Making the world brighter for 20 years

A Cork charity is celebrating 20 years of changing the lives of families in some of the most deprived areas of Kenya.

Brighter Communities Worldwide was co-founded 2 decades ago by Cork humanitarian Maria Kidney in a bid to deliver health, education and income generating programmes.

Maria, who is now a volunteer and advisor with the charity alongside her husband and CEO Martin Ballantyne, first went to Kenya in 2000 for a hiking trip to Mt Kenya and Mt Kilimanjaro. Her decision to stay in the country came as a result of an unhappy incident, which she says turned out to be both life affirming and life changing.

“I was mugged in Nairobi and sought refuge in the headquarters of the Kenyan Girl Guides Association in Nairobi following the incident,” recalled Maria.

“I met with many people who were involved in various community development projects in Kenya. I had a long time interest in development and I suppose the hugely inspirational stories I heard fanned those flames.”

Upon returning to Ireland, Maria drew up a proposal for the Council of Irish Girl Guiding Associations in a bid to try and turn the dream of working with communities in Kenya into a reality. In 2002, the association’s first volunteer team of 20 went to Kenya on a 2 week community service project.

“There have been over 600 Harambee volunteer placements since then. The seed was sown and Brighter Communities Worldwide was born,” said Maria.

The organisation become an Irish registered charity and a Kenyan registered NGO. There is now an office in Cobh and 38 local staff in Kenya who manage the programmes which include maternal health care, installation of smokeless stoves, coffee projects, income generating projects, gender equality education, and menstrual health and information drives.

“Right now the communities we work with across Kericho County, Kenya are struggling in so many ways; Covid-19, which is far from over; severe drought brought on by climate change; and unprecedented poverty levels accelerated by the Ukraine conflict and global recession. Can you imagine what a struggle this is for families living without the basics of water, electricity, health care, income?” said Maria.

One of the charity’s main fundraising events, the Kenya Ball, will return for the first time since 2019.

Maria said: “We have missed it terribly. It’s such a tremendous occasion, it’s social and gives people the opportunity to catch up and have fun, but crucially it raises much needed funds for our projects.”

The Kenya Ball takes place on 12 November at the Rochestown Park Hotel. Tickets are €85 available through Eventbrite.ie.