Making a Loving Impact

This Valentine’s Day, we celebrate a different kind of love—the kind that is not just a feeling, but a choice to stand with children with disabilities, even when the journey is hard.

For Lucky Mahenzo, Kupenda’s Deputy Executive Director in Kenya, love is more than a calling. Her very name, “Mahenzo,” means “love” in Giriama, a language spoken along Kenya’s coast. Love has shaped her life from the beginning.

Rooted in Love

The daughter of Kupenda Co-founder and Kenya Director Leonard Mbonani, Lucky was introduced to disability at a young age. She shared,

“My father was a special needs teacher, and this made me interact with children with disabilities while I was six or seven years old. I got more exposed to disability when my mother also became a special needs teacher.”

Lucky presenting about Kupenda’s work at a conference

From childhood, she witnessed how children with disabilities were neglected, abused, mocked, or even abandoned due to harmful beliefs and practices about curses, witchcraft, or sin. But watching her father serve these children shaped her understanding. She stated,

“Seeing my father serve children with disabilities groomed me to understand that they were children like any other, and they deserved care and love like any child.”

Love in Action

The injustices she saw inspired her to pursue law. She explained,

“I came to the conviction that law could be used as a mechanism of affirming the rights of children with disabilities … I felt more convinced that law would effect a great change.”

Today, she advocates for children with disabilities and challenges the negative beliefs that prevent them from fully enjoying their rights.

Love That Endures

Recently, her work has become deeply personal in a new way. Facing ongoing health challenges, she now understands disability from another perspective. She stated,

“I’m at a journey where I’m trying to find a proper diagnosis … however, I don’t get that frustrated, because I know there are people who have been through this journey.”

Lucky representing Kupenda at a community event

Despite chronic pain, she stated,

“I am glad that I was able to allow myself to be in this field … Because at now I could tell you my pain is at 7, but I’m able to survive … But because I know that suffering is part of other people’s life, I’m able to wake up and tell myself, ‘You can do this.’”

Through Kupenda’s community-based trainings, she is now beginning to see lasting change. She summarized,

“We are sure that… the community will learn to deal with its own issues because of these trainings … If a child is accepted by everyone … then we are sure that the community itself is empowered.”

Lucky’s dream is clear: a society where inclusion is woven into every aspect of life and the rights of children with disabilities are upheld.

This Valentine’s Day, we honor Lucky—and the supporters who make this work possible. Together, you are putting love into action, ensuring every child is seen, valued, and protected.

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