Kerry’s reflection
Kerry has supported Rafiki Mwema from the Board table for six years. Last month, she made her first trip to Kenya, spending two weeks in the country and six days at Doyle Farm itself. She came home and wrote this reflection. Come along for the ride!
Kenya, at last: Reflections from my first visit
After six years with Rafiki Mwema, I finally made it to Kenya. Two weeks, split between the wide skies of Nakuru and the Maasai Mara for the first week, and six days at Doyle Farm — the heart of the organisation I’ve spent so long helping to steer from a distance.
Nothing quite prepares you for seeing it in person.
Joy and gratitude
The first thing that stayed with me was the people. We work in one of the more traumatic corners of human experience, and yet every staff member I met carried themselves with warmth, respect, and an easy smile. They radiated joy. Again and again, people told me how much it meant to have a representative from the Board visit in person — not just a face on a screen.
They spoke, too, of their gratitude for the work Rafiki Mwema has done, particularly over the last five years, and to our sponsors, without whom none of it would be possible.
What moved me most was hearing, directly from staff, how much Doyle Farm has changed. As we’ve become better at understanding and responding to the needs of the children in our care, and more deliberate about our long-term sustainability, something important has shifted for the people on the ground: they can now see their own recommendations translate into real, tangible change. That’s not a small thing. It’s the difference between doing a job and shaping an organisation.
Farming – and the children!
I also came away knowing considerably more about fish farms, crops, and cows than I ever expected to need. Doyle Farm’s push toward sustainability means these things matter enormously to its future, and the staff were only too happy to walk me through every detail. In the spirit of a Board Chair meddling where she probably shouldn’t, I tried to spark a friendly competition between the girls’ and boys’ kitchen gardens — we’ll see whether it takes root.
And then there were the children. Their resilience is humbling — the kind of resilience that shouldn’t have to exist, and yet does, worn lightly and without complaint. What I wasn’t quite ready for was how much love they exude.
Not guarded, not conditional — just love, offered freely.
Feeling welcomed and included
A personal highlight came during a staff meeting, when I was presented with traditional dress. I honestly couldn’t tell you who was more thrilled — me, or the staff members watching me put it on. It’s a beautiful garment, and wearing it felt like being welcomed properly, not just visiting.
That same meeting gave me a window into something else worth mentioning: the deep respect staff have for one another.
I had the honour of presenting the Staff Member of the Month award to Aunty Salome, and the room’s reaction — the warmth, the applause, the genuine pride taken in a colleague’s recognition — told me everything about the culture that’s been built at Doyle Farm.
Connections and friendships made
Midway through the trip, we had an unexpected but memorable encounter: representatives from SpaceX, along with a group of their friends, visited. Seeing Rafiki Mwema through the eyes of outsiders — people encountering the organisation for the first time, with no history or familiarity to colour their view was a good reminder of just how special what we’ve built really is. We have a great deal to be proud of, and sometimes it takes a visitor’s fresh perspective to see that clearly again.
I also want to mention Nicholas, our Country Director. I speak with Nic regularly — by now our conversations are practically routine — but nothing replaces seeing, in person, the impact he has on the ground. The love and joy he holds for the children and staff is matched only by the love and joy they hold for him. It’s mutual, obvious, and it’s clearly the backbone of so much of what makes Doyle Farm work.
A full heart
Six years in, I thought I understood Rafiki Mwema reasonably well from the reports, the calls, the Board papers. I did not expect to be moved the way I was. Meeting the people who carry this work every day — their joy, their resilience, their pride in what they’ve built — has given me a far deeper appreciation of what our donations and support actually mean, in real, human terms.
I came home with a full heart, a beautiful dress, and a renewed sense of why this work matters.
— Kerry, Chair of the Board
We appreciate you Kerry
Kerry’s six days at Doyle Farm are a reminder that governance at Rafiki Mwema isn’t a distant, paper exercise.
Our Board sees this work up close, and stands behind every dollar entrusted to us. If her reflection moved you, the most meaningful thing you can do this fortnight costs nothing at all: take a moment to share Rafiki Mwema with someone who might want to volunteer, sponsor, donate, or become part of the Rafiki family.
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