Our Founder
| 09 July 2009
Abdi Aggrey Lidonde is one of twenty-five siblings who grew up in abject poverty in Shikhokho, a village in the western province of Kenya. His large family barely survived on the income his father earned as a Kenyan postal service worker, and school fees were nearly impossible to come by. What food the family was able to afford went to the youngest children first, and often ran out before Abdi and his older siblings could eat.
Beverly Lidonde, Abdi's mother, was a firm believer that education is the way out of poverty, and went to great lengths to see that her oldest son received an education. She would scrape together whatever money she could and walk Abdi miles to school to and from school to ensure he attended. At times when there wasn't enough money to pay the fees, Beverly would persuade the teacher or principal to let him attend despite this. Due to Beverly's poor health, she was unable to make the round trip and would often sit or sleep on the curb outside and wait for Abdi all day.
Upon graduation from high school, Abdi found a job alongside his father at Kenya Post and Telecommunication to help support his family and pay his siblings' school fees. While there, Abdi dreamed of what life would have been like had he been able to accept the offer he earned to attend Kenyatta University in Nairobi. With so many siblings to help support and educate at the primary level, money for a higher education was out of the question for Abdi.
In a chance encounter at a political gathering that he accompanied his father to, Abdi met an American woman who was married to a native Kenyan, living outside of Nairobi. After getting to know him and learning of his dream of a higher education and ultimately better opportunities for his family, she offered Abdi the opportunity to go to the United States to pursue his education while living with her parents free of charge.
Abdi settled in Worcester, Massachusetts in December of 1982, and began his studies at a community college there. Unfortunately, one month into his stay, the couple with whom Abdi was living fell on hard times and could no longer afford for him to stay. Fearing that he would not find a job because he spoke very little English at that point, Abdi decided to return to Kenya. A few days before his scheduled departure, a classmate from the community college suggested to Abdi that he apply for a job alongside of him, as a janitor at The College of the Holy Cross. His lack of English communication skills wouldn't be a problem, the classmate promised, and as long as he worked hard and did a good job, he would be fine. Abdi nervously applied for the job, and was given it on the condition that the classmate would be responsible for him. He succeeded as a janitor, while continuing his education at the community college and went on to earn a degree in History and Political Science at Worcester State College.
Abdi married his wife, who he met while at Worcester State, and has a family of five children. Following in his mother’s footsteps of encouraging and somehow providing education for his children, all five children are college educated, and one has even continued on to graduate school.
Abdi has worked hard to realize Beverly's dream of a better life through education for her children. He has provided additional income to his siblings in Kenya, as well as school fees for their children. Now, through the Beverly School of Kenya, he will honor his mother by providing education and an opportunity for a better life for impoverished and orphaned children in Kenya