Impact Stories & Blogs
Our team share their insights and perspectives on the impact our program is having on youth in East and Central Africa.
Benson Kiragu, Kenya, Cohort 31, Civic Leadership
Not so long ago, I was a street kid spending my days and nights on the streets of Eldoret, Kenya. I would go for days without food and other basic needs. I have experienced first-hand what it is like to be neglected and to lack access to basic health-care services. Due to sleeping on unsympathetic floors and having to endure long cold nights, I developed asthma that almost cost me my life on multiple occasions. I also developed a degenerative eye problem, called keratoconus which has left me partially blind.
Vulnerable populations continue to struggle with access to health care and especially, well-equipped hospital facilities. It is this realization that motivated me to seek training as a Pharmacist so I could work within the healthcare system and contribute towards attending to the needs of these vulnerable populations.
I have been working at the Academic Model Providing Access to Health Care (AMPATH) for the past five years. While this PEPFAR supported program began with HIV care, it now provides comprehensive primary care and specialized services for all patients regardless of their HIV status. Through my role as a community care provider and researcher, I have been involved in coming up with care strategies to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), like diabetes and hypertension. One solution we have scaled up is called Bridging-Income-Generation with group-Integrated-Care (BIGPIC). Within this program, providers travel to community groups to provide portable care which includes point of care labs and delivery of medication. Our approach also assists these groups by integrating microfinance activities and agribusiness training into their weekly meetings to help community members develop greater economic productivity. We are currently scaling this up within a community of over 15,000 people and plan to do the same to other communities within our vast AMPATH catchment area serving over 20 million people.
In addition to my work with BIGPIC, I have been working with the highly vulnerable populations of street youth who continue to struggle with addressing their health needs much like I used to when I was in their shoes. Through my volunteering at the Tumaini Innovation Centre in Eldoret, Kenya, we have been working with street-connected children and youth to find a healthy alternative to street life. I have been able to assist and mentor over 300 former street children by sharing my story and encouraging them to focus on the opportunities rather than being dragged down by the challenges they face.
YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa (YALI RLC EA) has enhanced my leadership skills and I am a better leader who can seek solutions to the daily life challenges that my community is facing. Furthermore, YALI RLC EA has made me look at every challenge as an opportunity to make a positive impact. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have stepped up my efforts to help street youth leave life on the streets by working with the Uasin Gishu County Government in Kenya and other partner organizations to rescue and re
integrate them back to their homes. We have also endeavored to protect them from police brutality as these homeless street youth are unable to adhere to the govern
My goal is to continue inspiring more youth who are undergoing challenges like I was many years ago. While I was previously considered to be nothing more than a problem and a burden to society, I am eager to flip the script and be part of the solution by helping countless other street youth with the small acts of kindness that can help them permanently break the poverty cycle and achieve the dreams that have always seemed out of reach for them. I want to empower others just like I was empowered.ment’s stay at home orders as they do not have a home to go to. Thus far, we have managed to rescue 189 street children and youth, whereby 97 have been reintegrated to their homes, 85 have bounced back to the streets during reintegration and after reintegration, and 23 are being hosted at Tumaini Innovation Centre as a temporary shelter. Through the generous support of donors around the World, we have recently constructed additional housing facilities to provide shelter to additional street youth and are in the process of building a vocational school capable of providing education to 300 additional kids.