Kennedy Odede’s SHOFCO

 Kennedy Odede’s SHOFCO

"Find Me Unafraid" is the story of two young people from two completely different backgrounds: Kennedy Odede is from Kibera, Africa, and Jessica Posner was born in Denver, Colorado. Kennedy lived on the street foraging for food and learning how to read from old newspapers. A young Kennedy was introduced to the works of Mandela, Garvey, and King by an American volunteer, and the works of these men transformed him. Kennedy started the youth empowerment group Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) using a soccer ball he bought. During her 2007 semester abroad, Jessica Posner, an undergraduate student at Wesleyan, worked with SHOFFCO in Kenya. She fell in love with Kennedy when she decided to live in Kibera against all conventions. Their friendship continued, and Jessica helped Kennedy escape political violence and get the education he had always dreamed of at Wesleyan University. This paper seeks to review Kennedy Odede’s role in helping alleviate urban poverty and SHOFCO organization as depicted in the book “Find Me Unafraid”.

 Kennedy Odede’s motivation for his achievements

The Kenyan social activist and role model for social change, Kennedy Odede, grew up in a challenging environment of poverty in Kibera, which inspired him to rise above his circumstances and lead his community. Originally from a small village in Kenya, Odede faced extreme food insecurity when he was two years old. Consequently, his mother and family were forced into moving to the capital to improve their living conditions.  Despite this, they were unable to find a job there, forcing them to move again just to survive. The biggest motivating factor for Odede was most likely how he lived during his first 25 years. First, living in the Kibera Slum in extreme poverty and just finding enough food to survive was the initial motivating factor that drove his achievement. Moreover, at the age of 10, he became a street child, which meant he had no home or safety. All of this contributed to his motivation in changing his community for the better. All of this contributed to his motivation in changing his community for the better. Kennedy Odede had to start somewhere to launch SHOFCO, but it wasn't easy. This was accomplished by earning $1 for 10 hours of work in a factory, saving 20 cents, and then buying a soccer ball with it. Later on, the scholarship was offered to Odede by Wesleyan University in America. As such, having lived in such poverty for so long, Odede felt it was his duty to bring positive change to his community. It was the urge to help others who had faced similar problems that he once faced during his childhood period. According to Professor Dennis Shaughnessy, several entrepreneurs try to solve their problems or fill a hole in their lives by solving the problems of others (Shaughnessy 1). This is also what pushed Odede to his motivation since he wanted to be a problem solver for those who faced the hardships he once underwent. 

How did Jessica Posner impact SHOFCO?

Jessica Posner, the wife of Kennedy Odede, co-founded Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) and contributed to the amazing work they are doing. In her new role as an “outsider” living in the Nairobi slum, Jessica witnessed poverty, lack of clean water, sanitation, poor hygiene, and lack of education first-hand (Odede 14). Seeing all of this, Jessica Posner was stunned and eager to take part in helping Odede make a difference in the community. Thus, Jessica Posner was a white savior in that respect, in the sense that SHOFCO helped non-white people in a self-serving manner, and in that regard, she was a white savior. 

Where is the innovation in the model?  

In terms of their operations, SHOFCO has an interesting model. Through their three levers, they empower communities to break the cycle of urban poverty. Firstly, they provide critical services that interrupt the survival mode. Health care and quality of life are among these services provided. Enabling adults to participate in a wide variety of adult education programs, such as literary classes, group savings and loans, and more (Shining Hope for Communities). And most importantly, access to clean drinking water. They believe that this is one of the keys to improving society as once people are less worried about getting sick, they can focus on improving their futures. Secondly, they empower people to engage in collective action through their community advocacy platform, which allows them to change their communities and speak up for their rights together. In order for their community to achieve its goals, it is crucial to have leaders who will listen to what they have to say. In their opinion, women deserve as much as any man does, so they believe they can achieve this through them. Equality is an important pillar to them. By investing in the education of girls and fostering long-term female leadership, they accomplish this (SHOFCO: Kennedy Odede, 30 under 30 and changing the world). They can do this by giving students all the tools they need to succeed. In a way, it can be disruptive, though I believe that it is for the better. Usually, slum dwellers are affected by the disruption. Among the changes they are making are sustainable livelihoods, access to water, sanitation, hygiene, essential services, access to health care, and the empowerment of girls in leadership roles. 

Is it immoral for SHOFCO to charge for tuition? 

