Mikinduri Children of Hope

Mikinduri co-ordinator murdered [The Guardian]
Silvanos Otieno killed in Nairobi robbery

On Christmas Eve, the Kenyan co-ordinator for the Mikinduri Children of Hope Foundation was murdered. Silvanos Otieno was killed in a robbery in Nairobi in the evening of Dec. 24, 2007.

Mikinduri is a small, poor, remote Kenyan village in eastern Africa. The foundation’s aim is to relieve poverty in the village. It has a dedicated group of volunteers based on the Island. Makena Ambassa, who was born near Mikinduri and now lives in P.E.I., initiated the MCoH foundation in 2003.

Ted Grant, the foundation’s president, is now in Kenya trying to help Otieno’s family — his widow Seline and their two children. He’s also there to meet with the foundation’s new program director, Joseph Mathiwa.

In an e-mail to Guardian reporter Mary MacKay, Grant said Otieno’s death was not related in any way to the work of the MCoH.

“(It’s) just a senseless act (of) violence to someone who did so much good for other people,” he wrote. “Silvanos was our valued ally who acted as our consultant and who was the leader to the village of Mikinduri. This is a huge loss as he was an incredible man.”

Although this is a “serious emotional setback” to the foundation’s projects, they will nonetheless continue to move forward “with as much care and speed as possible,” he wrote. “Everyone involved is determined to carry on in the spirit in which Sil would have wanted us to.”

Grant said he’s positive about the foundation’s new Kenyan co-ordinator. “Joseph will be a very good man. He is completely different from Sil, but has the same keen interest in moving the project forward, especially in Sil’s honour.”

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