Rafiki Thabo Foundation

Who we are

We are a small charity that support individuals and their communities in Africa through education that embraces their differing abilities through our scholarship programme, Eat Well to Learn programme and school infrastructure development programme. By the end of 2025 we had supported 910 children and young people through education and in 2026 we are proud to support more than 400 scholars, 45 of whom live with a disability. With an education, these young people are empowered to change their future. They have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, secure rewarding well paid jobs, are in turn able to afford sending their own children to school, escape poverty, contribute positively to their local economy and support their local community. Based in the UK we work through our local committees in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho, all personally known to us.

A small, close-knit, dynamic team, we are ambitious on behalf of the children and young people we support and passionate about making a real difference to their lives. Our Director, Janet, and Head of Fundraising, Janne, both work remotely but benefit from the opportunity to meet in person when required as both are Oxfordshire based. Our extended team, through our trading subsidiary ACACIA UK, includes our Retail Operations Manager Laura who looks after our five South Oxfordshire based charity shops, shop managers and volunteers, supported by our Administration and Finance Officer Maite. We are fortunate to have two amazing, passionate patrons in Amar Latif OBE and Harry Baker, as well as advocates Elizabeth, Mary-Ann and Jenny. We also have a great team of trustees who support where they can.

Our culture and values

Rafiki Thabo was set up in 2006 by Jon Uglow who, after having spent 8 months living in a rural community in Kenya, realised that while he and his gap year peers all headed home to their university education and safe futures, his Kenyan friends just did not share the same opportunities, no matter how bright or driven they were. For the majority, affording an education and all the social and economic opportunities that it would bring was a remote possibility; their parents were subsistence farmers, they would be subsistence farmers. It was Jon’s passion to help change the outcome and break the poverty cycle – even for just a few – that resulted in Rafiki Thabo being set up, working closely with people he and his fellow trustees had lived with and gotten to know extremely well in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho. These trusted friends and contacts subsequently became the in-country committees and remain so today.

This origin encapsules the core of our beliefs, that all children regardless of background and abilities have the right to an education and that education has the power to transform the future life opportunities for these children and for their families and communities in which they live. 

Our work is based on values, shared by our Trustees, staff, in-country committee members and delivery partners. Our key values are:

• Partnership – we are committed to alleviating poverty by working in partnership with local people at grassroots level who are personally known to the charity in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho. We also aim to work in partnership with other organisations that share our vision and mission;

• Empowering – we believe in empowering young people and adults to find ways to transform their families and communities. They are best placed to decide what their needs are and how these should be met. We aim to empower our in-country committees and partners to make decisions on our behalf, and we empower our beneficiaries to choose their own path through their education;

• Working at the grass roots – we believe that effecting change on individuals’ lives can lead to lasting change not only for those individuals but also their families, communities, countries and, potentially, the world;

• Being inclusive – we want to support anyone in need in our focus communities, regardless of their religion, gender, or political beliefs; and

• Providing value for money – we aim to get as much of the money donated to us out to the communities we support as quickly and efficiently as possible. We are committed to retaining low overheads and work through trusted voluntary committees in each country, ensuring that we can account for every penny donated to us.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Rafiki Thabo Foundation is committed to working towards eliminating all forms of discrimination both through its own work and through its employment policies and practices and regularly review our Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy.

We aim to receive the widest response to recruitment of employees, board members and volunteers. All vacancies are publicised widely and the range of publications and agencies chosen attempt to reflect the aim of reaching all sections of society. We endeavour to ensure that volunteers, employees and trustees are not discriminated against through the terms and conditions under which they are have been engaged. Furthermore, we recognise that from time to time family and social circumstances may change and consequently that volunteers/ employees may need to change their conditions of work. We attempt, where circumstances and resources permit, to accommodate the needs of those volunteers/ employees.

Rafiki Thabo scholars will always be selected on the basis of a completed application form and the submission of relevant supporting documentation (e.g. admission letter to an educational institution, fees schedule). All applications received are reviewed by the in-country committee and recommendations of which scholars to support be made to the board of trustees. Applicants must be selected using the charity’s scholar selection criteria and must never be discriminated against on the grounds of gender, religion, ethnicity or any other factor.

As a result of our merger with ACACIA UK, in April 2021 we adopted partnerships with three organisations in Kenya with whom we work to reduce the barriers to education for children living with disabilities ensuring that we are also more inclusive in our scholarship programme. 

Rafiki Thabo Foundation will not knowingly receive donations or purchase goods and services from agencies which practise discrimination.