Today we’d like to introduce you to Vicki Stone.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I started my journeys to Africa in 1990 when I took my two oldest children, KINDEE and KAM and we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. The flight home was canceled a few times so we had extra time to spend in the villages with the people and especially all the children.
After watching so many life-changing events that trip, we returned back home and made preparations to return to KENYA the following year and build our first primary school. The original school the children were leaning in had no desks, no chock boards, no books, just a bucket of bottle caps that were divide among the children, where they would learn counting skills, and small motor skills by drawing in the dirt with the bottle caps.
The experience was so life changing to me as i watched my own children’s lives transformed as they got down in the dirt with all those little black faces that the following year I created my own nonprofit organization called, Africa is life-changing, INC., with Gloria Terry and together we have led expedition teams consisting of 12 to 35 volunteers once or twice annually for the past 30 years.
Each expedition team member that would bring their gifts and talents to assist in the projects, like, building classrooms after classrooms, until we even built an all girls Boarding High School and an all boys Boarding High School to accommodate a safe, value based, quality education for girls and boys alike.
I had an experience early on in one of our classrooms (before we constructed a high school) where they called me into the admin office to sit beside one of the students that was nine years old. I didn’t speak Swahili and she didn’t speak English so we didn’t communicate with one another, but I could see that she was muddy, weeping, and in distress.
As I sat next to this nine-year-old girl, I had the distinct impression come over my entire being, to build an educational facility that would protect these young girls from being offended, who had to walk 4-5 km through cornfields to reach the school.
As we returned the following year, we found this nine-year-old girl carrying the baby on her back that she had delivered from being offended on her way to school that morning i saw her in the Admin office.
I remember that feeling burning deep in my soul that if it was the last thing I did in my work in Africa, it would be to have a safe educational facility for these vulnerable girls.
So that next year, with a large team that was willing to work hard, we purchased 6 acres of land overlooking Lake Naivasha where we built our first all girls boarding high school. The school took a few years to complete, as we added classrooms with each expedition, but upon completion it was large enough to educate 1000 young girls. We started out with 300 beautiful young girls, eager to learn, eager to develop themselves into strong young women to make a difference in the world.
We had to fill each classroom with teachers in every subject, even a small computer lab was added, and a kitchen and dining hall, large enough to feed them, and hold assemblies where everyone in the school, including all the teachers and any visiting guests could all be together.
There are not many fulfilling moments in life that compare to watching these young girls, develop their skills and receive a safe, value based education, then graduate with their diploma to be skilled and trained to branch out into the world to make their mark.
We had many chicken projects throughout Kenya because the villagers seem to understand how to take care of the chicken. It was a simple business 101 class we would teach them on how to gather 10 eggs, for instance, sell them at market and set aside the earnings for 2 eggs to purchase chicken food.
These villagers were so proud or their humble chicken coops and their 100 baby chicks that we would start them out with. The women should take turns each night sleeping with the baby chicks so that no harm would come to them. It was impressive how all the villagers would come to see the chickens and see how the women cared for their safety while they grew to laying eggs for them.
We got very bold in our confidence, and at one point we even had 1000 chickens. We filled the back of a pick up truck with cases of eggs everyday as they would carefully drive them to Hotels and markets. But when there was a spike in the price of chicken feed and it was costing us more to feed them than what was being earned at the market we had to end that project.
After spending 20 years in Kenya with hundreds of students in our classrooms, we realized that each age group that graduated onto the next level, even those who received their diploma from high school returned back to their homes where they were needed to fetch water for the family.
We started our work in Kenya thinking that if we could just teach the children to read and write we would have changed the world. But that soon became very apparent that they needed to further their education so we built primary schools. But soon after those children finished grade 8 and were prepared to enter into their secondary level classwork, we needed to build a High School (s).
We graduated many classes of students throughout the beginning years of our work in Kenya, but as we saw that even those holding a High School diplomacy were once again returning back to their homes without employment.
