The Hope Raisers

How a Group of Young Kenyans Fought to Transform Their Slum and Inspire a Community

Nihar Suthar

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9781538168745
• Edition: 1

The poignant and inspiring true story of three young Kenyans who fought to transform their slum and improve the lives of those around them.

Korogocho is one of Kenya's darkest slums, plagued by gang violence, food and water shortages, and rampant pollution. Most children have no future except for scavenging through trash piles or resorting to lives of crime. One day, a boy named Daniel Onyango decided to do more, creating a band called the Hope Raisers to inspire the kids of Korogocho. His friend, Mutura Kuria, quickly joined in.

In The Hope Raisers: How a Group of Young Kenyans Fought to Transform Their Slum and Inspire a Community, Nihar Suthar tells the amazing story of how Daniel and Mutura turned the band into a platform for change. They started teaching children on the streets how to express themselves through art and established a skating team after finding a pair of rollerblades in the dump. Suthar closely follows the story of one rebellious girl, Lucy Achieng, who refused to get married off at a young age and instead used competitive rollerblading to reach for her dreams. Lucy continues to inspire girls to stand up for themselves and challenge the longstanding practices in Korogocho of early marriage and prostitution.

The Hope Raisers is an eye-opening look into a world of poverty and violence where children receive only a basic education and are left with little to no means to get out. Yet it also reveals the remarkable impact that a few determined individuals can have on their community, even in the most challenging of conditions.

Part of the proceeds from all book sales will be donated to the Hope Raisers and toward improving the slum of Korogocho.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• A Glimpse into Korogocho
• CHAPTER 1: Life in the Dump
• CHAPTER 2: Dogs on the Street
• CHAPTER 3: Birth of the Hope Raisers
• CHAPTER 4: The G8 Summit
• CHAPTER 5: A Failed Upgrading Program
• CHAPTER 6: An Unexpected Road
• CHAPTER 7: Fat Women Can Skate Too
• CHAPTER 8: Emergence of a Skating Team
• CHAPTER 9: A Difficult Debut
• CHAPTER 10: Unsustainable Success
• CHAPTER 11: Aspirations beyond Skating
• CHAPTER 12: Passport to South Africa
• CHAPTER 13: Nyali Beach
• CHAPTER 14: Adventures across the World
• Epilogue: The Hope Raisers Live On
• Guide to Korogocho
• For Book Clubs and Classrooms
• Help Raise More Hope in Korogocho
• Notes
• Bibliography
• About the Author