There is an old African proverb that goes, “It takes a village to raise a child”. This saying is the driving force behind the work of James Jay Mawaka, a London-based Zimbabwean author and founder of the LeNoir Foundation.

He says he drew inspiration from his experiences while growing up in Zimbabwe to start up this charity. “I grew up in Zimbabwe and saw first hand the struggles and different quality of education one gets if they do not come from a well of family. After my first year at University, I made it my mission to provide support or means to educate those children that come from the same background as myself”, James explains.

The LeNoir Foundation currently operates in three different countries; India, Zimbabwe and Uganda. When quizzed on why he chose the latter, Mawaka said, “I was introduced to a young man in Uganda who was already running an NGO called The Little Angels foundation. He was very passionate about his cause seeing as he was an orphan from Rwanda. I decided to guide him through the process and over time I met more people with similar stories that were fighting for a brighter future. These are the type of individuals I believe will stop at nothing to ensure others around them have better opportunities”.

The foundation typically targets underprivileged boys and girls aged 5-12, but according to Mawaka, for the project to have a bigger impact, they need to ensure the parents are 100% convinced of their work. Parents, he adds, are just as instrumental as the children to the effectiveness of such an operation.

Every foundation requires funding, and Mawaka is under no illusions as to how challenging it can be to find resources. However, he says they’ve been able to raise money for projects through donations as well as government grants. “I also do public speaking and coaching and donate all fees and profits from this my published books to fund our various projects”, he adds. As part of efforts to ensure LeNoir Foundation runs smoothly, Mawaka has set up partnerships with other charity organizations in Zimbabwe, India and Uganda.

“In the next few months we will be adding the El Cambio Academy in Uganda as one of our trusted partners. They focus on developing youth in Africa through football and education”, he explains.

Despite all the good work LeNoir Foundation have so far done in the country, Mawaka notes that he has not been to Uganda before.

“I personally have not had the opportunity to visit Uganda due to COVID-19 restrictions but I am very proud of what we’ve achieved in the past 18 months”, he adds.

“I’m fortunate to have a network of supporters and dedicated highly skilled volunteers in India, Zimbabwe and now Uganda”. Speaking of COVID-19, the adverse effects of the pandemic in India forced them to shut down operations in the country, but Mawaka remains optimistic that they will resume early next year.

Mawaka is also passionate about books, and with him being a published author, it comes as no surprise when he reveals the foundation have successfully built their first library that will give access to reading materials and IT lessons to 500 children this year alone. But he does not plan on stopping there. “We plan to be the Dale Carnegie of libraries – building and restoring libraries in Africa”, he mentions.

For more information, visit lenoirfoundation.com or any of their social media pages using a data bundle from MTN Pulse. Dial *157*20# to load 50MB + 200MB SWIFT.