Our History

Africa Peace Missions Institute (APMI), formally Ang’olo Community Development Centre (ACDC) was founded in 1982 by Dorcas Hildah Obonde, who formed the Ang’olo Church Development Committee (ACDC) to facilitate holistic church work. The committee established the Ang’olo Christian Development Centre (ACDC) on a three-acre piece of land in Siaya District, with a community service hall, water tank, and poultry house.

In 1988, the Ang’olo Women Group (AWG) was formed as a self-help group aimed at poverty eradication and better livelihoods among poor rural families in Madiany Division. The CBO undertook several activities, including mobilizing and recruiting members for self-help group development activities, environmental conservation practices, income-generating activities through crop husbandry and rabbit keeping projects, and promoting a revolving women’s savings and credit scheme linked with women entrepreneurship. They also purchased a canoe and launched a fishing business.

In 1996, Dorcas Initiative became ACDC, a not-for-profit entity registered under Companies Act, Cap 486 with strict charitable articles of association. Under the leadership of National Programs Coordinator, Pamela Amoiya Obonde, ACDC restructured into two programmatic focus areas: the Capacity Building Program (CBP) and Women Development Program (WDP). The CBP is the strategic long-term financier to the Women Development Programs, while the WDP focuses on socioeconomic development, targeting children, youth, and women. The WDP has established several CBOs, including those aimed at women empowerment towards the abandonment of female genital mutilation (FGM), engagement in sustainable economic development initiatives, promotion and acceleration of education of the girl-child, rescue, rehabilitation, and empowerment of domestic child workers and girls in FGM, HIV AIDS prevention and sexual/reproductive health interventions, and at-risk youth empowerment.

In 2007, the ACDC Board launched a new strategic plan that established the ACDC-Women Development Program Belgium, Antwerp Chapter, and several programs, including child development and education, girl child empowerment, women leadership and enterprise, water, sanitation, health, and environment, youth peace and enterprise, leadership education, peace missions international, and retreat and corporate conferencing.