Beatrice Williamson, Founder and Director

Beatrice Williamson is a distinguished leader known for her warmth, humor and commitment to learning. She was born January 19, 1976 in Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya. From the age of nine years old until her second year of college, Beatrice received a scholarship for education from Swedish missionary Anna Lanson. Education was what Beatrice needed to rise above her circumstances and realize her potential.

"Aunty Bea" as the Maisha children affectionately call her, came to The United States in 2001. She founded Pamoja International Ministry to provide outreach services to international students in Oklahoma.  She also consults regularly with international executives from a variety of fields to help create synergistic solutions to impacting problems these students face.

In the meantime, Beatrice's family, living in the village of Kano, just outside of Kisumu, expressed the need and dire situation of the orphans and widows living in their community. The fruition of Beatrice’s dream began in 2006, when she founded Maisha International Orphanage in response to this call for help. Now, her passion is to reach out to orphaned and destitute children and provide them with the same opportunity Anna Lanson gave her.  By making a difference in the lives of the children from her home village, Beatrice strives to create a brighter future for the next generation. Her passion is to reach out to orphaned and destitute children and continue the Legacy of Hope Anna Lanson began.

"Anyone can make a difference, so I want to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and do something to make a change by raising awareness about Maisha, hosting fundraisers and going for mission trips. I want to inspire people to be better than what they were yesterday.  I want to use my voice to let people know about orphans and destitute children in Africa and around the world."

Jennifer Whitener, Volunteer Co-Director

Jennifer is unashamedly passionate about life. She strives to encourage, bring joy and ease the burdens of others. She's a voracious traveler to real places where she can get her hands dirty, toiling side by side with the people, forming lifelong friendships and experiencing the raw natural beauty as well as indigenous cuisine.

In her own words: "I fell in love with Kenya and the people of Maisha when I first went on a 'seeking' mission with Beatrice in 2007. It has been a race to keep up with all the opportunities the Lord has placed in our path ever since. We've seen great transformation in the community and the effect hope has had on the spirit of the people. To see them beginning to prosper and most of all the children regaining hope and having a chance to succeed is worth all the hard work. In truth, I have gained much more from the love, sense of community, and joy they have offered me than I could ever give them. One thing Kenya has taught me is the simplest things in life bring the most pleasure and to slow down long enough to enjoy the journey."

Favorite Inspirational Quote: "Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love." - Sir Francis Drake

Mark Nehrenz, Volunteer Videographer

If you have seen a video about Maisha, Mark probably made it.

Mark has been Maisha's volunteer videographer since the first Team Maisha mission trip in 2008. He met Bea in Oklahoma City in 2007 at a prayer service for the post-election violence in Kenya, decided to go on the mission trip and hasn't looked back since. Mark has been to Maisha five times and many people in the village consider him a member of the community. He has also spent a lot of time in South Africa. As a result of his connections in South Africa and his deep love of Maisha, three mission trips of South African students have travelled to Maisha to serve.

Mark is a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma, getting his master's degree in journalism. He spent nearly a year in South Africa on a Fulbright Grant making documentaries, wishing he could be at Maisha doing the same with the kids there!!

In his own words: “Maisha has made Kenya a home away from home for me. I find incredible joy in telling the story of what God is doing at Maisha through the videos that I make. When Bea and I are at Maisha and reflect on how much growth has happened since 2008, we are just blown away and humbled at how much has happened because of our incredible supporters around the world. My experiences at Maisha have forever changed me into someone who has life- long connections with my brothers and sisters in Africa. I look forward to telling their stories in the best way I know how for as long as I can! The people of Maisha are changing Kenya, and I think they can change the world!”

Bruce Edwards, Volunteer Director of Sustainable Farming

Bruce Edwards is a retired army non-commissioned officer that created a second career by taking advantage of his GI Bill benefits after retiring from the army in 1994. He studied Horticulture at Oklahoma State University - OKC and has since worked in the related fields of landscaping, greenhouse management, horticulture therapy and retail nursery and garden sales.

Bruce was the Director of Urban Harvest from 2004 to 2011, a program of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. The program was designed to assist in making fresh fruits and vegetables more readily available to hungry Oklahomans. His notable accomplishments there include:

• Helping to establish over 40 community gardening projects of various sizes and focus throughout the Oklahoma City area and throughout Oklahoma.
• Growing and harvesting seasonal organic produce from the gardens, orchards, greenhouses and edible landscape of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma which were primarily directed to kids and senior feeding programs. Thousands of pounds of fresh produce were provided each year to those in need through the Food Bank from the 3.5 acres used for this purpose.
• Developed seasonal sustainable hands-on organic gardening and small urban farming workshops for individuals and groups to introduce basic and advanced gardening and related skills. Over 400 students attended these courses resulting in many first time home gardens and enhancing established small farms in the area with techniques to grow food more efficiently.

In addition Bruce has pioneered and developed:

• Aquaponics growing systems which combine aquaculture (growing fish) with hydroponics (soilless plant production) in a circulating water system using the fish waste to fertilize the plants which in turn clean the water for the fish.
• Large scale worm composting in which worms eat waste food to produce high quality fertilizers as well as other composting techniques.
• Vertical growing systems using drip irrigation and recycled fish water as fertilizer to grow more food in small spaces.
• Large scale food waste composting using volunteer labor (Red Dirt Soil Builders) to divert food and yard waste from the local dump to the various composting systems located on the Urban Harvest Gardens urban farm. This activity diverted well over 220,000 lbs of spoiled or damaged food waste over a one year period providing a financial impact of over $11,000.00 in savings for the Food Bank, provided rich soil amendments for the gardens and influenced many individuals to start composting at home.

Bruce is now the Maisha Volunteer Director of Sustainable Farming. While visiting Kenya in 2011, Bruce directed the establishment of a garden at the Maisha Village named Shambas of Maisha (Gardens of Life). This garden is now providing garden fresh foods for over 450 orphans and widows, supplementing the feeding program of beans and rice. He continues to direct the growth of Shambas of Maisha from his home in North Little Rock Arkansas. He fundraises for improvements of the garden and food related issues with the goal of getting the village to the point where it can sustain itself without a feeding program. A hand up, not a hand out!