Lavina Oduor is a Kenyan humanist social activist, co-founder, and current Director of Heart to Heart Smile, a volunteer-led organization whose mission is to prevent disabilities, advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and caregivers, and help create a more inclusive Kenya.
We spoke with her in her capacity as a member of the World Humanist Forum’s Thematic Table on Gender Based Violence to better understand the humanizing work they are carrying out and to echo the proposal to establish a new Thematic Table within the Forum that addresses the issue of people with disabilities in coordination with other organizations and activists at the international level.
Hi Lavina, first of all, congratulations on the tremendous work you are doing with the Heart to Heart Smile Organisation, advocating for the rights of children, youths, and adolescents with disabilities, and also championing the rights of caregivers and parents of children with disabilities in Kenya. Please, introduce yourself.
I am Lavina Achieng Oduor, founder and executive director of Heart to Heart Smile organization, a human rights defender, a social worker by profession, a community development officer, and a disability champion advocate for the rights of caregivers and parents of children with disability in Kenya.
I am happy and privileged to say that I am one of the founding members of the National Network for Caregivers and Parents of Children with Disabilities Kenya (NCP-CDK). Because of my passion for people with disabilities, i sit in the board of Joyland Special School as vice chair and am also a board member of Tinada Youth African Organization.
Tell us about Heart to Heart Smile. What drove you to start with it?
Heart to Heart Smile community is a social-based organization officially registered in 2018 with an aim to advocate for the rights of children, youths, adolescents, caregivers, and parents of children with disabilities in Kenya.
I did initiate this program because of my brother, who has struggled with this condition for many years. I saw my mother struggling to raise us with lots of challenges and stigma in our community. Another important reason is my passion for working with and for children with diverse conditions as a professional social worker, having worked in different institutions with special needs.
The task is broad and diverse, but can you give some details about the most important aspects?
Heart to Heart Smile organization focuses on different thematic areas with an aim to advocate, intervene to find solutions, and forge ways forward to each unique need that a child is born with. Our main areas are disability rights advocacy, rehabilitation, economic empowerment, maternal and newborn health, and inclusive education awareness.
We put a strong accent in inclusive disability awareness, targeting reproductive women to prevent certain types of disability, children, youths, and adolescents with disabilities, not forgetting to address issues affecting caregivers and parents of children with disabilities in Kenya following the new National Disability Act 2025.
We have a very active support group that runs independently with the community-based organization. This support group is able to do their own activities and look for resources to help boost their economic empowerment, though minimal but keeping them going to the next level.
Our programs support a wide range of vulnerable persons with disabilities, caregivers, and parents of children with disabilities. We are based in Kisumu, in an informal settlement known as Manyatta Gonda. Our office is a container placed next to the village administrative office.
The key needs and wants to achieve our objectives as disability advocates are
1. To have a rehabilitation center for children, youths, and adolescents with disability.
2. To have funds to support the access of children with disabilities to formal and informal inclusive education.
3. To have funds to support the economic empowerment of caregivers and parents of children with disabilities.
Who supports you in this mission?
Due to the lack of funding, we depend on friends and well-wishers who donate as a way to help us achieve our objectives.
We also know that you are the Coordinator in Kisumu for the National Coalition for Parents of Children with Disabilities Kenya (NCP-CDK), which recently held a national meeting to discuss and organize a petition to the national government to improve legislation for greater social protection for people with disabilities and support for the work of caregivers. Can you tell us about that?
We have been pushing to have representation of caregivers and parents of children with disabilities, and on behalf of my team, we appreciate our president, Hon. William Samoei Ruto, for signing the National Disability Act 2025, which is cognizant of the caregivers and parents. Together with other stakeholders, we have petitioned and pushed for fair and improved legislation to ensure a greater social protection for caregivers and parents of children with disabilities in the recent national public participation on the Social Protection Act 2025.
The network is still in the process of registration, but meanwhile, we have coordinators who are officially nominated to take charge of the network coordination in the 47 counties that exist in Kenya through our general secretary, Eng Ibrahim Adan Abrahim, and the chairperson, Jonathan Matete. I am very happy to be appointed to coordinate the network of caregivers and parents of children with disability from Kisumu County, which is going to be a joint and inclusive way to advocate and push for our agenda.
You have been involved in the Humanist Movement for some years. Tell us about that.
I am a member of the World Humanist Movement, an international body that advocates for the rights of humanity.
My specific role in the Humanist Movement is advocating against all forms of gender based violence and also advocating for the rights of people with disabilities.
With that purpose, you have been part of the World Humanist Forum’s Thematic Table on Gender Based Violence since its start. Can you tell us something about this?
As you may know, the Forum consists of different stakeholders, organizations, and people from different countries all over the world working together in different thematic areas. Through the Forum, we have had lots of different community activities regarding Gender Based Violence.
Personally, I can say that I have really learnt a lot through the forum on my wellbeing, thanks to the weekly and monthly engagement in online sessions, and this has also broadened my network.
Are you planning to start a specific thematic table that connects different international experiences to address issues related to disabilities from a humanist perspective?
With the assistance of Ragnar from Iceland, we recently have formed a thematic group that talks on gender based violence integrating disability, since they cut across.
As every year, International Women’s Day was celebrated this month around the world. What message can you convey to all those women, mothers, sisters, and grandmothers who, among many other things, do so much to improve the quality of life of children and adults with disabilities?
My message to all women across the globe is: Stand up, speak out, and you will be heard. Let us stand up to be in leadership roles, let us not be ashamed to take positions and roles in our spaces.
Globally, in 1999, only 11.3% women were in leadership positions; in 2022, it slightly increased to 19%. As an outstanding case, we have Rwanda, which is the only country that has 60% women’s leadership representation.
I, Lavina Oduor, feel ready to stand up and speak out loudly to be counted in the leadership role, and on this note, I will be vying for a top leadership seat in our country. I am calling out for donors, friends, and well-wishers to help me realize my dream during the 2027 general election. Women have the power to make changes but they face lots of challenges, such as harassment and violence, cultural norms, party barriers, and mostly financial challenges.
Thank you, Lavina, for your words and your meaningful action.