I believe that it would be moral for SHOFCO to charge tuition and fees as a part of its business model. However, it would be better if it could be avoided. The reason is that educating girls has historically not been a priority in Kenya's urban slums, and if all of the students there had tuition fees, the number of girls studying might decrease significantly. SHOFCO believes that girls are the key to long-term change that can stop the cycle of poverty in these communities, so it would make sense to keep it free. However, is this an option that will be sustainable? In terms of financial sustainability, it would create a much more sustainable model if you introduced a fee. There is currently no tuition charge for the school, which offers holistic care and a world-class curriculum. To ensure that the students currently attending the schools can afford the fees, SHOFFCO needs to ensure that the fees will be affordable for them, otherwise, what's the point of having a school that no one in the slum can attend? 

Is SHOFCO’s business model replicable?

In my opinion, SHOFCO's business model could be applied to slums of other cultures, with some adjustments required.  The reasons for this are that although most slums share similar issues (poverty, lack of clean water, sanitation, plumbing, and education), they cannot be resolved in the same way. For Detroit, the model would need to be drastically adjusted because the level of inequality is very low. For the people living in Detroit, it would be more important to provide them with the necessities, such as clean water, shelter, and work. There are many similarities between Calcutta and the slum where Odede lived, and the model can almost be the same in both cities. 

Does SHOFCO effectively measure impact through outcomes or outputs?

SHOFFCO does effectively measure outputs as well as outcomes, but it emphasizes outcomes more, which I believe is the right approach. I like the fact that they are transparent about this and show how they are doing on their website.  For instance, with an average score of B+ on the KCPE examination, 100% of students in KCPE passed, 9510 beneficiaries had access to clean water, $143000 was saved through group saving and loan programs and 656 business startups were trained with business skills. This has all had a major impact on society and it is important that they are measuring these impacts in order to motivate people to donate so that they can continue to do good in the slums. 

What needs to be done to ensure financial sustainability at SHOFCO?

I do believe that organizations can do good in a community when they collect money from people, but I do not think that is a sustainable model.  Since a non-profit may need donations to continue, I believe that SHOFCO should take a fee for the help they provide, especially if they cannot work closely with the local government, another method for being financially sustainable. SHOFCO can organize a budget to benefit low-income individuals and families in their communities in partnership with the local government. 

Conclusion 

Kennedy Odede spent most of his life living in the slums and has a true understanding of what it means to live there. In other words, it's the lack of equality, lack of jobs, access to clean water, education, and many more. I believe that this is very significant to him since he grew up in a community where he would like to make a difference. Conclusively, Odede's organization, SHOFCO, dedicates itself to making a meaningful impact in the community. 

Attribution Page

 In order to fully comprehend what motivated Kennedy Odede, I had to do an extended reading of an article called “What Motivates the Best Social Entrepreneurs?” by Dennis Shaughnessy.  The article helped me relate Kennedy Odede’s motivation towards his motivation and the article. Through the article, I was able to note that for one to be motivated, he/she should look on the outside and not on the inside. Consequently, I discovered that Kennedy Odede was motivated from the outside in which, he had the urge to help his community and the people who lived the hard life he once experienced. 

I also did an extended reading on an article about SHOFCO-Kennedy Odede, 30 Under 30 and Changing the World (https://www.classy.org/blog/shofco-kennedy-odede-30-under-30-and-changing-the-world/.). 

The article played a significant role by providing information about introduction of SHOFCO and previous life of Kennedy Odede. With the help of the article, I was able to analyze the previous hard life that Odede went through and the key motivation that drove him to start SHOFCO. 

The article “Shining Hope for Communities.” Changemakers (https://www.changemakers.com/sustliving2014/entries/shining-hope-communities-0.) also played a significant role in analysis of the model used by SHOFCO to offer its services. From the article, I was able to note that SHOFCO was investing in girl education. According to them, equality should be embraced and women should be given the same opportunity as men. 

Work Cited

 Odede, Kennedy, and Jessica Posner. "Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum." Ecco, 2016. 

Shaughnessy, Dennis. “What Motivates the Best Social Entrepreneurs?” 2013. “SHOFCO: Kennedy Odede, 30 under 30 and Changing the World.” 

Classy, 27 Sept. 2021, https://www.classy.org/blog/shofco-kennedy-odede-30-under-30-and-changing-the-world/. “Shining Hope for Communities.” Changemakers, https://www.changemakers.com/sustliving2014/entries/shining-hope-communities-0.