About Us

 HOW DO YOU EAT AN ELEPHANT?

...One bite at a time. This is the philosophy behind Stepwise, a non-profit organization created to provide basic needs for East Africa's youth. Helping orphans and vulnerable children in East Africa may seem like a project of marathon proportions, but instead of focusing on the finish line, we concentrate on taking it step by step. We're just a small group of people doing what we can for a cause we believe in. Will you walk with us?

 Mission Statement

Stepwise is a not for profit organization committed to providing basic needs to rural East Africa’s orphans and vulnerable children. We seek to identify established orphanages and expand the number of children they are able to support, add to the quality of aid given, and ensure that they receive quality education, health care and nutrition through programs created in conjunction with the communities we serve.

 Our Vision

We envision a world where all children have access to quality education, health care and nutrition so they can grow into happy, healthy, self sufficient adults and in turn provide the same for subsequent generations.

 The Stepwise Story

Stepwise Not for Profit came into existence after 2 young women separately witnessed a need and decided to collectively do something about it. Sally Hayes and Trisha Olsson, 2 of the founders of Stepwise, both have experience in volunteering for a variety of organizations both at home and abroad, but one cause in particular moved us to action: the orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) of East Africa.

Although Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda have varying cultures, needs and circumstances, one thing is resoundingly the same: there are millions of children without access to proper education, health care and nutrition. And while there are hundreds of different organizations and donors that provide assistance in these areas, we have discovered that there is a lack of community, accountability and sustainability for some of the smaller, rural orphanages in these countries because of the poor infrastructure and lack of staff to provide oversight. Our goal is quite simply to fill the “hole” of consistent and reliable support. By working closely with established orphanages in these rural areas and providing support in small, incremental steps that are based on community reporting indicators, we will be better equipped to oversee and help the OVC’s that our program serves.

In addition, Stepwise believes that an important aspect of charitable giving is finding a sustainable way for these communities to work towards helping themselves, so they are not dependent on foreign entities to provide for their every need. Although orphanages are unique because children cannot be expected to forgo school responsibilities to support their needs, there are areas that can be improved upon in order to provide greater stability. We hope to be able to initiate projects that each orphanage will use to bring in food or a small income for themselves. These include farming of vegetables or livestock or the making of artistic items to sell at market.

 Where your money goes

In 2006 we met our 3rd founder, Allan King of Infront Systems, Australia, who made our dream a reality by committing to annually fund the operating costs of Stepwise so that 100% of your donation goes straight to the orphanages in East Africa. It is too often that a large portion of your donation gets eaten up by operating costs, so take advantage of this rare opportunity of 100% of your donation going exactly where it’s intended!