Beyond Individualism: Why Brendah Okello Is Choosing to Rebuild Her Community

About Brendah Okello

📍 Core Contributor to The Kind Power’s Mission

📍 Founder & Executive Director, Meraki Action Initiative

📍 14+ years of experience in SRHR, community healing, and education

📍 Champion for gender equality and youth empowerment

“Her leadership is a living example of how compassion and resilience can rebuild a community from the ground up.”

Introduction

When many people imagine meaningful work, they think of titles, promotions, and professional accolades.

But for Brendah Okello, purpose is rooted not in career ambition, but in community healing, dignity, and rewriting the story of a region still recovering from decades of conflict.

In this interview, The Kind Power explores Brendah’s transformative journey - one shaped by survival, service, and a profound commitment to rebuilding her home district of Kole.

“People ask me why I don’t find a real job.”

Brendah smiles as she recalls the question she hears so often:

“Brendah, why don’t you find a real job?”

For many, this question comes from a place of concern. But for Brendah—who grew up in a region still healing from the trauma of the LRA war—the answer is far more complex.

Many families in Kole are still rebuilding their lives. Only a few young people were able to complete school. Those who did often left, returning only for short visits or funerals. Social divides ran deep, even for children:

“Some parents didn’t want their children playing with us because they thought we weren’t of the same social class.”

Yet today, many of those “protected” children now struggle—proof that resilience is often born from hardship, not comfort.

A Life-Changing Promise Made in the Bush

Brendah spent years working in South Sudan until violence erupted and forced her into hiding.

“In the chaos, rebels rescued me. I hid in the bush, terrified, unsure if I would live.”

In that moment of fear, she made a promise to God:

If she survived, she would return home and become a vessel for change.

This was not about titles or recognition. It was a calling—one that would lead her back to her community, her roots, and her purpose.

The Crisis of Individualism

As Brendah reflects on today’s culture, one theme stands out: individualism is weakening community life.

“The world celebrates my success, my comfort, my goals… but in my community, individualism is a luxury we cannot afford.”

She has watched individual success become a barrier rather than a bridge.People leave. They rise alone. And the systems that shaped them remain broken.

But to her, education was never meant to separate people from their communities.

“True education should uplift entire communities. It should expand our capacity to serve.”

Rewriting the Story of Kole

Recently, Brendah visited a professor to share her vision for the Education Walk, an initiative restoring learning spaces and motivation for children in Kole.

His first association with Kole?Leprosy. Stigma. Isolation.

“That is still the story the world tells about us.”

But as Brendah explained her mission—supporting teachers, rebuilding learning environments, restoring dignity—the professor’s tone changed.

“If this is what you want to build, I want to stand with you.”

This moment reaffirmed a truth Brendah lives by:

If the community doesn’t rewrite its own story, the world will keep repeating the old one.

Why She Chooses This Path

Brendah could have pursued a different career, a more conventional path. But she chooses service.

“I choose to stay. I choose to serve. I choose to build.”

Surviving war gave her a responsibility. She understands how fragile life is—and how powerful unity can be.

Through her leadership at Meraki Action Initiative, she focuses on:

• Community healing

• Gender equality

• Youth empowerment

• Transformational education

Her work is proof that leadership rooted in compassion and resilience can rebuild communities from the ground up.

A Call to Collective Action

As our interview comes to a close, Brendah shares a message for all of us:

“Let us choose service over comfort. Let us rebuild our communities with courage and intention.”

Some may still say her work is not a “real job.”

But what Brendah is doing is real work:

• Work that heals

• Work that restores

• Work that rewrites the story of Kole

• Work that prepares the next generation to dream boldly

“One child, one step, one vision at a time—we will rebuild the community that raised us.”

Want to Support Brendah’s Work?

The Kind Power is honored to walk alongside leaders like Brendah Okello who are transforming communities through courage, healing, and purpose.