About
the Founder
Joyce (Onyango) Oneko is the founder of Mama na Dada-Africa. As a child she was very rare. She was a able to get not only a primary education (rare for a girl), but went on, despite incredible odds, to become a lawyer. In 1998, Joyce resigned from the Nairobi law firm where she had worked for 30 years to devote herself full-time to working with girls and young women living in the rural areas, but specifically from Kunya Village.
She formed the organization called Mama na Dada to empower girls and young women through personal development training, formal education and vocational training, to enable them to gain mental and financial independence.
She has extensive experience in working with youth and women, and have organized several workshops and seminars for young people on HIV/AIDS prevention strategies.
Joyce is very interested in research on girls’ and women’s issues, especially those that affect their mental and sexual health. She believes that the education of girls will result in the empowerment of both girls and women.
The Mama Na Dada Africa organization provides culturally appropriate psychological support to the African Girl child. If girls are not given the right tools and opportunity to achieve their true potential there can be no improvement in the lives of women. Through her work and her own personal experiences, she noticed that most girls are discriminated against from the earliest stages of their lives, through childhood and into adulthood. This makes the Girl/Child more susceptible to violence, especially of a sexual nature, such as rape, sexual attacks, sexual exploitation and trafficking. As a result these girls suffer from little or no self-esteem, poor school performance and early school drop out.
Mama Na Dada’s vision is to prevent/eradicate vulnerability of the African Girl/Child that leads to sexual and mental illness or drug related problems, which stems from negative attitudes and actions towards women and insufficient positive exposure and experience.
We are working toward securing a brighter future for the African Girl/Woman.