John Oduor Wanjir’s Story
BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW AND BERNICE BORN
"I,
John Oduor, come from a vulnerable background and live with a disability. [John has a nonfunctioning arm.] I saw my mother die from a disease I did not know and understand when I was 14. I later learned that she had cancer of the esophagus. This caused me lots of psychological problems and pain.
John Oduor Wanjir
“My mother’s death and my disability were the driving motivation and power for my enthusiasm for health education. I felt compelled to understand the root cause of my disability and learn if disability was preventable. The other motivator was to see my disabled brothers and sisters get access to health information and be involved in health matters.
“In 2002 the calamity of HIV/AIDS befell our community — Kiambu District in Central Province Kenya. Children were left orphans; men and women became widowers and widows. People didn’t know what to do and where to start. The only information the doctors then could pass on was that it is an ailment that ‘HAS NO CURE.’
“With this as a backdrop, my friends and I, very young indeed, in our late teens and early twenties, used to meet in our church compound and ask ourselves, ‘What shall we do?’
“I mobilized my peers, and we formed a small theater group whose main aim was ‘edutainment’ through art by performing skits, traditional dances, choral verses and plays.
We started to engage with the real issues such as HIV/AIDS and drugs and substance abuse in open public forums. This is how I found myself disseminating health information to the public.
The Silent World Foundation
The Silent World Foundation (TSWF) is a non-profit organization based in Nairobi, Kenya, that champions the social and economic transformation of persons living with disability and vulnerable persons of Africa. TSWF was established in 2009 and registered with the Ministry of Culture and Social Services (Kenya) to provide these critical services.
TSWF designs and delivers high-impact social development programs for the disabled in areas that matter most to people’s lives: education, health, agriculture, environment and finance.
TSWF’s motto is “We journey all the way with you in every step.”
“As I struggled to search for where and from whom to get relevant accurate health information, my buddies and I met Prof. Gary Selnow. He inspired me by enhancing our knowledge on health matters. We were the first in Africa to get hands-on training with WiRED International Health Program/Package tutorials (then in CD-ROMs).
“As if this were not enough, through the support of WiRED I designed an HIV/AIDS outreach program that targeted the less fortunate persons in our community who could not make it to a WiRED Community Health Education Center. I believed that people who needed the health information the most were the blind, the deaf, the physically impaired and prisoners.
“My passion for health education will continue to enable me to serve the less fortunate persons in the community with the growth and development of their well-being and the society as a whole without discrimination.
“In 2009, out of my concern for the less fortunate, I began The Silent World Foundation to advocate for health care for the underprivileged.”
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