By Chelsea Clinton
Rock Center Special Correspondent
In 2007, as Jessica Posner prepared for her junior fall semester abroad in Nairobi, Kenya, one of her mentors at Wesleyan University suggested she reach out to Kennedy Odede. Jess’s mentor had recently heard Kennedy speak at the United Nations about the challenges of growing up in Kibera and how he was organizing theater performances throughout the slum to educate people about gender violence and HIV/AIDS. Kibera is one of the largest slums in Africa where approximately one million people live without roads, clean water, a sewage system or a single school or hospital. Jess’s mentor could not have known that suggesting Jess reach out to a man born in Kibera and committed to improving the lives of Kibera’s residents would change Jess’s life and countless others in the years to come.
Shortly after Jess first arrived in Nairobi, by far the furthest she had ever been from her hometown of Denver, Colorado, she emailed Kennedy asking if she could come to Kibera, to see his theater group perform and maybe even work with him. Kennedy replied and asked for her resume. Wary of would-be slum tourists, Kennedy wanted to ensure, as he told me, that this newly-arrived American was, “serious.” Kennedy’s curiosity about Jess’s motives is understandable. Kennedy talked to me about how starting around the time Jess arrived, he began noticing advertisements for ‘slum tours’ that vowed, incongruously, to show people ‘the real slum’ without having to get ‘too dirty.’ Kennedy wanted people to work with him who didn’t mind “getting dirty,” and who were focused on “empowering people in the slums, not profiting off their misery.” Jess sent Kennedy her resume, he saw she was serious and he said he could tell her heart “was in the right place.” When he walked her to the bus stop at the end of her first day in Kibera, he suspected he was already in love with her – and she suspected she was in love with him too.
A couple weeks after Jess starting working with Kennedy and his theater group, she showed up – unannounced – at the one-room home he shared with his mother and siblings in Kibera. With all of her stuff. Jess expected to move in, despite Kennedy having already dismissed the idea and even though they hadn’t even started dating yet. Kennedy told Jess, “no outsider has ever lived here.” Jess wanted to “understand Kibera better” and knew that if “she went in every day and then left at the end of each night to stay in a comfortable home,” she would always be an outsider. Jess also didn’t want to be “another white person” who showed up and then left. Kennedy told me that he didn’t know of another white person who had ever spent more than a night in Kibera, certainly no one who had ever moved in.
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Jess and Kennedy at the school they founded in Kibera, the Kibera School for Girls.
Kennedy’s neighbors were shocked. Jess and Kennedy both said that for weeks after Jess moved in, neighbors would knock on their door each morning to see if Jess was still alive – many people didn’t expect her to survive a day. Jess didn’t tell her parents she’d moved to Kibera – she also didn’t tell them she was already developing deep feelings for Kennedy.
Jess says they fell in love “naturally,” and that their love evolved from a good friendship. When I asked her if she had an ‘aha’ moment – she said the first time Kennedy told her he loved her. She was in the hospital battling malaria and was delirious. Kennedy thought she was asleep. He told Jess he loved her because he thought she wouldn’t remember! She did remember, and she knew it wasn’t the malaria talking. Jess recovered and then had to return home for her second semester. She left Kenya not knowing if she’d come back, not knowing if her and Kennedy’s relationship would survive the distance. Jess said she didn’t know how “it would all fit together.” Kennedy watched her leave and wrestled with many of the same questions.
Kennedy had always dreamed of getting a college education, even though he had never formally finished high school. Kennedy had largely taught himself to read and write, though once he could read, he devoured books and once he could write, he wrote plays, poems, speeches. When violence broke out after the Kenyan elections soon after Jess returned back to the United States, she saw an opportunity for Kennedy to come to the United States for college. She repeatedly told me that Kennedy was the most amazing and inspiring person she’d ever met – and she knew that with the right education, he could be an even more effective leader for his community and for Kibera. When we were talking, Jess frequently referred to Kennedy as a leader – a sentiment echoed when I was in Kibera and people would pass Kennedy and refer to him as ‘Mr. Mayor.’ Jess convinced colleges to take Kennedy’s late application; Wesleyan accepted him. Kennedy wasn’t sure about leaving his community during such a turbulent time. The “excitement” of his community about someone from Kibera going to college, and in the United States nonetheless, as well as the weight of his family’s and friends’ expectations finally persuaded Kennedy it was the right choice, for him and Kibera.
