Hard work and a heart for people pays off for a young woman in our WOVEN program

kellyUncategorized
Loice at her internship

 Hello, my name is Loice Makari Oloo aged 23 years old. Thank you so much for granting me this opportunity to tell you my story. I grew up as an orphan under my uncle’s guidance. I am the only child in my family. Though my uncle has a family of three children who I comfortably consider as my younger siblings, he really struggled hard as a casual worker to ensure that I successfully completed my primary education in 2016, where I scored 353 marks out of 500 marks.  After my exemplary KCPE results, the school Deputy Headmaster got me a chance to join the late Mama Priscah Atieno Oulo’s Orphanage. Honestly she was my powerful guardian who really nurtured me to be a lady of integrity up to now. It was through this Orphanage that I got the opportunity to be picked by LUH for WOVEN sponsorship in 2020, having attained a mean grade of C plain with 45 points.  I am a student at Kenya Utalii College and I am pursuing a course in Hospitality Management, specializing in Food, Beverage Service and Sales. I find the course very interesting because I like interacting with different people while collaborating with […]

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From loss to opportunity, Molly’s Story

kellyUncategorized

 Molly Akinyi is an orphan born in Bondo Municipality of Siaya County.  She is the second born in a family of two.  Their father and mother died when they were in their lower Primary School.  After the death of their mother, the girls were adopted by their aunt who lives in Umoja 3 estate of Nairobi. For now she sells rolled fried pancakes (chapati) in the estate. Life is not easy for the aunt as a single mother with 3 children and 2 adopted nieces. The family relies on porridge in the morning and a simple lunch of corn meal and kale or cabbage. It was joyful for Molly and the aunt to receive news in January 2020 about an organization looking for orphans who have scored a mean grade of B and from deserving homes.  She was well known in the village and the chief identified her immediately.  Light Up Hope gave her a full scholarship where she was enrolled in Mbitini Girls High school.  This was news no one could believe.   She is happy that from the time she joined the program, Molly has never missed school.  She attends from the first to the closing day.  She has […]

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Now Hiring – USA Development Director

kellyUncategorized

Light Up Hope seeks a full-time passionate and growth oriented Development Director to head our ongoing fundraising needs. Reporting to the President and will work closely with the Chief Operating Officer to shape and implement an effective fundraising strategy, with a particular focus on growing new earned revenue and corporate partnerships.  This professional must have an established background in coordinating nonprofit donation strategies and grant writing.  Our ideal candidate will have a bachelor’s degree and a minimum of three – five years of fundraising development experience, preferably in the nonprofit sector and a passion for resourcing nonprofit organizations with transformational funding opportunities. Willingness to travel to Kenya to see programs in action.  Responsibilities: Qualifications We offer a base salary, $60k-$70k based on experience,  with the potential to earn a 10% bonus of your base pay. This is a fully remote position.  At this time we do not offer any medical or 401K benefits.  Please note we will accept applications from the United States however, priority will be given to those residing in the Denver metro area.  To apply, please send the following to Kelly@lightuphope.org with Development Director in the subject line:  – A cover letter outlining why you are interested […]

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A Beneficiary’s Perspective

Rebecca MagireUncategorized

To my sponsors, My name is Alice Mutua from Kitui, Kenya and a student at the University of Nairobi. I have two brothers and three sisters.  My parents depend on what we harvest from our garden and cultivating our neighbors’ lands to pay school levies and cater for the children basic needs.  Growing up in such an environment instills bravery, confidence and competence. However, with very little to go on, joining a university felt like a far fetched dream until I meet Light Up Hope which enabled me to join the University of Nairobi, a world Class University committed to scholarly Excellence to pursue a degree in Arts with a focus on History, Swahili and Psychology. While I love all the classes I take, dream is to specialize in Swahili and become a lecturer in the field as well as become a translator in the same. For girls like me, having an opportunity like this not only changes my life’s projection but that of my family and community at large. Thank you for enabling me to join this university (a sphere of change). is because of you that I’m studying without school fees stress, and I also have somewhere to […]

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A Great Year Ahead!

Rebecca MagireGeneral

Expanding to Kajiado County 2023 has started in a big way for Light Up Hope. We have received funding to expand both our feeding and Woven programs while maintaining the 160 beneficiaries for our High School Program.  Given the massive expansion, the organization saw it necessary to involve both the target community and local government in the selection process of schools to benefit from the program. Indeed, by ensuring full participation, we gave the community an opportunity to own the initiative in the hopes that it will increase the impact of the program. Specifically, the organization formed a County Technical Committee, a team bringing together the Light Up Hope’s Staff and representatives of the two levels of government (National and County level) to work together in ensuring a successful implementation of our Programs in Kajiado County. The CTC consists of, The committee’s first assignment was the selection of the 2023 High School Scholarship beneficiaries where the organization benefitted hugely from the members knowledge of the area and its dynamics In the initial stages, it was the work of the CTC to receive all applications from aspirants and forward the same to LUH staff involved in the selection process. Upon the […]

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