When Maji Development Coalition (MDC) began its work in 2015, we didn’t show up with a master plan. We arrived with questions—and ears ready to listen. Before any project began, we conducted a community needs survey to understand what the people of Maji truly needed—not what we assumed from the outside. Since then, MDC has partnered with local leaders, families, and government officials to bring solar power, clean water, and women’s self-help groups to life. This community-first approach makes MDC different. Here’s how: We Respect Local Leadership Too often, nonprofits enter communities and treat local officials as obstacles. MDC sees them as allies. In Maji, [...]

Among the Dizi people of Maji, women had been so crushed, both men and women’s focus groups urged MDC to bring hope to women. Somehow. The Dizi, the indigenous people of Maji, were decimated by a 19th century East African slave trade that scattered the darkest skinned Africans north and east. Women took much of the impact as the culture shattered. When MDC arrived with a community needs survey, the community asked what could be done for women. Rather than mounting a rescue operation, MDC cast a vision of hope. It’s a vision that goes deeper than the symptoms. It’s a [...]

A Foundation of Hope: The First Steps Toward the Women’s Development Center Something amazing is happening in Maji—and it’s all thanks to the Spirit moving hearts (and sand)! Just a few weeks ago, we faced a major hurdle: no sand. Maji sits high in the mountains at 8,000 feet, where there’s plenty of mud—but no sand. This is critical for building the Women's Development Center. Back when I was a kid, the tiny pile of sand on our veranda was so precious we weren’t even allowed to touch it! Today, not much has changed—building materials like sand and gravel still have [...]