NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 2 — United States Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman visited Shinning Hope for Communities (Shofco) in Kibera to see humanitarian projects being undertaken by globally renowned social entrepreneur Dr. Kennedy Odede.
Whitman said she was impressed by Shofco’s efforts to create jobs for women and youth nationally.
“Last week, I enjoyed warm hospitality from Kibera residents when I visited @hope2shine SHOFCO) community empowerment projects that are creating jobs for women and youth and improving sanitation and access to clean water. Remarkable!” the US Ambassador tweeted.
The organization currently employees 800 people directly, most of whom are drawn from the communities it serves across Kenya.
The US top diplomat in Kenya was taken through Shofco’s programs by the organisation’s founders Dr. Kennedy Odede and his wife Jessica Posner Odede.
“Thank you Balozi Meg Whitman. We enjoyed having you. Looking forward to work together. Thank you very much,” Dr. Odede said.
Whitman’s visit to Shofco came a month after Dr. Odede was appointed to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Advisory Board by the US government.
The appointment came less than two years after the Shofco founder and CEO hosted USAID boss Samantha Power at the inaugural World Communities Forum where he shared with her, alongside other global leaders, how his focus on community-driven change has seen him impact over three million slum dwellers in Kenya through various causes.
The all-powerful committee, which will serve for three years, has membership from leading experts representing NGOs, private sector, academia and civil society drawn from across the globe.
“The committee’s new membership is comprised of internationally recognised leaders representing a broad range of sectors who will support the Agency’s mission and goals by advising on key development challenges and priorities,” said Power in her statement confirming the appointments.
Founded in 2004 in Kibera, Shofco has now spread to 24 counties across Kenya impacting over three million vulnerable people annually.
The organization is at the forefront in catalyzing large-scale transformation in urban slums by providing community advocacy platforms, education and leadership development for women and girls, and critical services for all which include water and healthcare.
Dr. Odede and his ever-expanding team are addressing the top six SDGs (no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, and clean water and sanitation) by giving job opportunities to slum dwellers, providing tuition-free education to disadvantaged girls, and free meals in school.
Shofco is currently running two girls’ schools in Mathare and Kibera where over 800 students are studying free charge.
On the issue of good health and well-being, for example, Shofco has created seven medical clinics while 29 water kiosks (24 in Kibera and five in Mathare slums) address the water problem.
Through its Shofco Urban Network (SUN) program, the organization brings together individuals and households through social groups run independently using its services and organizes them to actively seek tangible change in their community and society at large.
SUN seeks to build a strong urban network with the vision of giving the urban poor the voice.
The network currently has over two million members across Kenya and has held the organization together by identifying the most pressing challenges in their communities that need to be addressed.
It is for this reason that community-driven change, championed by Shofco, has now become a model for global NGOs following a case study conducted by Bridgespan Group which had a close-up look at on- the-ground approaches that make the Kenyan organisation correct.
Bridgespan Group is guiding the philanthropic choices of many leading donors, including MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation among others.
