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some of our mmk kenyan staff

 

       Kepher, RN              Josiah, Security        Jetrose, Janitorial      Nelson Aboro, Director

  Kepher, Registration    Mama Nancy, Hospitality    Susan, Hospitality

 

    Josephine, RN & Midwife           Ogenya, Chief Security

 

how mama maria began - founder peter kithene's story

Peter "Awilo" Kithene was born in the remote village of Muhuru Bay, Kenya in the early 80's. He was a typical village boy, living in a world of poverty without electricity, without plumbing, and often without food -like everybody else there, but from the beginning he was different: he had an enormous respect for his parents, and an endless thirst for knowledge. As a child he already had a goal - to study and use the knowledge he gained to help others in need. At twelve years of age, Peter's parents died, leaving him to care for his three young siblings and unable to afford the cost of Kenyan elementary education.


The death of his parents nearly ended Peter's plans. Being, what he terms, "an ordinary African orphan," he knew chances weren't good he'd make it far in life; elementary school fees were prohibitively expensive in Kenya at the time, and his friends and relatives considered his passion for education a selfish waste of time. They begged him to give it up so he could commit full-time to the raising of his siblings. ...But he knew the best way he could help his family was to get educated. Read More

US -- mama maria wellness clinic board of directors

The Mama Maria Wellness Clinic is a US 501(c)3 nonprofit funding institution designed to raise money for the support and growth of Mama Maria Kenya. It's Board of Directors is separate and distinct from the Kenyan Board.

 

The MMWC Board will soon have its own website, in the meantime, however here is its Board listing:

Peter Kithene - Founder and Chair
Katrina Kithene - Co-Founder and Board Member
Larry Crites - Board Member

Stacy Crites - Board Member
Christine Wallace - Board Member

Bart Haynes - Board Member

 

Peter Kithene

Born October 22, 1982, Peter Awilo Kithene was orphaned at the age of 12. He attended grammar school at Rabwao Primary in village of Muhuru Bay, Nyanza Province, Kenya and Nyangere Primary School in Kadem.


At 13 he generated HIV awareness for the Matoso Clinic (in his grandmother's village) through skits he developed and wrote, then performed at local schools. At the same age, Peter sat the national exams, where he emerged as the number one student in his province. Due to this early academic success he was awarded a full scholarship to study at Kenya's premier high school in Nairobi, Starehe Boys Centre. At Starehe Peter accepted various leadership positions, including school prefect, student-in-charge at the school clinic, chairman of various clubs, student-in-charge of the school's voluntary service scheme.


After graduating his O-levels, Peter was awarded places at both the University of Nairobi and the University of Washington. Peter chose to come to the West, where he could receive the most relevant, hands-on and technologically advanced education available. His undergraduate studies are in psychology and pre-medicine. He is the recipient of scholarships and awards from Leadership Advancement International and Munro Leadership Fellowship, and he is a Mary Gates Scholar. In 2007, Peter completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Pre-Medicine. In the fall of 2007 he began his Graduate degree (at UW) in Health Administration in the School of Public Health.

 

"Advancing the goals of diversity and improving health care to underserved populations is the most motivating factor in my life," Peter says. "The health care system in my homeland is desperately underserved, and I know firsthand what disparity in health care does to people. It is important to me to learn how things are done in the developed world, so I can carry that knowledge back to Africa; I want to help lead Africa into the post-modern world, so she can begin to grow a strong infrastructure of leadership." (Read more about Peter's life story, or his essay on AIDS orphans.)


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