At the age of 15, he founded Shining Hope for Communities with 20 cents, a soccer ball, and a passion. With the help of an American girl from Denver, he created the opportunity for girls in Kenya’s largest urban slum to receive a free education. Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner, Hackley’s 2016 Wendt Scholars, spoke to the Hackley community on Thursday, February 4 about their work through their organization Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO). Every Upper School student was given a copy of their new book Find Me Unafraid, which details both Kennedy’s upbringing as a child in the slum of Kibera and his partnership with Jessica, then on an exchange program as a student at Wesleyan University.

Kennedy’s life on the streets experiences (or “Kibera University,” as he affectionately called it) enabled him to build his “raw leadership” skills. Combined with his love of soccer, Kennedy created a grassroots movement helping the most vulnerable parts of Kibera. “What I love about soccer is the idea of discipline and teamwork. You have to be organized and you cannot do anything alone,” he said in an exclusive interview.

 
In Find Me Unafraid and in his lecture to the Upper School, Kennedy said that figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Marcus Garvey, and Rosa Parks were his role models. Growing up in Kibera, Kennedy took any money he earned and used it to buy books, teaching himself how to read and write. With no formal education, Kennedy was invited to attend Wesleyan University on a full scholarship, where he graduated in 2012 with honors. At Wesleyan, he learned how to analyze, write, and organize his thoughts. “Wesleyan is my core, my foundation, of who I am now,” he said.

Originally only in Kenya for a few months to study abroad, Jessica has since partnered with Kennedy to develop Kibera School for Girls, where parents of schoolchildren volunteer for five weeks a year in exchange for their child’s free education. In addition, SHOFCO has built a health clinic and Kibera’s largest clean water tower. She felt both “overwhelmed and comfortable” in Kibera when she first arrived, but has since used her fluency of Swahili to connect with people. “I feel like it’s an investment on my part; that I’ve invested learning the language to be a part of things in a more organic way,” Jessica said. Currently, Jessica helps raise money and spread awareness for SHOFCO’s programs, while also planning for a new school building, health clinic, and community center in the near future.

Jessica and Kennedy envision their grassroots movement spreading to other communities in Kenya and beyond; in fact, another slum in the Nairobi area called Mathare established its own school for girls in the fall of 2014 with the help of SHOFCO. “Start small,” Jessica said as words of advice to students wishing to give back to their communities, “It’s easy to feel so overwhelmed by the problems or the challenges, but don’t let that stop you.”

In addition to visiting the Middle and Lower Schools (including Kenyan Lower School teacher Rachel Mwakitawa’s first grade class), Kennedy and Jessica hosted a popular lunch for Upper School students during the day. “The purpose in life is to understand privilege and take advantage of all its opportunities,” Kennedy said. Senior Alex Gluckman, president of Hackley’s Round Square club, said that “Kennedy and Jessica’s story reaffirmed my firm belief that, with courage, tenacity, openness and a passion to inspire others, young people can make a positive difference in the world.”

English teacher Nicole Butterfield, also a Wesleyan graduate, said that Kennedy and Jessica’s lecture served as “a great reminder of how many kids worldwide are in a situation where they can’t get access to education.” “It actually brings me back to why I became involved in education to begin with,” she said. “When you see that enthusiasm and desire to learn in a little kid, you realize that that has nothing to do with where they’re born or how much money they have.”

Past exchange student Natasha Mutulili has learned about Kibera as part of her studies at the Brookhouse School in Nairobi, and said that Kibera is a place where “the crime rate is high, a lack of proper garbage disposal, and an abundance of poverty.”

Junior Meghan Cunningham has a special connection to Kennedy and Jessica, having spent much time in Kibera due to her dad’s Kenyan background. “Kennedy and Jessica have have taught me that any dream is possible no matter where you come from or what your situation is,” she said. “With hard work, ingenuity and collaboration, anything is achievable.”

“My mission was not about me,” Kennedy chuckled. “If we can all do this together, we can make this community a better place.”

To find out more about Kennedy and Jessica’s work at SHOFCO, visit the organization’s website at shofco.org, their blog at shofco.squarespace.com or check out the Q&A here from The Dial’s exclusive interview.