The Kenyan Aids orphan transforming lives in her coastal community
Lydia Ireri is many things: a teacher, a counsellor, an entrepreneur. Most of all, she’s a ball of energy.
As a young girl, she lost both her parents to HIV Aids, and so was brought up by her community - especially her teachers.
This inspired her to become a teacher herself, and after moving to the coastal resort of Watamu in Kenya, she decided it was time for her to ‘pay it forward’.
The beautiful resort is struggling with a number of problems: growing plastic pollution, falling fish stocks, and, after lockdown shut all the schools, many young people had nothing to do.
So Lydia teamed up with one of her former pupils to try to improve the local environment and opportunities for young people. She now runs a youth group which conducts weekly litter picks on the beach and then makes art from the trash. She also teaches cooking, dressmaking and how to become a young entrepreneur.
