I (Matilda Mbodze) am 50 years old and mother of two. 

My passion for working with people with special needs started in 2005. I had been taking care of my elder sister who is physically handicapped, she suffered from arthritis at the age of 13 years and our last born who is epileptic and on medication update. It was not easy in the beginning but eventually I got used to it. 

In 2005 I heard of an organization called VSO, which worked closely with Utange primary school. I developed a passion for extending my hand to reach out to other people with disabilities. I started to volunteer in the community of Utange in creating awareness to the community through the help of a non-governmental organization known as VSO (Voluntary Services Organization) and EARC. I was responsible for talking to parents with children living with disabilities and who had not accepted them and hiding them. During this time children with disabilities were associated with witchcraft, myths and superstitions. It was not easy to be accepted in the houses of these children, but eventually we were to secure some children to join Utange special unit and other schools. 

Since I come from the community and am familiar with Kiswahili and was sometimes forced to use vernacular language to convince the parents to open up. Some of the mothers had been divorced due to having a child with disabilities which made them inferior and had developed low self-esteem. My role was to identify and refer clients to EARC and APDK. This time I became familiar with the two institutions. 

Since I come from the community and am familiar with Kiswahili and was sometimes forced to use vernacular language to convince the parents to open up. Some of the mothers had been divorced due to having a child with disabilities which made them inferior and had developed low self-esteem. My role was to identify and refer clients to EARC and APDK. This time I became familiar with the two institutions. Mijn rol was het identificeren en doorverwijzen van klanten naar EARC en APDK. Zo maakte ik kennis met deze twee instellingen. 

When Kim and Marloes came to Kenya in 2010, they visited these two institutions and here they were referred to me. I met them and started working together. We started working under a mango tree with Mr Peter as a village elder. During this time I was working as a volunteer in APDK in the daycare. I talked to my boss who was such a nice person and  allowed me to work for Why Not on Thursdays at Utange and the rest of the days I was at APDK. So we started meeting the parents on Thursdays where I was an interpreter for the Dutch ladies.

In 2012 the daycare closed and informed Marloes about it. She felt sorry but assured me of a place in Why Not and since that time I have enjoyed working for Why Not as a field manager. My tasks are as follows: 

• In charge of counselling
• In charge of Fysiotherapie
• In Charge of the transition / home program
• In charge of the accessories project which is on hold for now. 
• and also overseeing the other 6 projects when the project director is absent.

 I am happy and feel humbled working for children with special needs and more specifically the Holland team for making many children join school and lifting up the livelihoods of the families in Kenya and my dream become true.