The Sophia Project

Our Mission is to empower rural communities for sustainable development in Pap Onditi. We work with the most at risk groups and widows access life skills and economic empowerment for durable solutions.

The Sophia Project is registered as a Community Based Organization (CBO) since 2016. It is founded to meet the health, social and economic needs of the most at risk children, youth and widows whose lives remain trapped by poverty and disease in Pap Onditi, Kisumu County.. We believe that if vulnerable lives of these target groups transformed and inspired, they will in turn transform their communities and the World.

As a child who lost his father at a very early age in Kenya, Nicholas Otieno Ojwando is no stranger to hardships and tribulations. At age 2, his father passed away. He witnessed the struggles of his widowed mother (Sophia); attempting to provide for 6 children through manual labour, running small businesses even if it meant distilling illegal local brew which sometimes led to her arrest and spending time in police cell.

Nicholas could easily have become one of the 1,000’s of vulnerable children who roam the streets, forage thru garbage dumpsites for food or become entrapped into child slavery. He is the exception. Self-determination and strong family environment helped him to complete college. He was fortunate to work with both local and international organizations that provided social support and economic empowerment to vulnerable children and women both in Kenya and in South Sudan. Through this work experience, he has become a strong advocate for the cause.

The idea of starting such a social venture as a way of giving back to the community has been there with him for over 15 years. He started supporting few needy children in his own efforts on a very small scale access secondary education through his own and family resources from his village in 2008.

Through the struggle of his mother, the founder recognized the central role women play in the development and upbringing of the children in the community. Their daily struggle in engaging in small business ventures to generate income for the family is a test to this.

His goal is to see a more sustainable and empowered communities through his social venture, called “The Sophia Project (TSP)”.