Our Team
Rich is a Maryknoll Lay Missioner. Prior to joining Maryknoll, Rich worked as a technical sales software engineer at IBM, where he was employed for 33 years – his entire professional career. As a technical sales professional, Rich worked with clients on the application of information technology to address business needs and improve insight into the operation of the business. Rich has a B.S. degree in Physics and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering.
Before coming to Kenya, Rich was a long-time catechist and religious education teacher for both First Communion and Confirmation preparation. For many years, Rich also cooked meals and coordinated volunteers every Saturday at a meal center in Lawrence, MA, the poorest city in New England.
Rich serves as the director for the HOPE Project. He is responsible for managing the operation and finances of the project, donor relations and funding, project communications, coordinating with the HOPE Board of Advisors and other project committees, project reporting, and community relations. Rich also tutors the students in math and science and administers the HOPE computer classrooms.
Florah Mwandoe
Florah was born and raised in the Taita-Taveta county of Kenya. After secondary school, Florah studied and earned a certificate in Community Health and a diploma in Community Development and Social Work. Florah then began volunteering at Community Based Health Care (CBHC) as a social worker. In 2011 while at CBHC, Florah was introduced to the HOPE Project where she has been working ever since as a social worker and assistant project manager.
Florah’s responsibilities at HOPE include counseling students, running tutorial sessions, maintaining relationships with the guardians of our students, visiting schools and paying school fees, doing home visits to gather information on perspective candidates to the program, and assisting with the overall administration of the project.
While at HOPE, Florah has continued to develop her skills through on-going education. Florah has earned a certificate in Counseling and a diploma in Project Management.