Growing up in Nairobi’s Korogocho slums, it took well-wishers’ mercy to rescue George Ochieng’ from early exposure to crime and drugs.
And now, he is running an outfit to be the saviour of another slum child and traveling the world while at it.
A well-wisher sponsored him to school, snatching him from the unforgiving hands of slum poverty, crime and drug and thankfully, he devoted himself to studies, scaling his way to top echelon of activism.
In 2008, he founded Slum Child Foundation, an outfit he has used as a fundraising vehicle to help poor children in the slums of Nairobi to afford basic education.
Ochieng’ says if it were not for the well wishers who had pity on him and saw him through school, his life would have not changed as a street child, and he would probably be dead by now or his life would be miserable.
“It was the hand of cheerful-hearted people who saw me come this far. If they did not help me find the path of education, you would not be speaking to me today,” he told the Star.
With the Slum Child Foundation, he has managed to put food on the table of slum children, help take some to school and rescue girls and boys from the throes of drugs destruction.
Ochieng’ says his conviction is to lift the voices of children and youth to the main table of drug policy discussions so that their perspective is heard, besides his charity work.
“Besides sourcing for funds to help sponsor a few to school and put food on the table of others, there has been a missing input of children and young people in discussing what they think a working policy can be,” he said.
“That is why wherever I go, I ensure the voice of Slum Child Foundation is heard and the input of our constituency inform the policy approach,” he said during the interview.
His humanitarian activism has seen him recognised multiple times, affording him chances to travel the world to put the case of his foundation to be funded.
For example, he recently travelled to Vienna, Austria, to present a case for funding of the anti-poverty campaign to rescue youths and children in Nairobi slums from the jaws of drugs and crime, complaining that the mainstream channels ignore the demography.
It was during the 68th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, a body established to assist the Economic and Social Council in supervising the application of the international drug control conventions.
It is the policymaking body of the United Nations with responsibility for drug control matters, together with the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, acts as the governing body of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Ochieng’ told the UN body that victims of drug abuse will only be helped if their voice is heard in the halls where policy deliberations take place.
“Children and youth were notably absent from major discussions in the plenary, despite their vulnerability to substance use,” a statement he delivered at the meeting reads. “
Although SDG 3 on health and wellbeing was included under agenda item seven, contributions were minimal, raising concerns about whether child protection remains a secondary priority.
“This highlights the failure of international frameworks, such as the Pact for the Future, to address youth substance abuse effectively.”
Ochieng’ said policies by governments, including the Kenyan national and the Nairobi County administrations, fail to be impactful because they are child friendly.
