WiRED International Center in Kenya Connects Homeless Teenager to Health Education

BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW AND BERNICE BORN

Ramsey Sagini Peter is a 15-year-old Kenyan whose determination to educate himself led him to WiRED International’s Community Health Information Center in Kisumu, Kenya.

 

Education was a factor in Ramsey’s life early on. When he became an orphan, a woman took him in with her family only to abuse him when he got better marks at school than her children did. She told Ramsey that it would be better if he had never been born. When she stopped feeding him, he left to look for shelter and food but also for an education. A man took care of him for a while, but did not let him fulfill his dream of going to school.

 

Again on his own, with no job or shelter, Ramsey started walking and ended up in the Kisumu slum of Obunga, where he met a man who took him to the WiRED youth center there. Ramsey shared his problems with volunteers at the center and started taking WiRED health education courses.

 

Volunteers at the center reported that Ramsey studied many WiRED modules and now understands how to prevent HIV/AIDS, the importance of washing hands and food, and much more. He was particularly encouraged when he observed children from three schools coming to the center to use computers to access health information.

 

Currently Ramsey is teaching children at the center about personal hygiene. He said, “At the youth center I learned about sanitation and hygiene and STDs. If I go to school and finish studying, I would like to be a military pilot.”

 

Although it is not known how Ramsey’s life will progress, WiRED believes that health education gives him and individuals like him in underserved areas the tools to create a better life.