Our Founder
My extensive travel and involvement with communities throughout Africa began a deep connection with Kenya and its people, particularly the children and youths. This formed the key philosophies which underpin the Evie Grace Foundation: to provide Education and Empowerment to disadvantaged children and youth in Kenya.
I have experienced hardship and trauma myself, losing my mother at a young age and being moved around foster homes, this instability and abandonment carried on throughout my life causing an array of challenges from depression, suicide attempts, abusive relationships and dangerous behaviour. I no longer look back negatively on my childhood and youth as if it wasn’t for these experiences, I wouldn’t be able to connect with the children I work with on such a deep level with an understanding of each other’s hardships.
Having just left high school, I travelled for the first time to Africa (Uganda & Kenya) to volunteer, and experienced for myself that unfortunately, many organisations have realised the profit to be gained from ‘volunteerism’ and how this exposes children to human trafficking for the benefit of unknowing westerners. Every volunteer program and internship that I participated in from then was researched thoroughly and changed my whole mindset on overseas volunteering. I began studying a Bachelor of International Development as I knew working in the Humanitarian sector was the career for me. Through rescue missions from child marriage in Uganda, child labour in Ghana and now rescuing street children in East Africa, my passion to eradicate child trafficking and exploitation grows more immensely by the day. Now completing my Masters in Human Rights and Certificate in Trauma Counselling, I am continually educating myself in this field. I am passionate to provide volunteer experiences to people and show that there is a way to volunteer sustainably without causing damage to the community.
I have some enormous goals for the future and will sacrifice for the rest of my life to ensure the children that cross my path are educated, empowered and understand their Human Rights. For me, educating a child is one of the greatest gifts that I can give them to end the cycle the poverty. Will you join me on this journey?
– Maddi Kent
