Luas Omondin – Life History

My name is Lucas omondi from Nairobi Kenya I was born and raised in a slum in Kenya known as Mathare slums,mathare slums is the second largest slums in Kenya which is has a population of around 800000-900000 people residing in that slum,mathare also consist of so many people with different situations we have poor families,families affected/infected with HIV/AIDS,Vulnerable families and also teenagers getting married earlier,my family’happened to reside in mathare slums and that’s where I was born,,my dad passed away due to HIV/AIDS and us going through alot (suffering)leaving us without anyone to take care of us and by then my mother was sick and admitted at the Kenyatta National hospital which is one of the biggest hospital in Kenya which can accommodate so many people and treat different diseases and has qualified doctors in the country,I had no relative around or to run to for help,my mom was discharged from the hospital and I had to take care of her since we had no one who came through for us,my mother was paralysed on one side of her body and and she couldn’t walk any more and she was under medication due to her condition,and also she was HIV positive, I was forced to start a small business in order for me to raise money for food in our house, because my mother was under medication and she was supposed to eat well in order for the medicine she I taking in to help her get well,I started selling ground nuts around mathare slums,and by then I was young at around 7years old and I had not yet started school due to the condition and situation I was going through together with my mother and my younger brother,I was walking around videos halls,clubs and pubs selling my ground nuts in order for me to get quick money to support my mother who was still bedridden and couldn’t walk anymore,it was not easy and not safe for me because people saw as a small child and wanted to misstreat me especially drunkard people but I managed to run away for my safety but that didn’t stop me from going on with the business,,so through walking and selling groundnuts in video hall I met Nick and Charles founders of community transformers organisations together with their team in a movie centre chilling and watching movie,I passed by them raising my nuts on their faces and one of then called me and bought some of my nuts,after that he asked me why was I not in school and what I was doing in a video hall during school days,I opened up to them and told them what I was going through at home and the condition of our home and my mother and what led me to do the business,they were touched with my story and decided to visit our house to confirm what I had shared with them if it was true,,,they came and found out what I had shared with them was true and they really felt pitty for us,,,, our house was so dirty and stinking there was no body to help me do the house chores,my mother was still weak my younger brother is still small and cannot do anything,they quickly offered to the cleaning and make the house look good,and after that they asked me to be joining them every evening at their place which was not far from where we were staying for a session of tuition (they were supporting me academically before I joined school)my desire by then was to join school and study like other children in the community but unfortunately there were no resources or people to support me by then,,,,in 2007 post election violence came and it really affected us alot because I got separated with my family ,,,,but I was rescued with the community transformers organization and taken to their rescue centre in Huruma which was a place in mathare they used to keep rescued children and tried to re -unite them with their families but unfortunately mine was different my mother and brother whereabout was not found so had to stay in the rescue centre for a while but still nothing came as positive,,,after post election violence had come to an end we were so many of us who were not yet re united back with their families,we were taken to school by Nick who is the founder of community transformers and Tree house children family I started school and went through the 8-4-4 system,,this is a system of education governed by the government of Kenya,I went through the primary level for 8 years,I also managed to go through the secondary level which is the high school level for 4years and now I am in college studying business management through the help of Nick and Charles,,my greatest desire is to study and be a business man and help many orphans and vulnerable families in my community to study and achieve what they desire to have in life

I want to be a game changer,,cycle breaker,,,giving hope to those who have lost hope.