I’m joined today by two remarkable men I met through the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships and Grants program.

Israel Balogun was homeless and illiterate until the age of 22. Now, he leads a Nigerian youth rehabilitation nonprofit for street kids and is building a self-sustaining village for 200 out-of-school children with the support of an OSV Fellowship.

Miyoba Hamuhuma lost both parents by 12 and battled polio as a child. Now he runs Enlighten Abilities, a Zambian organization advocating for inclusive education and economic dignity for children with disabilities and their families, backed by an OSV Grant.

“Inspiring” is overused nowadays, but here, it barely does them justice. As well as digging into their stories, we explore how personal pain became public mission, how grassroots enablement beats top-down intervention, and why they believe rewriting destiny begins with changing who gets seen, who gets supported, and who gets to dream.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack.

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Show Notes:

First Goodnight in 12 Years
How OSV Helped to Build a Home for Street Kids
The Street King – Reclaiming Agency
The Dignity of Choice
Microenterprise for the Mothers
Rethinking the Street Kid Stigma
Inclusion is Not a Luxury, It is a Necessity
Trust over Control: We help the kids Lead
We seek to enable and empower
Emperors of the World
$10 = 30 bricks = Home for a Street Child

Miyoba Hamuhuma and Israel Balogun — Grassroots Solutions for Africa’s Impoverished Youth (EP.272)

Infinite Loops