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Tiny handprints mark the wall that leads into the entrance of the school that for its young students and their families is often a refuge.
In August 2008, Jess and Kennedy arrived together at Wesleyan after spending the summer working and living together in Kibera. At the beginning of her final year, Jess didn’t know what she wanted to do after graduation. Kennedy knew what he wanted to do – open a school for girls in Kibera. Soon, Kennedy’s dream became her dream. The summer after Jess graduated, she and Kennedy went back to Kibera and with $10,000 in grant money and Jess’s babysitting savings, they built a school for girls, hired teachers, found materials, took applications and opened the doors – all within a few months.
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Three of the 100 girls who attend the Kibera School for Girls.
When Kennedy went back to Wesleyan for his sophomore year in 2009, Jess stayed in Kibera, dedicated to helping realize Kennedy’s vision for a school for girls and a community center in Kibera, built and shaped by the people of Kibera. Jess said she felt like she had a family around her in Kennedy’s family and friends – and that most people already considered them to be married even though Kennedy hadn’t yet proposed. Jess also was very focused on ensuring that people in Kibera and the people who would come to support the school in the U.S. and elsewhere knew that she was there working with and for Kennedy’s vision, not her own.
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Rock Center Special Correspondent Chelsea Clinton meets students at the Kibera School for Girls.
Jess stayed in Kibera until Kennedy could join her after he graduated in May of last year with honors from Wesleyan. Less than a month after Kennedy’s graduation, Jess and Kennedy were married in Jess’s backyard in Denver, in a ceremony celebrating their Jewish and Luo traditions. They postponed their honeymoon to rush back to Kibera to be with “their girls,” the 100 students at the Kibera School for Girls today and their community, the more than 30,000 people served by the employment center, health clinic, violence-against-women prevention programs and water tower associated with the school. When I asked Jess if she could imagine her life any other way, she said, “No. I feel so lucky to get to work with somebody that I love and admire so deeply. I think Kennedy is the most amazing person I’ve ever met.” When I asked her if Kenya and Kibera were now home, Jess didn’t hesitate. She answered, “Yes, this is home.” When I asked Kennedy whether he could imagine his life any differently, he shook his head in confusion – it clearly was a question he had not asked himself! Having had the privilege of spending so much time with Jess and Kennedy, it’s impossible to imagine one without the other – and inconceivable they would be living anywhere else or doing any other work than the work they’re doing, together, in Kibera.
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The girls read a book about one of their favorite characters, Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Editor's Note: To learn more about the Kibera School for Girls, click here.
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What a beautiful touching story. Thanks for sharing, Chelsea!!
This is a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing it. May they have great success with their school. At OneWorldChildren'sFund, we are also supporting a nursery school and children's rescue center in Kibera, started by a local teacher, Lucy Kayiwa. Want to know more? Please check us out: or www.owcf.org to see how we partner with grassroots organizations worldwide.
Awesome stories tonight, Brian you and your organization reports stories that resembles what TRUE journalism is all about.... Investigative, informational, insightful, and instrumental to anyone's life who wants to grow as an individual. Chelsea, you are a sweet spirit.. Your story was very touching to me and my office personnel tonight. There was about 8 guys who all stopped what they were doing and watched this story. Very well put together! ENCORE! Thank you
What an incredible story. There are so many of these stories all over Africa. I read this one recently about a young American woman on her own, changing the lives of children in Tanzania. It takes so much dedication and bravery to make this your life. I am in awe of them all! You can find the story at womenyoushouldknow (dot) net
Watching this story reminded me of an organization my friend, Janet, started in Kenya. Like Keibera School, Right to Thrive (), Janet's organization, introduced our friends to the realities and needs of these amazing children with so little hope. I loved the part about Clifford and the empowering programs were very emotional. Thanks for sharing this story on Rock Center
Watching this story reminded me of an organization my friend, Janet, started in Kenya. Like Keibera School, Right to Thrive (), Janet's organization, introduced our friends to the realities and needs of these amazing children with so little hope. I loved the part about Clifford and the empowering programs were very emotional. Thanks for sharing this story on Rock Center
We are so proud of Shining Hope and because of this the Nathan Yip Foundation has provided support for the new classroom that they are adding this January. It takes a village.
www.nathanyipfoundation.org
Chelsea,
What a tremendous story! I can feel your heart through each of your stories. You are a beautiful person with a beautiful spirit. Keep doing what you are doing. I wish you all the best.
