The Thuon Gweno Foundation has launched a strategic plan focused on restoring hope and expanding opportunities for boys in Siaya County.
Speaking during a dinner to mark the launch, foundation founder Nick Ong’oro said the initiative was inspired by his own experience of poverty, school dropout and emotional struggles.
Ong’oro said he dropped out of Aluny Primary School in Standard Six in 2011 after his family could not raise money for his education. He later worked as a herdboy before returning to school with the help of relatives.
“I want to remind our young boys who feel their life has reached a dead end that there is hope,” Ong’oro said.
He said the foundation was established after he reflected on the challenges facing boys, including lack of mentorship, education opportunities, skills and emotional support.
“Who will ever speak for the boy child?” he asked. “I felt the boy child was becoming invisible in conversations about vulnerability, mentorship, education, character and opportunity.”
Ong’oro said the foundation had supported more than 50 beneficiaries over the past five years and now employed more than 10 people. He said its programmes would allocate 70 per cent of resources to boys, 20 per cent to girls and 10 per cent to widows and widowers.
He stressed that the focus on boys was not intended to undermine programmes supporting girls.
“Our foundation does not claim that the boy child matters more than the girl child. It is about addressing a gap and reminding our boys that they matter,” he said.
Guest speaker Walter Okello said the initiative came at a time when boys were increasingly vulnerable to dropping out of school and losing direction.
Okello, who described himself as a son of Siaya and a “child of hope”, said the foundation represented the possibility of overcoming difficult beginnings.
“The future depends on what you do today,” he said, quoting Mahatma Gandhi. “True empowerment happens when a young man stops waiting for the wind and decides to set the sail himself.”
Okello said he first met Ong’oro when the latter was selling music compact discs while serving as a nominated member of the Siaya County Assembly. He praised Ong’oro’s resilience and commitment to changing his circumstances.
He urged residents, partners and well-wishers to support the foundation through resources, ideas and mentorship.
The event also highlighted concerns over the education of boys in Kenya. Okello cited figures attributed to the Kenya National Examinations Council indicating that more than 151,000 learners from the first Competency-Based Education cohort did not complete junior school, with boys accounting for nearly 100,000 of the cases. However, the figures have been disputed by the Education Ministry, which has questioned whether the missing learners should all be classified as dropouts.
Father Felix Atindah of Holy Cross Parish, Siaya, urged the community to support boys while promoting the rights and welfare of both genders.
He said boys needed hope, emotional support and positive guidance to become responsible men.
“Men must be taught how to cry, because a crying man is a man in touch with his feelings,” Father Atindah said, challenging the belief that “real men don’t cry.”
He warned that boys who grow up without support could become deviant, creating wider problems for society and affecting girls as well.
Father Atindah also called for cooperation between men and women in addressing social challenges.
“Let ladies speak for men, and let men speak for ladies,” he said. “Then we learn that we need one another, and as we walk together, we glorify the Lord.”
The Thuon Gweno Foundation says its programmes will focus on education, mentorship, skills training, talent development and leadership empowerment. Its stated mission is to restore hope and help boys become responsible citizens, community leaders and agents of positive change.
