Human Needs Project

Oral stories from HNP Trainees - Part 4
Ted Nyaima

“My name is Ted Nyaima, I am 25 years old and currently a recruit/trainee with human needs project. Growing up in Kibera has been hard and challenging, but at the same time, it has equipped me with life skills that have enabled me overcome all the odds and eventualities that life comes with.

People perceive Kibera as a slum where poverty and diseases prevail, but I view it as a place full of hope, opportunities and inspiration where with the right mind and attitude, success comes. I lost my mom when I was 12, since then things have never been easy. She was a great inspiration, and always told me to have a positive view of things in all the difficult situations we went through.
We struggled to make ends meet and I was almost giving up, until human needs project came, having been introduced to me by a great like minded friend, Yema Khalif. It was an idea and opportunity that I gladly jumped to, knowing the significance that the project held especially to the kibera community at large. Where all the other NGO’s failed to solve even the simplest of our problems like water and sanitation, HNP came up with a holistic approach to our problems, focusing on our daily- to- daily needs.

I thank Connie Nielsen, David Warner and the entire HNP fraternity for this wonderful opportunity, they saw something in us that the rest couldn’t see. An year from now, I still see myself  in the project mentoring the next group of recruits, planning for the smooth transition of the centre from HNP to the community, and being part of its growth to other parts of the country and to the rest of the world!”

Oral stories from HNP Trainees - Part 4
Lillian Oyugi

“My names are Lillian Oyugi. I was born and raised in Kibera, a place where I have lived all my life and which is the only home I know of. Having been orphaned at a very tender age, it was not easy for me to make ends meet. I am however grateful to my local church for helping me through school. However, I was forced to sacrifice completion of my business administration as I had to find employment in order to care for my siblings. It has been a very tough and rough journey and what has kept me going is hope for a better tomorrow.

Fortunately, the realization of my dream began to take shape when I was selected by Connie Nielsen and David Warner as a HNP trainee. I say this because, as a young girl growing up under those tough conditions, I always wanted to be part of a team that would change Kibera through the provision of basic needs that would transform and give dignity to the residents of Kibera. I have seen many organizations starting out with the usual message of helping people but this never materializes as the projects only benefit a few individuals at the expense of the initial target groups which still end up trapped in abject poverty.

I am therefore honored to be part of the pioneer team of this great initiative that will change lives through economic empowerment to be realized through the SACCO that will enable the local community to acquire ownership of the project through shares obtained from their savings. The society will also benefit by borrowing from the SACCO in order to expand or start up new businesses for improved economic empowerment. This will free them from the traditional reliance on donors and handouts.

I believe that it makes more sense to teach a man how to fish than to give him fish and I ask myself, “What happens to the man if you are not able or willing to give him fish anymore?”

All over the women have been seen as the backbone of any community and if one woman is educated then rest assured that the whole village is educated. In my community, women are greatly disadvantaged to the extent that one would watch her child die due to starvation without knowing what to do. I say this because our society dictates that our role is to stay back at home and look after the kids, do laundry and all other household chores while the men go out to look for work. Educating women will therefore expose and sensitize them on all important issues like basic hygiene and effective means of ensuring that their children get proper nutrition.

HNP will be a visionary model not only in Kibera but the rest of Kenya and indeed the rest of the world. I see it being a community rooted project that other organizations and countries would want to emulate because of its vision for the less privileged people in society and because of its endeavour to positively transform the environment in which they dwell.

I envision that in the next year, the project will have successfully taken off at the initial site and that it will expand to other villages within the slum to ensure that all residents have access to its services”.

Oral stories from HNP Trainees - Part 3
Steve Olanya

“My names are Steve Olanya, aspiring clean tech expert in the years to come. Am village boy born and raised in Kibera the largest slum in the world. Being a kiberan, I have not been in a position to interact with the outside world and am not exposed to many things owing this to the hardship we face in the slum as livity in the ghetto is not friendly or development oriented. But, with this opportunity, I believe I can get the best out of this and become beacon of hope to the 1 million youths in Kibera, and the town center is also going to symbolize peace and hope to the hopeless and become an Icon of revolution!”

Oral stories from HNP Trainees - Part 3
Shaffi Ramadhan

“My names are Shaffi Ramadhan born and raised in Kibera for the past 26 years.
With some of my main values like Love, Respect, Hardworking and Honesty, and
by always praising them up in the sky, i have managed to pass through the hardship and
good times of my life through from primary to college and now am a Web and Graphic Designer by profession.

I am the first born with one younger brother and sister raised by a single parent,
my beautiful mum called Jamila Said. I love dancing, playing and watching football,
travelling and hiking and my goal is to achieve and be the best out of the worst situation.
My ambition is to give a positive impact to the world and aspire to create a better unity
and happy living environment for poor and rich, able and disabled, living and non-living things,
regardless of any ethnic background one is coming from.

Human Needs Project today is in a wonderful platform and is widely accepted by
the community and in one years time it will be widely spread and widely accepted
by the entire world, and due to its nature of approach it will change life and souls
of many starting with me. It is my greatest opportunity to be at HNP and i value
and treasure the moments because it is channeled towards my dreams and ambitions
to the world.

As Shaffi, i will be part and parcel of Human Needs Project to drive it to its success
and with my ability and strengths i will deliver my very best and commit myself fully
to see my dreams and that of HNP is 100% achieved, just as the saying goes “the change is you and it begins with you”