Our Board

Lalmba Canada Board of Directors

Bev Hooper, President, Lalmba Canada

My position as President of Lalmba Canada is one that I don't take lightly as I'm honoured to serve our students in Matoso Kenya and its surrounding areas. The vocational and secondary students that we serve are some of the most amazing young adults I have ever had the opportunity to meet. Students who have endured more in their short lives so far than most of us will ever endure. Yet these students continue to strive for excellence, determined to succeeed, who understand better than anyone the opportunity that an education provides for them, all while maintaining the most infectious smiles. All of our students are either partial or total orphans living in poverty. These young adults are truly humbling and our duty to keep them in school to complete their high school or vocational education is my number one priority. I am so proud to now be representing them and working to help make their dreams a reality. Thank you for trusting us as we slowly change history, one student at a time.

Kathy Moore, Vice President, Lalmba Canada

My decision to join Tembea Na Mimi 2019 was one of the most meaningful decisions I have ever made, and came at just the right time, for me. I really didn’t know what to expect, as we all walked across the vast Masai Mara towards this place called Matoso - a rural village nestled on the shores of Lake Victoria. After ten of the most amazingly tough days of my life, I have truly fallen in love with the culture, the people, and the land where Lalmba has grown its roots. I am very proud to now be the Vice President of Lalmba Canada, and even more proud to call everyone involved, my family.

“Moyo wangu ni wako”

Thea Nation, Board Member, Lalmba Canada

Jambo. In the spring of 1989 after a couple of years searching for an overseas volunteer project in Africa, I came upon a small American NGO in Colorado called Lalmba which translates to “A Place of Hope”. The NGO was started in the early 1960s by Hugh and Marty Downey and subsequently handed over after 50 years to Jeff and Hillary James in 2013. After spending a weekend in Colorado that spring being “checked out” by Hugh and Marty and miracle of miracles being accepted, I flew out to Sudan in August at the age of 38 and spent two glorious life-changing years! My brother Michael joined me 6 months later as project director - a big-time bonus! I went over as an RN but realized very quickly that although my skills as a nurse were utilized in the most basic sense in the public health realm (immunizations, baby clinic, food program) my principal function was using my presence as a representative of the outside world to ensure the refugees received all supplies and services they were due. I witnessed firsthand how a small NGO could affect change at the grassroots level. In 2015 brother Michael and I joined the 1st Tembea Na Mimi Lalmba fundraiser. It was yet another experience of a lifetime.

I am most honoured to be able to continue in a supportive role for the Canadian arm of Lalmba and their scholarship program, nurturing the bright, capable, and deserving young women and men who will become the future leaders of Kenya. Our name truly exemplifies a place of hope.

Paul Coronica, Treasurer, Lalmba Canada

Antonia Medeiros, Female Empowerment Officer, Lalmba Canada

I discovered Lalmba and the incredible work they are doing for young kenyan students in 2023 after meeting Bev Hooper by mistake. Actually, this is what I like to call destiny. We hit ot off and shared so many common visions and hopes of what we could do to improve the lives of youth in Kenya and how empowering young women and promoting Gender Equality played a key part in that success. In 2024, after an unforgettable and magical 265 kms journey through the Maasai Mara and the countryside of Kenya, I had the honour to be asked ot join the Board so I could put my expertise around womens' empowerment and leadership at the service of Lalmba. We are currently working on a project that will supply period products that are safe and environmentally friendly so the girls can attend school at all times. And this is just the beginning. I am so excited about the opportunities to come and how together, we can truly make a difference.