Partner Spotlight: Be Kids Australia
In our first Bingwa Series spotlight, we celebrate Be Kids Australia — the quiet builders behind transformational impact.…
Youth-Led · Nairobi, Kenya
Open Spaces. Youth-Led Action.
Wazi is a youth-led platform turning lived experience into action across health, education, advocacy, and the environment. Founded in 2018 at the Kenyatta University Arboretum, registered as a CBO in 2023, still organising one workshop, one dispenser, one cohort at a time.
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13 Dispensers Installed
1,500+ Users Reached
8 Institutions
500+ Mentees
UNEA-7 Represented
30,000+ Potential Reach
13 Dispensers Installed
1,500+ Users Reached
8 Institutions
500+ Mentees
UNEA-7 Represented
30,000+ Potential Reach
13 Dispensers Installed
1,500+ Users Reached
8 Institutions
500+ Mentees
UNEA-7 Represented
30,000+ Potential Reach
About Wazi
Read Our Full Story
It started at an arboretum, with a refusal to wait.
In 2018, a group of friends at the Kenyatta University Arboretum created a small, open space to talk honestly about shared challenges. The kind of space they wished existed. They called it Wazi, Swahili for "open."
That space grew into book drives, mentorship cohorts, civic action, and a sanitary dispenser model now serving thousands. After a COVID pause and a year of organisational strengthening through AMREF Kenya and NEPHAK, Wazi registered as a Community-Based Organisation in 2023. Today it is a youth-led platform turning lived experience into meaningful action.
Est. 2018
Kenyatta University
Featured Initiative
Read the Initiative
The Wazi Dispenser Model
Persistent gaps in access to menstrual products keep girls home from school. Wazi's response is a low-cost, low-technology dispenser installed in school washrooms and community sites.
Each dispenser runs a hybrid access model: a cash track (KES 10 a pad, KES 20 a tampon) for sustainability, and a free token track that prioritises persons with disabilities, vulnerable women and girls, and low-income users. Phase 1 piloted at Kenyatta University. Phase 2 has the model in 6 Ruaraka schools and one additional university.
Dispensers Live
13 across 8 institutions
Direct Users
1,500+ reached
Potential Reach
30,000+ across the ecosystem
Four Pillars
Where the work lives.
Where the work lives.
One mission, four lanes.
01
Health
Sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and non-communicable disease awareness, anchored by the Wazi Dispenser Model.
SDG 3 + 4 + 5
02
Education
Grassroots learning support, the AYP Mentorship Program (500+ direct, 1,000+ indirect), and youth capacity building from KU to communities.
SDG 4 + 10
03
Advocacy
Civic and governance engagement, research and lived-experience documentation, policy analysis, and community accountability.
SDG 16 + 17
04
Environment
New from 2026. Waste management, climate awareness, upcycling, and sustainable consumption with grassroots youth groups.
SDG 12 + 13
01
Health
Sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and non-communicable disease awareness, anchored by the Wazi Dispenser Model.
02
Education
Grassroots learning support, the AYP Mentorship Program (500+ direct, 1,000+ indirect), and youth capacity building from KU to communities.
03
Advocacy
Civic and governance engagement, research and lived-experience documentation, policy analysis, and community accountability.
04
Environment
New from 2026. Waste management, climate awareness, upcycling, and sustainable consumption with grassroots youth groups.
People said we were too young, too broke, too idealistic. Eight years later, we run 13 dispensers across 8 institutions, the AYP Mentorship has reached 500 teens directly and a thousand more around them, and we have stood at the United Nations to say what young people in Ruaraka actually need. We are still the friends from the arboretum who refused to wait.
Stephanie Njeri
Founder & Projects Lead, Wazi Kenya
From the Community
Voices from the field.
"Giving her pads, clean water, and education is giving her freedom."
Wazi Dispenser Model"When we use diverse approaches (art, play, movement, discussion) we make learning more inclusive and easier to understand."
AYP Mentorship, Day 3"Because periods shouldn't stop education, confidence, or dreams."
Phase 2, Ruaraka"When grassroots youth organizations work together, across communities, we create lasting systems of impact."
Mazingira Day Mtaani"When young people design, lead, and scale meaningful change, that is what domesticating the SDGs actually looks like."
Wazi Kenya, on the work"Every child deserves to understand their mental well-being in a way that makes sense to them."
Paper Hearts x Wazi
The Journey
From an arboretum bench to the United Nations.
2018
The Arboretum
A small group of friends at the Kenyatta University Arboretum create a safe, open space for honest conversation. They call it Wazi.
2019
Books and Mentorship
Grassroots learning support: book drives to Change a Life, Dandora Arts and Study Center, and Ufanisi Education Center. Mentorship begins for adolescents and young people.
2021
COVID Return
After a pandemic pause, Wazi returns with renewed focus on sustainability and long-term impact. ODSS strengthening with AMREF Kenya and NEPHAK.
2022
Dispenser Pilot
Soko Mjinga Youth Leap Enterprise Grant from Be Kids Australia. The Wazi Dispenser Model pilots at Kenyatta University: 7 dispensers, 1,000+ users in year one.
2023
Registered CBO
Wazi formally registers as a Community-Based Organization in Nairobi. Constitution, board, governance.
2025
Innovating Dignity
Phase 2 expands to 6 Ruaraka schools. The Innovating Dignity seminar at American Corner Moi University produces the 8 Principles of Menstrual Health, Hygiene and Dignity.
2025
World Stage
Wazi represents at UNEA-7 and the Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum, advocating for youth engagement and menstrual waste management at the UN.
2026
Four Pillars
Environment joins Health, Education, and Advocacy as a fourth thematic pillar. 100+ volunteer applications. The arboretum bench became a movement.
Meet the team
behind the platform.
Stephanie Njeri leads as Founder and Projects Lead. Jacqueline Gichira heads Operations. TracyAnn Wacuka holds Operations and Compliance Support. Stefany Wanjiru runs Field and Projects coordination. Around them, a senior board, a youth board, the Kenyatta University Chapter, and 35+ volunteers.
About Our Team
Backed By
Partners who showed up.
Be Kids Australia
Kenyatta University
Global Youth Mobilization
Seeds of Change
Giving Light to Society
Wahenga Youth Group
Paper Hearts Foundation
AMREF Kenya
NEPHAK
KU Women’s Economic Empowerment Hub
Heinrich Böll Stiftung Nairobi
European Union
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Pick a way in.
Volunteer intake opens February. Adopt a dispenser any time. Partner conversations stay open year-round. Pick the door that fits your year.