STAFF STORY: Osop Abdi

We teach our participants to be responsible, self-sufficient young adults. We show them respect and that they matter - and that their lives can be lived with dignity and in peace.

My name is Osop and I'm a case worker with Heshima Kenya, having been a part of the team since the beginning.

At Heshima Kenya, we help young mothers raise their children while trying to figure out who they are as individuals and to cope with the trauma that they they have gone through.

I see the difference and impact in our participants everyday.

One of our participants was referred to us almost two years ago with a small child. She was traumatized, sick, illiterate and had a very low self-eteem. She went through a lot of counseling and was enrolled into the Girl Empowerment Program. Later she enrolled into the Maisha Collective project.

Today, she is one of Maisha’s project leaders and she is also studying at the Grade 6 level. Thanks to the stipends from Maisha Collective, she was able to move out of the Safe House and back into the community and has even enrolled her son in school. She has been taught about budgeting and savings and is completely on track.

The staff at Heshima Kenya act as counselors, leaders, friends and sometimes as mother figures for our participants. I deeply believe in the vision that we as the Heshima Kenya family are committed to carrying out.

Heshima Kenya means way more than a paycheck to me. I work here because of the impact that we have on our participants and the sad fact that Heshima Kenya’s work still so desperately needed.