So we had the opportunity to go to Ghana, where we had the contact of a very strong businesswoman named Theresa. She had received training in the tailoring world and was very polished in her creations. She had a desire to build a sewing Institute for the street girls, who were sleeping on the streets and carrying a dishpan on their heads throughout the days to earn just enough money to feed themselves. They were so vulnerable out on the streets, and had no future for success. So Africa is Life-Changing decided to join hands with Theresa, purchase many sewing machines, sewing tables, notions and fabric, and create a Self-Sustainable Sewing Institute.
What I realized, while I was watching and helping the building and construction of the Sewing Institute, was that this was the answer i had been searching for all my years of selfless service and humanitarian work in Africa.
The primary school wasn’t enough. The jr. High School educations were not enough. The High School diplomas were still not even enough! These students needed to be taught and trained in a LIFE SKILL. They needed to be instructed through a course of training, and then graduate with the means of starting production in their own businesses.
So Africa is Life Changing purchased each one of the graduates their own sewing machine. Watching those girls carry their own machine home with them after graduation was a revelatory moment for me. I realized at that moment that all the years i had tried to create a success story in the lives of these young Kenyans, I had found a Generational Self-Sustainable work.
No High School diploma was necessary. All these girls needed was a little training, a sewing machine to start up their own businesses and a little time to build their future into a success .
Yes, there were many obstacles, of course, it’s Africa! That is a saying we would use all the time whenever something would go amiss in the middle of our work. We would just look at one another and say; “It’s Africa!” (which meant, expect disappointment, expect delays, expect to prepare a whole new plan…).
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The work that i specialize in is; Nurturing the Value of Women and Children in Africa.
I am known for Expedition Teams that travel to Africa together to help build educational facilities for the children to have a safe, value based education. And during that time of construction, not only are we changing the lives of those we are serving on the ground of Africa, but each one of the volunteers would have their own life changing experiences over and over again. The teenage volunteers would come back to school in America and weep their 1st day back to school because they would say that their friends; “JUST DON’T GET IT!” We knew exactly what they were referring to. They had experienced their own Life Changing moments that were just that; Life Changing, never to be the same again. Their appreciation for running water, porcelains toilets, electricity has a whole new depth of appreciation now, for the rest of their lives.
I think I’m most proud of each expedition team member that comes home a completely different person, deepened with gratitude for the simple things in life, and watching them tell their life changing stories to all their friends and family . It’s one miracle to simply change lives in Africa, and it’s equally miraculous to see the gratitude magnified in those who serve.
What sets me apart from others? I don’t see myself better or more special than anyone else. The work that I am about sets me apart in my neighborhoods because my interests are always searching for the next expedition team member that has been waiting all their life to go to Africa. Then as they get onboard the team, together we resource and acquire all the project needs to fill the service bags (2 fifty pound bags each) for the next trip.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I see my schools continually graduating new students year after year, some have the privilege to further their studies And go on to the university, while others are simply content to be in school when they otherwise would still be at home, in the village, fetching water.
This year we are returning to Kenya where we will be working a little closer to BUY Pathway. There are so many young adults that return from their missions or finish as much schooling as they possibly can and they have no place to work, no place to further a bright future.
BYU Pathway Worldwide program is a low-cost, flexible online education pathway designed to help people start or return to college.
It is a program that helps students build confidence and skills, then move into a full college degree – especially useful for those who may not feel ready for a traditional university right away.
We are also currently preparing for Aug 2026 expedition where we are offering the surrounding areas an opportunity to attend the newly opened Nairobi Temple with us. We have told them that a bus will pick them up, take them to the temple where we will meet them and accompany them through the Temple.
My work in Africa can educate hundreds of students, and even create jobs for many, but the greatest satisfaction of my work there is watching the Saints have a opportunity provided for them to make eternal covenants with our Maker, seal their families together forever, and change their lives for all eternity.
Pricing:
- In country costs are under $3000
- airline tickets to Kenya are under $2300
- Maasai Mara safari excursion after our expedition around $2000
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.africaislifechanging.org
