OUR BOARD

For a copy of our constitution, click constitution

Kijiji Cha Upendo is overseen by a capable and distinguished Board of Directors, experienced in not-for-profit work.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

Roseline Akinyi Ochieng’

Chair of Kijiji Cha Upendo Children’s Project. Trained Counsellor, Teacher in Drama and Sports, Masters Degree in Education. A member of the Guidance and Counselling Department, Ms Ochieng’ counsels individual students in school. She serves as a board member of Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK) and helps women and children affected by HIV&&AIDS, is a patron of the SCAD club (Students Campaign Against Drugs) and Assistant Patron for the school Drama club, and is delegate and Branch chairperson (Nairobi Branch) of Mwalimu National Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited. Ms Ochieng’ is a trained Peer Educator under the Mwalimu Stop AIDS programme.

“I want to apply my professional qualifications, work experience and personal drive to the needy cause of orphaned and disadvantaged children. I want to give back to humanity and to give hope to the hopeless, by adding life to their days rather than days to their lives.”

 

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Dorothy Onyango

Ms Onyango is HIV positive and is the Founder and Executive Director of WOFAK, Women Fighting AIDS in Africa, an organisation that provides for the basic needs of women living positively with HIV while also nurturing and supporting them to become transformative leaders. Ms Onyango was a parliamentary candidate for Kibera in the 2012 elections.

 

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Leonora Obara

Program Administrator for Kijiji Cha Upendo. Social worker with WOFAK (Women fighting AIDS in Africa). Widely respected for her knowledge of HIV&AIDS and gender related issues, she has been brought to /Canada by three different organisations, including the Stephen Lewis Foundation to advise on TB, HIV/AIDS and treatment for women severely traumatised by sexual violence in Congo. She and her husband Andrew have raised ten orphaned children in addition to their own five children.

 

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Ambrose Gandi

Mr Gandi has a diploma in marketing and is skilled in communications and negotiation. He is a leader and activist who brings the ability to mobilise communities and engage them in development projects such as fish farming, bee keeping and rabbit keeping. He organised for his location to get piped water and helped resolve disputes between different ethnic groups during the 2007/2008 post election clashes. A caregiver to orphans and vulnerable children, Mr Gandi is secretary to the community welfare group dealing with orphans and vulnerable children. He assists in vetting local recipients of church and government school bursaries and is a founding member of Community Policing in his neighbourhood, serving as the chairman of his Village Community Policing group.  He established a networking relationship between the community and the provincial administration Government departments, specifically the children’s department. He is a member of the area Catholic Community.

“I am an OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) caregiver who has seen the plight of OVC’s in my area. In my day to day work I got to know many people who were good parents, who cared for their children, but were infected by HIV&AIDS and succumbed to AIDS related complications. As a result the children lacked parental care, access to basic services and they lost any inheritance. Hence my support for this initiative that addresses the needs of OVC’s.”

 

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Andrew Obara

Project Administrator for Kijij Cha Upendo. Mr Obara has a Diploma in Supplies Management and brings a wealth of administrative experience from working in the business world and with NGO’s as a volunteer. As part of his work as Secretary General for the Church of God’s Last Appeal (2004 to 2011), he organised support for orphans and vulnerable children and widows. Mr. Obara sits on the Faith Based Technical Committee of the National AIDS Control Council of Kenya, and he is a member of the Area Advisory Committee of the Lang’ata District within which Kibera is situated. Mr. Obara sat on the committee that merged the split church of God’s Last Appeal, and is the coordinator of activities for that church. On three occasions he has led Runnymede United Church Youth Groups (Toronto, Canada) in touring Kenya and in building classrooms in Zedekiah Odumah Academy, in Usenge.

“If children are offered the opportunity, and are placed in an environment that enhances their capabilities, then they can realise their potential. Kijiji Cha Upendo is a vehicle that can do this. The Caregivers have the love. Our Donors have the material resources. Together, we can provide OVC’s (orphans and vulnerable children) with everything they need!”