EHEP_Organisation_Profile.docx - PDF to Podcast
Published on Sep 10, 2026
Description:
Welcome to Grassroots Voices, the show where we look at the organisations doing the real work on the ground. I'm Amina.
And I'm Brian. Today we're unpacking one organisation's own profile: the Eco Hope Empowerment Program, or EHEP, a community-based organisation in Kakamega County, Kenya.
Let's start with the essentials. EHEP says it is registered as a community-based organisation with the Ministry of Social Services in Kenya, and it is located in Township Ward, Kakamega Central, Kakamega County.
It was founded in 2025, and the profile states that its programmes have been active since 2026.
The groups it names as its focus are adolescents, youth, women and communities.
And its tagline is Empowering Communities with Dignity and Sustainable Innovation.
So what does EHEP say makes it different from other community organisations?
They list five points. First, they are youth-led and community-rooted, with decisions made by and for the community. Second, they integrate SRHR, livelihoods and environment in one framework. Third, they point to constitution-driven governance and accountability. Fourth, eco-innovation is embedded in every programme through waste-to-value projects. And fifth, digital advocacy is meant to amplify grassroots voices nationally and globally.
That accountability point interests me. Governance is often the weakest link for small grassroots organisations, so naming it as a distinguishing feature is a claim worth watching over time.
Now the vision. In their words, it is a dignified, empowered, and climate resilient community where adolescents, youth, and women thrive through access to SRHR, sustainable livelihoods, and inclusive opportunities.
The mission is to restore dignity and transform lives by advancing SRHR, promoting mental wellness, creating resilient platforms for beneficiaries to showcase skills, generate sustainable income, and innovating eco-friendly community solutions.
Six core values are listed: humanity, inclusivity, collaboration, innovation, integrity and resilience.
Those are familiar values on paper. The interesting question is whether the programming reflects them in practice.EHEP works across three thematic areas: SRHR, Gender and Inclusion; Climate Action and Innovation; and Community Based Tourism.
Under SRHR they list education for adolescents and youth, dignity kit and reusable pad distribution, menstrual hygiene management, GBV prevention and survivor referral pathways, disability inclusion and anti-stigma campaigns, women's leadership and economic empowerment, and maternal health and WASH awareness.
Under climate action: sustainable agripreneurship including horticulture and climate-smart agriculture, eco-cycling and waste-to-value projects, tree planting and ecosystem restoration, savings groups and financial literacy through the SILC model, green job creation and youth innovation hubs, climate resilience education, and vocational and digital skills training.
And community-based tourism covers Kakamega Forest and other attractions through eco-tour experiences, cultural preservation and oral history, craft, culinary and agritourism, hospitality and guiding training, community fairs and festivals, and digital storytelling and social media campaigns.
So what does the impact snapshot actually show?
The figures in the profile are: over 4,100 trees planted, more than 1,500 people reached, more than 10 activities in the first two quarters of 2026, six key partners, three thematic areas, two eco-tour experiences, two green farms established, and two menstrual hygiene programmes.
Those two menstrual hygiene programmes were carried out at Ikonyero Junior Secondary School and with the Transforming Nations Programme.
The flagship initiative is the Integrated Kales and Spinach Project in Malava, and they also describe a sukuma wiki and spinach agribusiness in Malava.
Partners named include the Kenya Red Cross Society in Kakamega, She Matters Alliance, the Wangari Maathai Foundation, My Safepad International, the National Council for Population and Development, Practical Action Kenya, Extreme Brains Empire, Youth Changers Kenya, the State Department for Social Protection, the Kakamega County Government and GKL CBO.
On capacity building they offer SRHR training of trainers, financial literacy and SILC savings groups, hospitality, guiding and eco-tourism skills, digital literacy and online advocacy, and leadership and governance training for youth.
That is a wide portfolio for an organisation founded in 2025. It is exactly the kind of self-reported scope a listener should hold loosely until there is more public evidence of delivery.
If someone wants to partner with EHEP, support a programme or invite them to a community, how do they make contact?
By email at [email protected], by phone on plus 254 798 480 221, or by post at P.O. Box 2138-50100, Kakamega. On social media they are Eco Hope Empowerment Program on LinkedIn and Facebook, and @ecohope_ke on X, Instagram and TikTok.
So that is the profile as they tell it: dignity, SRHR, climate action and community-based tourism woven into one community-led model in Kakamega.
Thanks for listening to Grassroots Voices. If there is an organisation profile you want us to read closely next, send it our way.