CBM donated a nine seater Volkswagen minivan to the Henry Wanyoike Foundation during a short ceremony held on 22nd March 2012 in Nairobi at the CBM Regional Offices. This will assist the foundation as it prepares for its annual community race which helps in creating awareness about people living with disabilities. Henry is a renowned Kenyan athlete who has excelled in the athletics field and is recognised both locally and internationally.
Hope for the Future Run
“Words cannot express our happiness. This van will enable us to move all over the country and I can now easily meet people of my kind.” These were the words of Henry Wanyoike as he received the nine seater Volkswagen minivan donated by CBM to the Henry Wanyoike Foundation. CBM’s Regional Director, Dave McComiskey, handed over the keys to Henry Wanyoike and his guide Joseph Kibunja at the CBM Regional Offices in a short ceremony held on 22nd March 2012 in Nairobi.
Henry is currently mobilizing funds for a community race for people with disabilities. The race dubbed 'Hope for the Future Run,' is organised by the foundation each year for the purposes of creating awareness about people with disabilities in the community. “We want to bring the people in the community together to inform them about issues of disability,” says Henry. The race will be held on 2nd June 2012 in Kikuyu town.
The proceeds from the race will go towards purchasing mobility aids and providing scholarships for students living with disability. Since the beginning of the community race six years ago, 80 wheelchairs and 200 walking sticks have been purchased. Additionally, 22 students have received scholarships.
The theme for this year’s race is Peace and Disability. It will focus on sensitising people on the importance of peace ahead of the upcoming presidential and general elections in Kenya in early 2013. The post election violence which erupted in the country following the immediate previous elections in 2007 left many Kenyans with various disabilities. The vehicle donated by CBM will also provide transport for the motivational speaking engagements at various schools in the country. Henry and his Foundation carry out these talks to motivate students and encourage them that despite having a disability one can achieve great heights and have positive impact in the society.
Henry's success
CBM’s relationship with Henry Wanyoike began in 1999 when a sudden stroke left Henry blind at 19 years of age. During this trying period, Henry was treated and rehabilitated at CBM’s partner hospital PCEA Kikuyu Eye Unit. With support from Petra Verweyen, a CBM Orthoptist seconded to the Eye Unit, he received therapy, counseling and training in daily living skills. Following his time at Kikuyu he went on to Machakos Institute for the Blind were his desire to run was re-born.
He has since gone on to become a renowned Kenyan athlete bagging three Gold Medals one at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 in the 5,000m race, a Gold in the 10,000m Paralympics of Athens 2004 and most recently a bronze in the 5000m Beijing Paralympics of 2008. Apart from these, Henry has won many awards in the athletics field as well as gained recognition both locally and internationally.
CBM has worked in Kenya for many years and remains committed to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities with practical solutions that impact individual lives and the wider community. In Kenya our work is aimed at mainstreaming disability into all sectors of development practice in addition to supporting specific disability initiatives to empower persons with disabilities.
As a policy, CBM works with local partners as our way to expand our reach and make the best use of resources entrusted to us. Therefore, in supporting the Henry Wanyoike Foundation, with Henry himself having been a beneficiary of CBM, we ensure that the important message of empowerment, participation and inclusion of persons with disability in community life can be propagated even more widely.