From homeless kid to hero of Africa's biggest slum
Kennedy Odede grew up in Kibera in Kenya - Africa鈥檚 biggest slum. He thought his future prospects were either death or prison, then he read a book that would be a turning point.
Kennedy Odede grew up in Kibera in Kenya, Africa鈥檚 biggest slum. Poverty drove him to stealing and drugs. He believed his future prospects were either death or prison. He didn鈥檛 go to school but Kennedy taught himself to read from newspapers he found in the rubbish. He began learning about the American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King and was inspired. Kennedy started his own movement and it all began with football. His project, Shining Hope for Communities, just grew and grew. He鈥檚 now built two schools and seven health clinics. Kennedy also won a US scholarship, he speaks six languages and has rubbed shoulders with Beyonc茅.
When she was 20 years old, Leandra Medine Cohen started a satirical fashion blog 鈥� an off-beat space celebrating trends women love and men hate. It was funny and irreverent, the thinking behind it was what she called "man-repelling". That's not about whether you do your hair or curl your lashes according to her, it's an attitude. Her blogs took off. And then she got married. Leandra and her husband tried for a baby and when she had a miscarriage, she turned to the blog.
Image: Kennedy Odede
Credit: Courtesy of Shining Hope for Communities
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- Wed 4 Sep 2019 11:06GMT主播大秀 World Service
- Wed 4 Sep 2019 15:06GMT主播大秀 World Service Australasia
- Wed 4 Sep 2019 17:06GMT主播大秀 World Service except Australasia, East and Southern Africa, South Asia & West and Central Africa
- Thu 5 Sep 2019 02:06GMT主播大秀 World Service UK DAB/Freeview
- Thu 5 Sep 2019 03:06GMT主播大秀 World Service Americas and the Caribbean, Online, Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected