Hawi James Ouma was thirteen years old when his father died. In a single moment, the solid foundation beneath him disappeared. Without a father, without a roadmap, James navigated adolescence largely alone. He saw firsthand what fatherlessness does to a boy’s sense of identity, worth and direction. 

When James dropped out of college, he moved to Eastlands Nairobi — a neighbourhood marked by poverty, broken families and systemic neglect — James watched as young men around him disappeared one by one into the streets, into prisons, and into drugs and alcohol.

But, James also discovered something powerful: that a single caring adult, a single safe space, a single moment of being truly seen and heard could alter the trajectory of a young man’s life. He had experienced it himself, needing such a space— and he made a decision. He would spend his life creating those moments for others.

James founded Lifesong Kenya with a vision rooted in his own wounds and his own healing: that every boy, no matter how broken his beginning is, carries within him the seed of a purposeful and dignified life. The work of Lifesong is to nurture and water that seed — through safe housing, Co-Active Coaching, mentoring, education, counselling and the relentless belief that no boy is beyond redemption.

Today, Lifesong Kenya operates from the same foundations that James grew up needing — a deliberate choice to show up, to explore options and to keep showing up for the boys who are still living the story he once lived.