Welcome to our Community!
MYTO
Mathare Youth Talent Organization
We are a community built organization that supports education and health for children and families in the Mathare slum of Kenya.
The Mathare Youth Talent Organization is a registered nonprofit in Kenya
The MYTO School – 100% community built to serve our local children and the neighbors.
Education for Youth & Adults
- We offer primary school classes for children and school fees for the secondary school, college and technical training for students who would otherwise not have the opportunity for even an elementary education.
- We offer community education about HIV/AIDS and sanitary towels for girls.
Basic Support for Our Community
- MYTO helps provide food, personal protective equipments and other basic needs to the most needy families.
Our Story & Mission
About Us
MYTO is a community based organization in Mathare, Kenya, an informal settlement near Nairobi. Our mission is to give our young people the education and resources they need to become a resource to society. MYTO’s members are Mathare residents who are dedicated to engaging youth in community development activities.
In 2004, Mathare was one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Nairobi. Mathare resident Ben Ochieng decided to start a youth group to do development work in the community, and together with Elizabeth Otieno and Okidi Onesmus founded the Mathare Youth Talented Organization (MYTO) on May 2nd, 2004. MYTO’s first project was a school for orphans and other children who could not afford school fees. MYTO quickly gained recognition around Mathare and developed many projects along the way.
Medical Aid
MYTO has provided a wide range of medical services over the past decade ranging from HIV testing to distributing face masks aduring the COVID pandemic.
Hunger Aid
During the first part of the global COVID pandemic, Mathare worked with the Government of Kenya to distribute food to the local community.
Education
MYTO started as an after school program to keep children off the street. Over the years we expanded into a half dozen separate classrooms, which were all damaged in a fire in 2017. In 2018 we began planning and building the current MYTO school with the help of donors across the world, led by Dr. Nelson Guda.
Our Team
Who Are We
MYTO was started by a committed group of parents who wanted something better for their children.
The core of MYTO is made of dedicated community leaders who are almost entirely volunteers.
MYTO has also been extremely successful in enlisting the help of volunteers to do many things from teaching to raising funds for their building projects.
Benard Ochieng
Director
Founder and director of MYTO. Under Benard’s leadership MYTO has grown dramatically from it’s origins as a one room after school program.
Maureen Dominique
Program Director
Support Us
How You Can Get Involved
Volunteer! We regularly host volunteers from the United States and Europe. Volunteers have helped teach our children and build our schools. If you’re interested in coming to Kenya and working with us, please contact us!
Sponsorships: Are you interested in sponsoring one of our children to attend high school or college? We would love to talk to you!
Raised All the Funds for the MYTO School
Working with an international group of friends and volunteers we raised everything we needed to build a three story school for our community.
Great Experiences for International Volunteers
We have made friends with amazing people who came from Europe, and North and South America.
Sponsorships
Many of our children have been fortunate to receive sponsorships for school fees, giving them the opportunity to get a higher education.
The MYTO School
In 2018 a fire swept through our community, destrying or damaging many of our classrooms. Since then, we have been working to build a new and larger school that will be less vulnerable to fire and big enough to meet other needs of our community.
Learn about the school in this video made by one of our U.S. donors who helped raise money to start construction of our new school. After two years of construction and fund raising, we finished the building in 2021!
What Our Volunteers and Donors Say
Here are some stories from our amazing community of supporters.
Nelson Guda, U.S.A
I met Benard Ochieng on a trip to Kenya in 2011. I was so impressed with the MYTO School that I began raising money to help them when I returned to the U.S. Since then, I have been fortunate to help grow MYTO from a few corrugated iron shacks to a real building. The work being done by Benard and his community is truly inspiring.
Eva Labrujere, France
Ben, Mis Ris, and all the others at MYTO received me incredibly warmly. I got to learn about their organisation and projects, and beyond that, they opened up their world and personal lives to me. They gave me the chance to support in their project developments and design a website and logo. Also, Ben made every possible effort to help me with the field activities for my research. The experience here remains to inspire me to this day and I still consider MYTO as my family!
Melanie Pokluda
Visiting Ben Ochieng and the MYTO school was the highlight of my entire 3 week trip to Africa. The MYTO school is just incredible. It is truly a pillar in the community and source of hope for many. I toured and was amazed by how well built the school is, how sophisticated the curriculum, and how dedicated the volunteer teachers, and most of all Ben. He is a whirlwind of goodness for Mathare slum and beyond. I happened to be there when a community meeting was scheduled, and I was invited to speak about the work I do in Austin with sexual health, specifically HIV prevention. Many members of the community did not know that HIV is preventable, so I was able to give some hope.
Get in Touch. Get Involved.
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