Our Story

Nyanam International started in 2012 as Konyango Community-Based Organization, empowering rural communities adversely affected by illiteracy, poverty and HIV/AIDS in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya. At this time, Nyanam’s founder Jackie Odhiambo was studying in the United States on a scholarship, and she wanted to find a way to give back to her community. The community had recognized the need for a school in Jackie's home village of Konyango, and she was interested in helping.

After establishing Mboto Sunrise Primary School, which has since become a government school serving over 300 students, the community noticed that students and community members were traveling long distances to collect water at the lake, a task that was sometimes even life-threatening. This inspired Jackie to pursue partnership with another local non-profit organization to drill boreholes for the Kakakoka-Mboto Water Project, a community-owned water project that currently serves 3,000 households. 

During this work, Jackie noticed how widows were left behind in community projects, their voices unheard and often treated with neglect and disrespect. When one widow took the initiative to request personal support from Jackie, our founder met with over 80 widows to discuss their personal challenges and needs. From this meeting, Jackie understood that many of the community’s widows required similar support, and that there needed to be actions taken to specifically target their needs. 

In 2017, Jackie founded Nyanam and supported widows in starting Leadership Circles, which were the first step in creating spiritual, economic, and social empowerment for the widows.  Since its founding, Jackie and her team at Nyanam have supported widows in reaching their goals through a focus on personal development, social change, and justice.