There’s a man in Olkiloriti called Leonard. We call him Lenadi. Or Lemsanga. The Kikuyu mamas call him Renadi. If you meet him, you’ll remember his smile. He’s the guy who laughs even when life is hard. Always kind. Always giving. Always ready to help someone else even when he has nothing.
He shaped my childhood. We’d go hunting together with his many dogs. He had so many dogs we joked that Disney should make a film called Dogman. That’s how free we were. That’s how much joy he carried.
In 2006, we started a football team. Just village boys with big dreams. We named it Santos FC. Lenadi was the best player on the pitch. Fast, clever, fearless. But life took its turns.
Lenadi got into alcohol. Tried to quit many times. Too many times. But he always fell back mostly because the people around him pulled him back in. His brothers, his friends. No one ever walked with him. No one held his hand. He had no mentor. No support.
That’s one of the reasons I quit my job in Nairobi and moved back to the village. To be there for people like Lenadi.
Today, Lenadi is trying again. He’s clean. He started a small shop near his home. When I asked him what he needed, he didn’t ask for money. He asked for a scale, some rice, sugar, and flour. Simple things. He said people leave his shop because he doesn’t have the basics.
We were building back home. I stopped everything. Took the timber and iron sheets and loaded them on a donkey. We delivered them to his shop. We restocked him. Got him a weighing scale. It wasn’t about the shop. It was about dignity.
Lenadi is one of the most hardworking people I know. He’s self-driven. He wakes up early and pushes through even when everything around him says quit. All he ever needed was someone to believe in him. Just one person.
At Digital Moran, this is why we exist. To walk with young people like Lenadi. To build a new story. A better story.
Here’s a refined version that keeps the tone grounded, real, and aligned with your article:
Olkiloriti has struggled with petty theft for years. Jobless youth with no mentors have been stealing simple things machetes, chickens, hoes etc just to survive. It’s not that they’re bad. They’re just idle. Forgotten. Our goal is to create real job opportunities so these young people have something to wake up to, something to build. When that happens, the village gets safer. Everyone wins.
We’re calling it Santos City. This is because we are not just helping Lenadi build a shop, we want to build a community hub with a car wash, pool tables, MPESA shops etc. A place where young men can work, earn, and stay off the streets, stay off alcohol, stay away from crime and live with purpose.
We’re looking for people who care. People who don’t just scroll past stories like these.
If you feel something, do something.
WhatsApp us on 0736 244 844 or email us on info@digitalmoran.africa. Let’s build this village. One Lenadi at a time.