Awesome, Soooooo nice. Thanx NBC for sharing this story.
What is happening with birth control education in these areas? Please, do a story on saving children and families by applying birth control in areas of poverty. Why can we not help with education and hope. I realize that Nairobi is a city of big buildings and huts, but should children be conceived in this environment of poverty?
First you have to have the boys stop raping the girls, children having children.
Then you need to feed people, these children, for the ache for food far exceeds anything said or taught. Many children there addicted to glue, to numb the feeling.
So perpetual hungar, lack of everything should be first dealt with.
Kennedy's story is similar to Ken Okoth's. Ken was raised in Kibera, graduated with honors from St. Lawrence University, went on to Georgetown for a graduate degree in Foreign Service (), returned to Kibera and founder of the Children of Kibera Foundation (). The foundation sponsors several schools.My wife and I recently visited the Red Rose School and took a suitcase of supplies there. Ken is also running for office—to become a Member of Parliament in Kenya, to further help the people of Kibera (). I echo the sentiments of the article: there is a tremendous need in Kibera that deserves the support of those of us that live in more fortunate circumstances.
Great piece of journalism here. Goes to show how powerful and transformative a study abroad experience can be when done right. Huge kudos to Jessica and Kennedy!
Bella...this story is beautiful and inspiring.
Great story, one of many BNICE has encountered. There are several "rescue" schools in Kenya that BNICE has sent books to. So the point is that books are needed. Before I send books, I learn that books are not available for independent reading. Then I work with the teachers and principal to put in place independent reading time (DEAR) once the books start to arrive. Since 2009, I've sent 140 boxes of books to ten schools including the Swanland school that is also tucked down a railroad track on a compound in the Kibera slum.
So what is needed? Funds to send boxes of books handpicked and appropriate for Kenyan culture. Good second hand books are easy to get a hold of, postage is expensive and delivery needs to be monitored. Lately it is taking 7-8 weeks for a box to arrive. Before December it was 3 weeks. Of course the Clinton Foundation can't cover it all and they do need responsible adults ( not exploiters of orphans and their plight and battle against AIDS or poverty). The method is finding and assessing faithful ministries, rescues for the children who so desire to become healthy and prosperous adults, able to take care of themselves and their families.
One trip to Africa ( for me it was Tanzania) and you learn how valuable and appreciative your gift of concern, prayer and action is.
Thanks for the story, Brian Williams but also bring out the facts that all over Africa, there are millions of children waiting for an "affordable" education, books to read, pencils to write with and competent adults. Homelessness is part of the poverty, street kids in the thousands in every city center, physical and glue abuse, toppled with governments looking the other way while well-wishers try to take on their social problems. It's hard to know who will make it right, foreigners or social workers, teachers or clergy, gov't or self help. But the fact is, the children need rescue, caring adults who will step up and do what is right, for the future of children of this pandemic.
You may also be interested in the story of Ryan Barcott: [from Amazon.com]
In 2000 Rye Barcott spent part of his summer living in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya. He was a college student heading into the Marines, and he sought to better understand ethnic violence-something he would likely facelater in uniform. He learned Swahili, asked questions, and listened to young people talk about how they survived in poverty he had never imagined. Anxious to help but unsure what to do, he stumbled into friendship with awidowed nurse, Tabitha Atieno Festo, and a hardscrabble community organizer, Salim Mohamed.
Together, this unlikely trio built a non-governmental organization that would develop a new generation of leaders from within one of Africa's largest slums. Their organization, Carolina for Kibera (CFK), is now a global pioneer of the movement called Participatory Development, and washonored byTime magazine as a "Hero of Global Health." CFK's greatest lesson may be that with the right kind of support, people in desperate places will take charge of their lives and create breathtaking change.
You can find his book here: