteer Coordinator of the Water Filter Project by Just One Africa, which involves training and distribution of the filters to communities. The Water Filter Program has seen the distribution of over 5,000 water filters to various communities within a 200-kilometer radius of the school with tremendous success and significant impact. Dorcus is also an active leader on the local and national stage, serving with the Local Peace Committee. She is the Kajiado County Treasurer of the National Women Organization. She sits on other local and national committees involved in fighting for the rights of women and children while advocating against FGM and other forms of child abuse. She is also passionate about empowering women and providing many sustainability opportunities for them.
Besides all the children they help raise, they have five exceptional children of their own, three girls and two boys.
John & Leah Njoroge
Partners at Valley Light Home, Maai Mahiu, Kenya
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Valley Light Home is the dream realized and long-term commitment of a couple, each born and raised in Kenya. After years of planning and careful strategy, Valley Light Home opened its doors to take in 6 children in August 2011, the youngest little one a child of 6 weeks. The mission is to provide holistic care to children orphaned or abandoned or from families who cannot look after them. Currently, VLH houses 36 children.
Valley Light Home was carefully constructed as a home rather than an institution for up to 36 children (infants to 18 years of age). The project is managed by local staff, including a full-time social worker. Houseparents live at the home full-time where family life includes providing professional care and guidance for physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs. As some of the children placed here are HIV+, caregivers are trained to administer medication, monitor nutrition, and care for individual health needs.
John and Leah both have PhDs. John has his in Philosophy, and Leah has hers in Education. They have two of their own boys.
The Founders
Clay & Amy Churchill
Co-Founders
Clay and Amy have been married for over 25 years and love serving others as a family. They both grew up with the world in their hearts, and that heartbeat is now evident in their children. In Clay’s college years, he traveled with an outreach team to India and Central Africa. He witnessed the poverty and yet, at the same time, the utter joy found in the simple things. From sustainability projects to water filter distributions, the founder’s mindset is clear — people are at the center of all they do. They want to see lives changed for good, not just for a moment. They desire that others fully realize that they are created for a purpose and already have what it takes to make a difference today, Just One person at a time!
CLEAN WATER SAVES LIVES
Access to clean, safe water is a catalyst for change and the first step to elevating communities from a cycle of sickness and poverty to one of health and hope.
Imagine a world where everyone has access to clean water… where mothers can provide safe water to their children… where sickness doesn’t rob those children of their education and childhood. Imagine a world where money doesn’t have to be spent purchasing medication for preventable diseases but is spent feeding or educating their children. Imagine a world where parents can feel healthy enough to work and earn a living to help change their world for the better.
Global Goals
for sustainable development
On September 25, 2015, 193 world leaders committed to 17 Global Goals and to achieve these extraordinary things in the next 15 years. End extreme poverty. Fight inequality & injustice. Protect our planet. The United Nation’s Global Goals for sustainable development could get these things done. In all countries. For all people.
Just One Africa is focusing on the first six goals, which we believe are totally attainable.
End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
We ensure the vulnerable children we support are educated, breaking the poverty chain and allowing these children to thrive as they grow into responsible members of society. Our sustainable projects provide income from within, reducing their dependencies on outside donations. These establishments have created jobs in the community and provided income and crucial food for the children. (SDG1)
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
Our sustainable farming projects continue to grow. We have provided innovative and effective farming techniques, seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation resources to increase the harvest and income from the excess crops. Our goal is to have our partners reduce their out-of-pocket expenses and have a sustainable source of both nutritious food and income. (SDG2)
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Healthy lives start with wholesome diets, warm clothes, and good shelter. We believe that a safe environment, including education and community, is critical to promoting the well-being of children. Children need love, care, and hope. The children we support are provided medical attention when needed. Good health is critical for children. (SDG3)
Ensure quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
We believe every child should have access to quality education. We partner with schools, rescue centers, and orphanages to provide a higher level of education and to ensure each of the children we support receives the best education possible. Education is the key to ending poverty. We bring quality school supplies and teaching materials with us on each trip. We connect teachers in the United States with teachers in Kenya to provide new and innovative teaching methods. Students in our music program have even performed for Margaret Kenyatta. (SDG4)
Achieve gender equality and empower all women & girls.
We believe girls should have access to education, safety, and dignity. We have distributed thousands of sustainable feminine hygiene kits to girls giving them dignity. It is unfair for girls to miss a week of school each month because of their natural bodily functions. These kits are handmade with love and care by our team of volunteers, but we are currently training women in Kenya to make them as well. We believe the poverty cycle can be broken when girls stay in school. We are partnering with local leaders leading the fight against the illegal practice of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). (SDG5)
Ensure availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for all.
We have distributed thousands of water filters throughout Kenya and have trained the recipients on WASH (Wash, Sanitation, and Hygiene) best practices and simple ways to keep families healthy. Their money is now spent on food and necessities rather than medicine or medical care. Entire villages are seeing the benefits of having clean water, and hope for a healthy future is expanding. Our first deep water well was dug in 2015. We have built several bathroom facilities for schools, orphanages, and rescue centers. (SDG6)
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. The new Goals are unique in that they call for action by all poor, rich, and middle-income countries to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address various social needs, including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities while tackling climate change and environmental protection.
Read more about the Sustainable Development Goals on the UN website.
Together we will create hope
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