Ripples International [RI]
vision was borne in February
2000. Documentation process
followed thereafter,
culminating into
registration in June 2002 as
Religious Trust
organization.
It was borne out of a divine
call and response to save
lives and give hope
centering on children and
families to the glory of
God. Founders are
technocrats desirous in
providing total care to
children, families and the
oppressed with the
conviction that a stable
nation is borne out of
stable families.
Since receiving its first
grant in 2003, RI has grown
and now attracts funding
from both local and
international donors. It is
now celebrated as one of the
most vibrant programs in the
region, addressing diverse
needs with emphasis on care
for orphans and vulnerable
children, families and the
communities.
Summarily, RI is an
accountable, life
transforming organization
centering on the welfare of
children and development of
communities with emphasis on
empowering households and
families to take full
responsibility of their
future.
How it all started
Mr. Chidi Ogbonna and Mrs.
Mercy Chidi worked with
different international
organizations, a strong
implant was made on them to
reach out and save lives.
This implant gradually built
a huge fire of passion in
their hearts and kept them
restless and greatly
disturbed at reality of
living in luxury yet seeing
the human degradation,
suffering, immorality, death
and rampant abuse ravaging
the lives of children and
families.
This call was divinely
confirmed as Mr. Chidi
Ogbonna while working for
the United Nations – World
Food Programme in Kakuma
Refugee camp in Kenya, heard
a voice in February 2000
tell him to reach-out and
save lives. Mrs. Mercy
Chidi’s heart [who then
worked for Catholic Relief
Services] was stirred in
2001 after reading a
spectacular Newspaper
heading captioned "Meru
District rates 40% in HIV
infection".
That message implanted in us
the confirmation that God
would rather have us leave
our comfort zone and offer
part of our lives to the
service of humanity. With
these revelations and
confirmations, our hearts
became even more restless
and made us seriously
consider the option of
resigning from our jobs to
start an accountable,
organization to serve the
needs of children and
families.
As much as our hearts were
settled on the assurance of
the divine calling, we had
the fear of economic
survival. Armed with faith
in God, family savings,
encouragement from friends
and a determination that
could not be deterred, we
started on a journey that we
were later to find the cost.
What we stand for
Our Actions are to mirror
our heavenly Father's
efforts to reconcile
disrupted relationships.
Our Love is to fuel and
shape our willingness to
serve just as God's love
caused Him to find a way to
keep our sin from separating
us from Him forever.
Our Mission is not to do the
things that come easily but
rather to seek to love and
serve sacrificially out of
the riches of the one who
sacrificially loved and
served us.
Our Passion to serve is
deeply rooted in the reality
that a higher percentage of
the African population
reside in the rural areas
submerged in poverty yet,
the rural areas are the
least developed with poor
health, economic,
communication, education,
road net works and other
social infrastructures. This
continues to promote
poverty, encourages economic
dependency, poor health,
limited education
facilities, unemployment and
a host of others.
Mission
................................
To follow the example of our
lord & Saviour Jesus Christ
in standing with the
oppressed, establish united
family structure alleviate
poverty & suffering around
the world
................................
Vision
................................
To improve the living
standards of human beings
through training,
education,counselling &
diverse rehabilitation
activities covering HIV/AIDS
and other social concerns
................................
Core Values
• We save lives
• We are Christians
• We are accountable
• We stand with the
oppressed
• We love children and
cherish their lives
• We support the welfare of
families to establish a
stable nation
• We stand against the horns
of immorality, sickness,
death and poverty
He is a seasoned international humanitarian worker who holds degrees in administration, and a diploma in theology. He has a wealth of experience in humanitarian activities involving relief activities, drought and refugee operations, food aid programming, commodity accounting, logistics, administration, management and data.
He worked for 11 years with the United Nations , World Food Program where he covered Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kenya and 3 years with World Vision in Kenya and Zambia. Under his leadership RI has earned credibility in the region.
Program Director - Mrs. Mercy Chidi:
Mercy Chidi Ogbonna holds a Bachelor
of Arts graduate from Nairobi
University. She has 12 years
experience in program designing and
implementation from prior experience
working with international
humanitarian organizations amongst
them German Agro Action/Kenya
freedom from hunger and Catholic
Relief Services in project design,
implementation, monitoring and
evaluation.
With this experience, Mercy provides
leadership and direction to Ripples
International programs that range
from HIV/AIDS prevention, care for
the affected and infected, Rescue
and rehabilitation of abandoned
babies of below one year, Rescue,
shelter and rehabilitation of
sexually abuse girls of below 17
years, health care services, care
and support for orphans and other
vulnerable children, advocacy for
gender based violence just to
mention a few. Her technical support
in anchored in quality assurance for
all the services that RI provides
With over 7 years in senior
leadership position that requires
motivation, building teamwork and
harnessing human resources, Mercy
experience has included human and
financial resource mobilization,
operations and accountability.
Under her program leadership, RI has
grown and now attracts funding from
both local and international donors.
It is now celebrated as one of the
most vibrant programs in the region,
addressing diverse needs with
emphasis on care for orphans and
vulnerable children, families and
the communities. Mercy has been key
note speaker in several forums in
USA and is a mentor to a growing
number of young women leaders.
Govering
Bodies
How Ripples International is
governed
Trustees:
The highest organ in the
organization is made up of Ten
(10) members of various
nationalities; Four (4)
Americans, Four(4) Kenyans,
One(1) Briton and One(1)
Nigerian.
Governing Board:
Thirteen (13) Members: Term is 2
Years. Core Roles:
Accountability, Governance,
Strategic Planning and Resource
Mobilization.
Executive Board of Governors:
3 Members. This is the internal
executive council that comprises
the Governing Board Chair
Person, Treasurer and Secretary.
Directors:
2 Members: Currently the
Founders of the organization who
are the vision carriers manage
the organization on a day to day
basis.
Core Leadership:
5 Members being The 2 Directors,
The Senior Program Officer, The
accountant and The Officer In
Charge Health Sector. They are
responsible for checks and
balances and overall management.
Department Heads
Leadership Team:
- 4 Members Comprises of Senior
Program Officer, Officer In
charge-Health Sector, HR/Admin
Officer, Project Officer. They
manage the projects within RI
and report directly to the
Senior Program Officer and the
Directors.
Staff and Volunteers:
- 52 staff and 3 International
volunteers. Work directly with
beneficiaries in programs and
reports directly to department
heads. The number is on the rise
and may vary from time to time.
Community Volunteers:
154 Members. Provides grass root
support for program execution.
They report directly to the RI
staff in program related matters
and to the Chief in
administrative matters.
Ripples
International helping African
Children
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