OUR VISION
A future where every boy is educated, emotionally healthy and empowered to live with dignity and hope.
Every boy is born with light in his eyes and dreams in his hands. But too often, the world teaches him to hide it, to bury his feelings, to silence his pain, to trade tenderness for toughness. We are rewriting that story. This is our creed. This is our right.
WHAT WE DO
ARTs
Sometimes, words are not enough. Through painting, drawing, and theatre play, we give boys and children the freedom to express what lives inside them, turning emotions into art, and art into understanding. Every color tells a story; every brushstroke is a voice that finally feels seen.
DESIGN
Fashion and design become tools for self-discovery. Here, children bring their dreams to life, crafting clothes, shoes, bags, toys, and whatever their imagination dares to explore. Using textile waste as their canvas, they learn that even what’s discarded can be made beautiful again.
SPORTS
Through cycling, skating, football, and playful challenges, we use movement to build teamwork, confidence, and joy. Sports at MENDAYA are more than games; they’re lessons in trust, resilience, and finding strength together.
STORYTELLING
Every story deserves to be heard. We create open spaces where boys share ideas and experiences through debates, talk shows, and spoken word poetry. Their voices spark conversations, questioning challenging harmful masculinity and gender stereotype.
We Work at the Intersection of........
We are reimagining advocacy by turning creativity into action.
Through fashion runways, arts exhibitions, takshows and debates, we create platforms where children become advocates of child-rights, demanding the world they want to see and live in.
We create alternative, experiential learning spaces where learning is both play, fun and creative. Our programmes support children who are out of school, at risk of dropping out, or facing academic challenges, transforming education into a bridge, not a barrier.
We engage boys in environmental and community action, helping them see themselves as changemakers and protectors of both people and the planet. They identify environmental problems in their schools and communities, and design simple, local solutions.
WHO WE ARE
In The Beginning, There Was a Boy
MENDAYA began with the story of a boy who once felt unseen, silenced by loss, abuse, and abandonment, growing up in a world that demanded strength but never offered understanding or space for softness.
Like many others, he learned to hide pain behind silence because no one ever asked how he felt, only how strong he could be.
From that story came MENDAYA: a response to the quiet struggles of boys who are forgotten, unheard, or left to survive on their own. In a world that tells boys to “man up,” “be strong,” and never show weakness, too many grow up carrying pain no one talks about.
We exist to change that story, to make the world see what it often overlooks: the hearts, voices, and dreams of boys who only ever needed to be understood.