Francis is the Principal/Head Master at Bright Star Learning Centre. Francis has dedicated his life to helping students in his community. He spent many years as a classroom teacher before forming Bright Star Academy to serve the most vulnerable youth in his community in 2015. At Bright Star, Francis is the head school administrator, overseeing student admissions, planning the school calendar, assigning teacher responsibilities, managing parent relations, and ensuring the smooth, day-to-day operation of the school. Francis is instrumental in Marafiki Pamoja’s success, drawing on his decades of experience in community and youth development work. Francis is skilled at mobilizing and training local volunteers and serving as a crucial liaison between the camp directors, the local community, and area government officials.
Francis, is married with three children. He finds his greatest joy in camp when he sees campers having fun, meeting new friends, learning new skills, and exploring their creativity. His words to live by are: “Doing good is priority; transformation of the community starts with me.”
Amanda graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada with an Honours BSc in Psychology and Biology and from Humber College, Canada, in Addictions and Mental Health. She has worked at a variety of camps and was a director of a day camp in Nairn, Ontario for two years. She now works at Family and Children’s Services of the Waterloo Region as the Community Groups Facilitator and leads groups on Mindfulness, Mental Health, and giving back to the community for children and youth. She also works as a Youth Coordinator where she was the Camp Director for the Breslau Summer Camp that was linked with Camp Marafiki Pamoja. Her experience both in and out of the classroom will help her to work, and lead the children, in a trauma-informed way and be supportive to the children who have survived experiences such as abuse, abandonment, poverty, addictions, and mental illness.
Janet is a public health professional who focuses on adolescent health. She has a Bachelor’s degree in School Health Education from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, USA and a Master’s of Public Health degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC, USA. Janet currently works as a health education program manager for a large urban school district. She has over a decade of experience teaching, leading community programs, developing health education policy, and facilitating teacher preparation and development. Janet has worked with young people of all ages from pre-kindergarten through university undergraduate students.
Janet’s family is from Kenya and she loves giving back to her communities both in Kenya and the United States with a focus on reducing health disparities. Janet shares her home with her partner and 3 cats. Her favorite role is aunt to 6 nieces. In her free time, Janet plays the oboe and ukulele in several community music ensembles. You might also find her exploring new places by bicycle or enjoying an ice cream cone.
Marafiki Pamoja 