A youth leader in Busia County has made it his mission to improve the lives of vulnerable families. Otieno Eugene, who hails from Bulemia village in Butula Sub County, has directed his efforts to better the lives of widows, widowers, and orphans.
Otieno, who is also a youth leader working with the National Council of Youth Center as a volunteer, revealed in an interview with Kenyans.co.ke that he decided to work for community outreach after being elected as a youth chairman of Butula Sub-County. The problems he saw the needy within the community go through fuelled him to take action.
“After I got the post as a youth chair of Butula Sub-County, I decided to help improve the lives of our people,” he noted adding that his singular pleasure is putting a smile on the vulnerable members of the community’s faces.
Through his efforts, he has so far built 13 houses for widows in Busia and provided food items for countless families bringing hope to the needy.
Eugene Otieno handing a youth seedlings.
Equally, he helps widowers who have no one to take care of by providing them with household items like blankets and mattresses.
As a champion of education, Otieno helps orphans by providing school fees and uniforms. Owing to the huge number of children in need, he links some of them to sponsors.
For young orphans with no one to take care of, Otieno works with local orphanages to see that they are admitted and live well.
To achieve the scale of the work he does, he mobilises resources from well-wishers in the county through lobbying. He has a group of 50 friends who raise resources directed to some of the projects.
He is also the founder of Inua Jamii Group, a self-help group that helps members of the community tackle life issues by engaging in income-generating activities for youths and women.
“My job is to lobby and uplift the poor and vulnerable people in our midst. In case we hear of a family in need, we reach out and help them,” he stated in an interview with Kenyans.co.ke.
Currently, he is supporting 50 youths to join Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions to get skills that will help them better their lives through self-employment. Additionally, Otieno lobbies for internships for local youths in the county to pursue digital opportunities.
His major challenge is the mobilisation of resources, as some people mostly politicians pledge resources but they do not honour their pledges. As such, he mobilizes resources from civil servants like teachers and doctors.
Eugene Otieno with other youths building a house for a widow.
Eugene Otieno at a past funeral providing support and mourning with the family.
