Mama Respond International

Mama Respond is based in Perth and works to support Kenyan families with special needs. The organisation started by identifying children with disabilities and taking them to hospitals for diagnosis and treatment, after which some could return to mainstream learning, and others needed specialist support in an appropriate educational space.

This led Mama Respond to build the only comprehensive special needs unit in Kenya, educating 80+ students annually. Noting the challenges in transporting children with special needs to school, they began shipping terrain-specific wheelchairs from Perth to Kenya to encourage independence and ease of mobility.

After several community assessments, it was understood that to provide holistic support to children with special needs, their mothers needed to be engaged. This led to the formation of a community group called Strong Mamas.

Mothers of children with special needs meet weekly to support one another, break down barriers, and have meaningful conversations. What began with 12 mothers is now 80 and counting.

These mothers have formed self-help community groups that enable income-generating activities and local initiatives. Recognising the rapid growth in numbers and the needs of these mothers led Mama Respond to establish an outreach program that aims to educate and train mothers of children with special needs in healthcare, life skills, and data collection, who can be mobilised to conduct community outreach focusing on disability prevention and care.

Mama Respond runs a regular fund-raising market in Armadale.