Friends of "Change Africa Foundation"

Who we are

Change Africa Foundation is a nonprofit organization, Charity Reg.1125611.

The Foundation’s officers are:

Mrs. Elizabeth A. Francis
- Founder and Chair

Mr. Michael East - Treasurer

Mr. Collins S. Otiende - Director of Programs

Mr. Roland Francis - Secretary

How we started
CAF was first founded in 2006 by a British woman, Elizabeth Anyango Francis, who was born and raised in Nyalenda, a slum area in Kisumu, Western Kenya.

A chance meeting with the British man who became her husband changed her life. Elizabeth Francis has never forgotten her roots, and lives with a sense of commitment to help alleviating the effects of poverty and disease on a stricken sector of society in her homeland.

During the past ten years, Elizabeth has successfully adopted four orphaned children from Kisumu. Recent events in Kenya, and the devastating effects of political and social unrest, have left Mrs. Francis and her husband, her friends and collaborators more determined than ever to help change lives for the better.

After two years of preparatory work, CAF was officially incorporated as a charity in the United Kingdom in August 2008.

What we do
Change Africa Foundation has already started its first orphanage home in Kenya. Based on donated funds and voluntary support, orphan children in Kisumu now have somewhere to take them in, sustain and comfort them, enroll them in formal school and put them on the path to education, training and greater fulfillment of their potential in life.

Building on her experience as the adoptive mother of four Kisumu orphans, Elizabeth Francis and CAF have built a twenty-room house on the shore of the Lake Victoria, in the Kisumu District, and equipped it as an orphan centre.

The CAF effort focuses on those in the local community affected (and infected) by life-threatening diseases such as HIV/AIDS, as well as the sadly attendant problems of poverty, homelessness, lack of education, exploitation and even sexual abuse. The CAF organization and its volunteer helpers assist those that need it most to realize their hopes, their ambitions and their potential in life.

CAF’s aim has been to create a well-established dwelling, resource centre and recreational facility to be used by needy children and their families. The home is a place of refuge and comfort, and a place to exchange and promote ideas on factors affecting people’s lives.

CAF is helping to fund the project, and to create a safer place to learn, by building physical infrastructure -- construction of school facilities, a reading and learning room, kitchens, dormitories, a nursing room for babies, a medical dispensary, and workshops. An early priority was providing food and clean water.

Change Africa Foundation Mission Statement
Our basic humanity means that everyone facing hardship in life deserves a helping hand, the chance of an education, and the opportunity to independently work towards a better future, for themselves and those nearest to them.

CAF was established to increase awareness and educate the public in all areas relating to HIV/AIDS and its effects on communities like Kisumu. Our mission, with help from our many friends and sympathisers, is to relieve sickness-related problems among sufferers and their families, in particular (but not exclusively) in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa.

Our Vision: Aims of CAF
The CAF initiative has from the beginning been aimed at addressing the plight of widows, orphans and other young people affected, or infected, by HIV/AIDS. Beyond dealing with the devastating effects of the disease itself, CAF aims to help alleviate poverty and sickness, promote good health and the chance of better education for people in disadvantaged communities.

CAF works closely with the affected communities, and with local and international donor agencies, to mobilise resources aimed at extending hope to disadvantaged people in Kenya, providing education, life support skills and initiatives, nutritional support, medical and recreational facilities.