Highlighting Three Who Strive to be HopeCore Heroes in 2022

Bertha Muthoni

Bertha is one of our cherished heroines in 2022. Bertha joined Village Hopecore International 5 years ago. She has been working as a caretaker. Her many duties have been to keep the offices clean and assist in preparing snacks for staff. Bertha finds joy when she sees the community health officers go to the field to support the communities. Bertha has been inspired by the work of the HopeCore community health workers and developed a strategy to get further training in areas that would allow her to help in the ways that she wanted. To do this, she had to improve her skills. Bertha, so far, has done a course in PrEparing: PrEP for Providers and Patients, Child Nutrition and Cooking, Introduction to Food and Health, and a lesson in Infection Prevention Control. Bertha has developed a new passion. She is moving her newly acquired skills and knowledge from the office to support the communities. “With determination and a positive mindset, I have come out of my comfort zone. Hope changes everything, and I want to be part of this change. I aim to move from office caretaker to become community caretaker.” Bertha Muthoni

Bertha Muthoni

Nicholas Muriungi

Nicholas was recognized as the best team member in the first half of 2022. Nicholas joined Village Hopecore International 6 years ago as a health educator. Due to his hard work and determination, in 2020, he was promoted to the lead trainer, and this year he was added to more roles and is in charge of our school health program.

Nicholas is our hero. His exemplary skills in developing teaching materials that include the flipcharts used in the communities by the Community Health Volunteers and in all schools within Tharaka Nithi County have been a game changer in public health matters. Some of his greatest flipcharts have led to training over 1000 Community Health Volunteers who visited over 400,000 households. His materials have been used to educate over 300,00 students in 200 schools in Mwimbi and Muthambi sub-counties. Nicholas, who is the lead trainer, is transforming lives. We are proud of him, but the community is prouder and healthier through his dedication to developing the right and relevant training materials.

Nicholas was recognized for his contribution to the first half of the year 2022 for exemplary performance.

Mrs. Githinji

Mrs. Githinji is an exceptional, cheerful, and resourceful Kenyan board member. She has seen the organization grow from funding one group to over 254 since she started with HopeCore in the year 2001. What is most inspiring about Mrs. Kithinji is that she was one of the original 12 women to receive a business loan from HopeCore, back in 2001, even before the organization was formally established. HopeCore is her home, and she considers herself part of it. She accepted the invitation to join the Kenyan board six years ago without hesitation. She recalls how she and the other members' lives were transformed after receiving her first business loan to become an entrepreneur.

Mrs Githinji addressing members of staff and guests

There were no women's empowerment programs like there are now, and women had difficulty obtaining meaningful credit. The merry-go-rounds in the women's groups only provided a small amount of money. Kshs 15,000 was a significant sum of money at the time, and the other groups envied them. HopeCore has impacted her life because all the projects she started back then are still active. She used the first loan of Kshs 15,000 to join a water project and have piped water connected to her farm, which she still uses today, and the second loan of Kshs 30,000 to expand her agro vet business, which she still does today, and to extend her zero-grazing; she uses the same chuff cutter as before! As a result, she was excited to join HopeCore's board of directors and give back to an organization that positively impacted her life. She brought the board a wealth of experience, knowledge, and competence as a math teacher at Chogoria Boys High School for over 30 years, a successful businesswoman, a well-known farmer, and a treasurer in the school welfare and two other women groups for over 15 years. She has contributed to the organization's growth and expansion since joining the Kenyan board, adding more staff, expanding to three more sub-counties, and having new programs such as the vision project and the hypertension project in the public health department, as well as special projects in the microenterprise department such as the fuel station and the motorcycle project. She has contributed to HopeCore's success in every way. Therefore, even after she retires from the HopeCore Kenyan Board this year, she will still be a part of the organization. She is our Hero in 2022 because of her unrivaled dedication and enthusiasm for helping others.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT THROUGH COMPUTER SKILLS TRAINING

This year, we are offering computer package training to youth visiting our Youth Center. Most youth who visit the youth center have recently completed secondary school. The training covers computer basics, MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Publisher, Access, and the internet. Victor, 22, completed his Form 4 exam in March this year. He enrolled in our computer training and received his certificate upon completion.

Victor receiving a certificate after the training

Victor was a fantastic student who performed well in all of his assessments. Victor got a job after graduating because he couldn't afford to continue his education, and he landed a job with a local internet provider two weeks after training. Because of his knowledge and discipline, one of the trainers introduced him to the company. The director was pleased with his abilities and believed he could keep the job after an evaluation. Victor enters data for customers and helps them with minor internet problems.

Given Victor's previous lack of computer knowledge and inability to use one, this is a significant achievement in his life. He attributes all of his accomplishments to the basic computer package training. He expresses gratitude to HopeCore for providing the training at no cost. He could not have afforded the training otherwise, which has changed his life because he is now saving to further his education. The abilities we are teaching the youth have also impressed the company director. Despite their simplicity, they are an excellent point for students to begin and continue their education and learning.

Victor crimping a J45