Teresia Muikamba is a communications expert with over 8 years of experience in the media industry. She specializes in photography, storytelling and radio hosting. Teresia is currently a radio presenter at Royal Media Services. She is keen on using her voice and influence to amplify and advocate for children’s rights. Her goal is to be a champion for children with bold ideas that would otherwise go unheard. Teresia's area of interest is in dignified storytelling and believes telling stories involving children warrants additional thoughtfulness and care. It's important to Teresia to safeguard against exploitation and to ensure that children and their caregivers are happy with the story's content and usage.

2023 IVLP Impact Award Project: Asili Safi

Asili Safi comes from the Swahili words "asili" meaning nature and "safi" to mean clean. The project promoted a clean natural environment through sustainable waste management practices to address waste pollution. The project conducted structured training sessions for both teachers and students, covering various aspects of waste management that reached a significant audience of over 3,000 students and 50 teachers in five selected schools. The project introduced environmental clubs to raise awareness about environmental concerns through dynamic lessons.

"I never thought recycling could be so much fun! Now I want to make cool things from stuff we used to throw away." – Project Participant

2022 IVLP Impact Award Project: Ukulima Wima

This project sought to make children's homes in Nairobi more self-reliant by introducing the Ukulima Wima pod. The pod enables the optimal growing of crops while using the least amount of space through soil-based vertical farming. A single pod can hold 80-120 plants and vegetables.

Ukulima Wima pods were installed in 5 children's homes and a total of 650 children now have access to vegetables from a garden. The children's homes can continue to adopt enhanced farming techniques and gather rainwater more effectively by using the Ukulima Wima pod to increase food production and consumption.

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Set up of the vegetable gardens.

Children from Living positive Kenya. Living Positive Kenya (LPK) continues to be dedicated to supporting orphans and vulnerable children. These are children living in the slums of Mathare and Gichagi, they are either infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and living in extreme poverty where basic human needs are not met. The children have mothers who are either ill and can’t care for them or grandmothers who are quite old and financially incapable of providing for them; therefore a boarding facility provides refuge for them and opportunities for the future. Living Positive Kenya supports these children through providing stipends for their primary or secondary school fees. As well, we provide a day care program that offers a safe haven for the younger children to enjoy the safety and friendly space under the care of capable early childhood resource persons. Basic early childhood education is provided, along with nutritious meals daily to support their growth and access to medical care and and age appropriate vaccinations.

Progress! A grown garden.

Planting the vegetables with children from Salama children’s home.

Setting up the Ukulima Wima pods at Life Song Shelter.

"Vertical innovative farming is important for people with small spaces as they can get more produce. Today the kids have learned about how to grow food and I am sure they will become responsible as they now know where food comes from." - Teresia

IVLP Exchange Experience

Teresia was a participant in the IVLP Project A Global Moment in Time: Photojournalists Document the Challenges and Opportunities in the COVID Era in 2021 and 2022, organized by the U.S. Department of State and World Learning.

U.S Communities Visited in 2022

Washington, DC; St. Petersburg, FL; New Orleans, LA

U.S Communities Visited Virtually in 2021

Washington, DC; Tampa, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Santa Fe, NM; Portland, OR; Dallas, TX; Charlottesville, VA; Milwaukee, WI

Country: Kenya

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