Kenya: Odede Helps Boy Achieve Bicycle Dream

CEO of Shinning Hope for Communities, Kennedy Odede, has come to the aid of a Kenyan boy, Ian Otieno, who has been collecting plastic waste from a dumpsite to sell with a view to buying a bicycle.

Development Diaries gathered that Odede gifted the 15-year-old boy a brand new bicycle after he saw the story of Otieno on social media.

The social entrepreneur also committed to paying the boy’s school fees from primary to university level.

It was learnt that, with the closure of schools as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the young Otieno took advantage of the free time to go to the Dandora dumpsite to collect plastic waste to sell.

Otieno’s story was shared by Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) on social media in June and it caught the attention of Odede.

‘Ian was not afraid of the [Covid-19]; he would wake up every day and go to collect the plastic waste at the Dandora dumpsite, a sprawling 30-acre rubbish dump’, Odede said in a Facebook post.

‘Ian’s story is the same as mine and those of many other Kenyans. I grew up in the slums where we dreamt of doing great things in the future’.

He also said, ‘Any young person who takes initiative should be encouraged and supported. I am where I am today because someone believed in me. I believe in you, Ian’.

Otieno, who wants to be a pilot when he grows up, said, ‘Today is the happiest day of my life. I feel good because you have brought me what I wanted. When I grow up, I will also help other vulnerable people’.

On the scholarship, Otieno said, ‘I am going to work hard in school and I will not let you [Odede] down. Thank you so much’.

Source: Kennedy Odede

Photo source: Kennedy Odede

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