OUR TEAM ON THE GROUND IN KENYA
JULIUS OKACH heads up the team in Kenya. His home village is on Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. As a child and young man, he lived in Tanzania where he was educated and received his certification in automobile mechanics. Julius currently works full time as a guide with the Kenya Tourist Board. He is husband to Beatrice, and father of three young children. Julius is devoted to his family and to the Kenyan people. He is truly a goodwill ambassador for his country and is eager to share his knowledge of the land, its people and its geography.
Julius is helping to coordinate the Nyanya projects in Nairobi, Ndahti and Kisesini. He is most interested in the shelter project in his home area of Kisumu, and plans to construct a dwelling for a grandmother raising AIDS orphans in his native village. Julius is a man of many talents and has proven to be a valuable asset to the Nyanya Project. He has performed many roles for Nyanya, including driver, guide, photographer, translator/interpreter, advisor, diplomat, and moral supporter. Without Julius, the implementation of the Nyanya Project would not be possible.
DENIS OMONDI ODUOR is dedicated to helping tackle social problems in society. Mary Martin Niepold first met him in 2006, when Denis was the President of the Humanitarian Club at Kenya Polytechnic College. When Niepold asked if he could help identify some grandmothers who are raising grandchildren who have been orphaned by AIDs, Denis agreed enthusiastically. He subsequently identified the Nyanya Project’s first group of grandmothers in the Kibera section of Nairobi and convened them in May 2007.
Denis has obtained a Merit certificate in building technician III and a Merit certificate in voluntary counseling and testing. He is helping to coordinate water and sanitation activities and has done voluntary counseling and testing with the AMREF NGO and Hospital in the slums of Kibera. He has also worked with Karibu International as an immersion tour guide around the city of Nairobi. Currently, in addition to working with the Nyanya Project, Denis is doing voluntary counseling and testing to identify HIV/AIDS status, plus offering social assessment to those taking ARV drugs.
Denis coordinates the participants of the Kibera grandmothers’ activities with Amani ya Juu and has been indispensable in getting the Nyanya Project off to such a strong start.