36 saint francis magazine | fall 2023 Let’s just start at Saint Francis College, where it all began. “For Kim and me,” OT said, “Saint Francis was the foundation of our life.” OT’s older brother brought him to the United States when OT was 17, a true stranger in a strange land, far from his home village of Ka Wanyande. “Think of going to the moon,” OT said. “That’s how different it was. I grew up in a hut in a village where everybody knew everybody. We’d never seen an airplane. How does it even fly? Then I’m in Philadelphia. The culture change was very hard.” OT ended up at Saint Francis on a scholarship to play soccer and study business marketing. Kim, who grew up near Goshen, Indiana, started her academic career at Saint Francis when OT was a senior in the fall of 1977. “It was a small campus, and you couldn’t help but notice OT— everybody knew him,” Kim said. “I thought he was a little crazy. We’re two very different people who came together.” “Very, very, very different—I remember the nuns saying that,” OT said. Friendship and romance blossomed and by Kim’s sophomore year, OT proposed. He first insisted on securing the approval of Kim’s parents. They immediately gave their blessing. “I think they surprised him,” Kim said. The couple married in 1978. OT started his career, first with Johnson Wax before he went into a long-term career in pharmaceutical sales. Kim finished her degree in commercial art in 1981. OT’s career took them to homes in Kentucky, Wisconsin, Oregon, Canada and Kenya before settling in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, where they live now. “OT’s plan was to go home to Kenya after college and I kind of put a wrench in that. God had a different plan,” Kim said. Kim spent her career in insurance, working for Zurich American Insurance, based in Schaumburg, Illinois. They raised two children—son Okado and daughter Akelo— and became increasingly compelled to act on OT’s desire to help people in his native land. Their empathy was rooted in the personal: One of OT’s older brothers died from typhoid fever due to drinking contaminated water. “Our missions pastor, who is also a good friend, met with OT one day and said, ‘If you could do anything for your village in Kenya, what would you do?’” Kim said. “OT said, ‘Clean water.’ Out of that developed a plan and a fundraising campaign to drill a borehole for fresh water. We did one by OT’s village and another on a piece of land a gentleman had donated to the community to build a clinic. Their main building is the Barrington Building.” OT and his group eventually took their mission to Rotary International and raised additional funds to continue the fresh-water work. Other mission projects developed, including helping Kenyans learn to teach Bible school, supplying eyeglasses and bringing personal hygiene products to young Kenyan girls. OT and Kim own a home in Kenya, so they have a place to stay when they or other missionaries visit. “The best part in what we have done—with a few people from my tribe who live in the Chicagoland area—is the Sango Association,” OT said. “The purpose is to educate kids in high school and help the very brightest eventually go to university.” Children in Kenya must pay tuition to go to high school, most of them being boarding schools. Many families cannot afford to do so, as limited income is used for everyday needs. “These kids are hungry for education, but they would be sitting at home if not for these scholarships,” Kim said. Success stories abound, with young Kenyans progressing to become doctors, nurses, teachers and business professionals. The Sango Association currently supports 55 Kenyan students. “This has always been in OT’s heart,” Kim said. “He loves his home, and he loves his people. Because God has blessed us so much here, we need to use that and be good stewards. So that has been his motivation.” The couple point to a favorite Bible passage, James 2:15-17 (NIV): Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” In their commitment to the essence of those verses, OT and Kim Ochieng guarantee their compelling and inspirational story remains far from finished. “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:17 NIV
