Olekina Ledama

Ledama Olekina[1] born and raised in Oloombokishi, a small village near Narok, Kenya, on 11 November 1974.

Family background

His father Meiteganyu OleNchoshoi was born in the Loita Hills of Narok in the border of Kenya and Tanzania in the early 1940s. Ledama's mother, Siminta Enole Torome, grew up in Ene Enkare in Narok, Kenya. Her father James Ole Torome fought in the First and Second World War and worked as an engineer for the British colonial government.

Ledama was raised by his parents, and his grandfather whom he spent most of his school holidays with, taking care of the family cows and goats. He attended Olesankale Primary School and Narok High School in the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. After graduating from high school in 1994, he was employed as an assistant producer for Reuters African Journal, a weekly news and current affairs TV programme based in Nairobi.

During this time he saved money to pay for his first year of college in America. In 1995, he raised additional money through a fund-raising drive and attended college in the United States of America. During the school summer vacations, he travelled to London, where his lifetime mentor and adopted Welsh father, Gerrard Williams, helped him find jobs as a researcher working for Diverse Productions, Educational Television Network and European Business News in London.

College years

Ledama studied political sciences and English communication at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. He held down three jobs to continue paying for his study and to help build his dream, often working during the day and night while attending college.

Change usually begins at home, and Ledama's first goal was to help his own people, the Maasai. In April 1999 while in college, he worked tirelessly to improve the education standards of his people, concentrating on conditions in rural schools in Kenya.

He founded Maasai Education Discovery, a non-profit education organisation dedicated to promoting a bi-cultural approach to education as well as protecting Maasai women and girls from inhibiting cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

In May 1999, Ledama became the first Kenyan-Maasai ever to walk across the United States of America to raise awareness for the need of quality education for his people, the Maasai. This first walk took him from Durango, Colorado, to Phoenix, Arizona. He walked a distance of more than 565 miles (909 kilometers) dressed in his traditional clothes. His goal was, and still is, to create a university in Kenya. Ledama's second walk took him from Boston to Chicago, a distance of 1,765 miles (2826 kilometres). Often walking up to 80 kilometres a day.

Return to Kenya

Ledama returned to Kenya in January 2000 to set up the Maasai Education Discovery (MED) project in Narok. With the money raised during his walks, Ledama was able to initiate the Girl's Scholarship Program. This provides up to 1500 scholarships a year for girls to attend primary, secondary and college.

Following the success of the scholarship program, Ledama set up an education resource center located in Narok, 80 miles south west of Nairobi. This the base for all of MED's programs. It houses a library, business center, community college and a cultural art center. He partnered with the United States International Development (USAID) Presidential Initiatives, first under President Bill Clinton (EDDI) and later under President George W. Bush (AEI), to provide up to 1500 girls and 300 boys with scholarships to attain basic education.[2]

Ledama has also computerised over 15 schools in Narok and Kajiado districts and in 2002 Ledama brought the internet to Narok. From 2005 he has been running several different programs, which have promoted education in the Rift Valley, Eastern and Nairobi Province, including working to secure full scholarships for three Maasai girls to study Medicine in the United States of America.

In 2006 Ledama installed the first wireless network in Narok after having secured a US$500,000 equipment grant from Cisco Systems International.

In 2006 he established the first online investment firm, called www.kenyashares.com to enable Kenyans living in the diaspora to invest in Kenya through the Nairobi Stock Exchange. The online platform has encouraged many Kenyans overseas to invest and contribute to the economic development of Kenya.

Local government and nationwide initiative programs

Over the past 5 years Ledama has been involved with the Narok Town Council as a volunteer consultant in development programs. Through his extensive business network, Ledama has promoted private/public partnerships between private entities in the USA and the Narok town council, as well as enabling the town council of Narok to increase its revenue collection by 20% within the first three months of 2009. Ledama did this after acquiring approval from the Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government to allow the town of Narok to collect parking fees and charge advertisement fees. The town council had tried unsuccessfully to get approval from the ministry for the previous five years but with Ledama's intervention the council request was granted.

Although Ledama has not had a political career, he is a man who makes things happen. Ledama plans to use his drive, education, contacts, resources and management skills to lead Kenya into the 21st century.

In May 2009 Ledama rolled out the first nationwide online and physical library system in Kenya. http://www.library.or.ke The library project will be based in every district in Kenya. The Online Library will help improve access to books and information nationwide .

References

  1. ↑ "Award Winner: Ledama Olekina", Intermix.
  2. ↑ http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/initiatives/aei_video/

External links

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