"After living in Kenya my first year in 2000, I started to recognize that we could not address one area of need adequately without addressing all areas equally,"explains Founder & Executive Director Zane Wilemon.
CTC International Mission
Empowering people to do amazing things.
All CTC projects are managed by full-time local staff and community volunteers in Maai Mahiu, Kenya and in our US office in Austin, Texas.
CTC International Vision
We are creating a self-sustaining model for development by using entrepreneurial programs to grow our non-profit initiatives and empower communities to create the change.
CTC International Culture
1. Cultivate Authentic Relationships that Empower and Restore
2. Serve and Listen with Humility
3. Create a Holistic Replicable Model for Development that Embraces UBUNTU
4. Live as a Community that Respects and Takes Care of One Another
5. How We Work is a Reflection of How We Live
6. Strive for Excellence with Passion, Determination & Creativity
7. Acknowledge Higher Power Driving Vision
8. Celebrate Good Work and Have Fun
9. Transparency/Honesty/Openness
10. Over Communication is Good Communication
11. Be the Change that Leads Others Outside of Their Comfort Zones
2. Serve and Listen with Humility
3. Create a Holistic Replicable Model for Development that Embraces UBUNTU
4. Live as a Community that Respects and Takes Care of One Another
5. How We Work is a Reflection of How We Live
6. Strive for Excellence with Passion, Determination & Creativity
7. Acknowledge Higher Power Driving Vision
8. Celebrate Good Work and Have Fun
9. Transparency/Honesty/Openness
10. Over Communication is Good Communication
11. Be the Change that Leads Others Outside of Their Comfort Zones
CTC International Manifesto
We are misfits for good.
Living out of abundance over scarcity.
Choosing love over fear,
We are misfits for good.
Living out of abundance over scarcity.
Choosing love over fear,
And collaboration over competition.
We are igniting the human spirit with the freedom to dream.
Our collective dreams serve as an empowered voice that is changing the world.
UBUNTU: I am, because we are.
CTC International Story
After CTC Founder Zane Wilemon finished his undergrad, he bought a one-way ticket to Kenya where he worked for a year at Kijabe Hospital as a medical aid, taught high school French, and served as the coordinator for the outreach program at the Rift Valley Academy. While serving in this position, Zane visited the town of Maai Mahiu and was struck by the desperation of the community. He formed a friendship with Jeremiah Kuria, who was serving as a local pastor and the director of the Maai Mahiu Children’s Home.
Their friendship grew, and after Zane returned to the States, this friendship developed into Comfort the Children (CTC) International. CTC’s unique approach to holistic community development evolved through Zane and Jeremiah’s day-to-day interactions with locals, forging genuine relationships and becoming a part of the community.
Today, CTC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that helps Kenyans build and manage the sustainable infrastructure necessary to meet the challenges of everyday life, employing over 60 local Kenyans and serving the 60,000 residents of Maai Mahiu in the Rift Valley.
Over the past 10 years, our friends told their friends who told their friends: doctors, seamstresses, grandmothers, financial planners, cheerleaders, priests, farmers, singers, psychologists, etc. have volunteered in Maai Mahiu. Each shares his or her own unique talents and builds relationships within CTC to last a lifetime. We are listening to the stories. We are addressing the problems. We are promoting fundamental human rights. We are creating sustainable change. We are CTC International.