Life engenders life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.
Sarah Bernhardt
The Foundation’s name is a mixture of two languages spoken in Kenya:
English and Swahili
“Neighbor Kwa Jirani” literally means
“Neighbor to Neighbor” or at the “Neighbors Place”.
This concept forms the essence of the rural African family mentality and community perspective. Within the traditional villages of Africa in which we work, houses and huts are situated side by side for safety and sharing of basic tasks and needs as they help each other.
The members of these rural African communities are taught from a young age that they each have a social and moral responsibility to help their family, their clan, their tribe and their neighbor in time of need.
We at Neighbor Kwa Jirani have adopted this African village mindset. We have come to believe that we are all Neighbors on planet Earth. Our Kenyan neighbors may be right next door if you live in Africa, a couple of blocks over if you are in Europe or Asia and several blocks away if you live in the Americas but the fact still remains:
Our logo was designed by the internationally acclaimed Kenyan Sculptor Gerard Motondi who happens to live very near the Foundation’s school for orphans.
Gerard is a graduate of Kenyatta University in International Stone Art and when he is not traveling the globe he is a lecturer at Asumbi Teachers Training College. Gerard has a heart for service when it comes to orphaned children.
Gerard tells this story about the Neighbor Kwa Jirani Foundation’s logo:
The logo design reflects three human forms next to each other. Why three? This is the African philosophy of support borrowed from the the three traditional cooking stones, the three legged elders stool etc. The forms are next to each other hence the feeling of neighborhood.
The logo has a red cross in it’s center denoting the health and human services work done within the communities by the Foundation. You can see the logo is in the shape of a pencil with a black point representing education as the base for supporting under privileged members of the community. The Foundation helps these marginalized members discover their talents and unleash their potential for a better life through education.
Lastly, the three colors of the logo come from the colors of the Kenyan flag: The color Green represents the landscape and natural wealth of Kenya. The color Black symbolizes the Kenyan people. The color Red represents bloodshed as the country fought for its independence.