About

Vision

A Beacon of hope for holistic transformation of widows for sustainable families and communities.

Mission

To empower widows to live dignified lives through Psychosocial and economic transformation, and access to justice

Vision

A Beacon of hope for holistic transformation of widows for sustainable families and communities.

Mission

To empower widows to live dignified lives through Psychosocial and economic transformation, and access to justice

Where it all begun

My name is Rev. Dr. Lydia Mwaniki, Founder and CEO of Kareri Community Based Organization (CBO). It all begun when my husband, The Rev. Daniel Stakos Mwaniki died suddenly after a short illness on 20th August 2004. My world became dark and motionless, and my body numb, when I saw his lifeless body lying at Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi Hospital that early morning. I was in a state of shock and confusion. “By all means it can’t be true”! I consoled myself. The reality of my new status as a widow was so unreal and unimaginable.

Widowhood in my community was a label in itself, and widows were viewed with suspicion and stigmatized. I wondered how I would move on. My husband and I had lived peacefully as friends for 13 years. We were blessed with 2 boys and 1 girl aged between 10 and 14 by the time of his demise. All of them were in primary school. The emotional and financial struggles of raising these children to young adults as they are today have been real. People encouraged me that the gap would be filled gradually, only to realize that the gap is never filled. It is only by the grace of God that I have been able to move on.

I have managed to educate my children, some of who are still pursuing higher levels of education. Through faith, courage and determination, I pursued my PhD in Theology, majoring in New Testament and Gender at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, and have taught at Universities and theological institutions. I am a Priest in the Anglican Church of Kenya, Nairobi Diocese. I am the former Director, Gender and Women at the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) where I served for 9 years (2015-August 2024), and established a Campaign for Justice for Widows that has transformed many families of widows in the Continent.

I strongly felt challenged to share my success story as a motivation, inspiration and hope to them, hence the birth of Kareri Widows CBO.

The name Kareri means one who nurtures. The organization is named after a Christian woman in Central Kenya who lived a selfless life of nurturing children and grown-ups until her death in 1972.

Where it all begun

My name is Rev. Dr. Lydia Mwaniki, Founder of Kareri Community Based Organization (CBO).

It all begun when my husband, The Rev. Daniel Stakos Mwaniki died suddenly after a short illness on 20th August 2004. My world became dark and motionless, and my body numb, when I saw his lifeless body lying at Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi Hospital that early morning. I was in a state of shock and confusion. “By all means it can’t be true”! I consoled myself. The reality of my new status as a widow was so unreal and unimaginable.

As I commemorated my 20th year in widowhood in 2024, beyond AACC, I thought about the most vulnerable widows and was filled with compassion. How could I empower them to live beyond the graves of their husbands? I strongly felt challenged to share my success story as a motivation, inspiration and hope to them, hence the birth of Kareri Widows CBO.

The name Kareri means one who nurtures. The organization is named after a Christian woman in Central Kenya who lived a selfless life of nurturing children and grown-ups until her death in 1972.

Kareri Widows CBO is duly registered by the Directorate of Social Development in Kenya.

It is a non-profit initiative for Women’s Empowerment, with a focus on vulnerable widows, especially those in Arid and Semi-Arid areas in Kenya, to attain their right to justice, dignity, inclusion, self-reliance, health and well-being. The organization addresses the plight of widows through Psychosocial, humanitarian, and economic support, access to legal and gender justice, as well as mitigating the effects of Climate crisis.

The Reality on the ground

Widows are among the category of women whose rights are most violated, and widowhood is one of the most neglected of all gender and human rights issues globally. In 2019, The United Nations set aside 23rd June as the International Widows Day to create awareness and encourage more research into the plight of widows.

Challenges facing widow in Kenya and Africa at large differ from one community to another. Some of them include dispossession and denial of inheritance and land rights by the late husband’s family, which exposes them to extreme poverty, dehumanizing social norms and harmful practices such as cleansing rituals and widow inheritance, thus exposing them to the risk of HIV/Aids and other STDs, abuse of their rights and dignity, exclusion, stigma, loneliness, and sometimes lack of purpose.

Additionally, widows in Arid and Semi-Arid areas are more vulnerable to the effects of Climate Change that subject them to extreme poverty, leading to hunger, malnutrition, ill health, lack of shelter and clothing. They are also at risk of sexual abuse as a means of survival. Their children too may have to endure extreme poverty, illiteracy, child labour, prostitution or enforced labour.

Kareri Widows Organization offers holistic empowerment enabling widows to find purpose in life, improve their health, psychological and economic status, as well as social networks and access to justice. This contributes to elimination of stigma and enables widows and their families to live abundant and fulfilled lives.

Clean Water

+3000 People provide with clean water

Build Schools

+100 schools built in this area.

Access to Education

+3000 children given access to education