Kenneth Elisapana, Executive Director
Kenneth Elisapana was born in Jambo village, Western Equatoria in Southern Sudan. As a Southerner, he was subjected to lot of unimaginable suffering at early age. Like many South Sudanese, Kenneth’s story is a story of survival and hope after witnessing firsthand the horrors of war that caused the loss of millions of lives. In an act of survival and in pursuit of better future, Kenneth fled Sudan after he lost his father.
In early 1990’s the Sudan government made it difficult for South Sudanese to travel to neighboring countries in fear that they will join the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). As a result, millions of South Sudanese were forced involuntarily to migrate to the North where thousands still live today in deplorable condition with no running water, health facilities, or schools in slums on the outskirts of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.
In February 1992, Kenneth fled to Egypt the only way to get out of Sudan. After spending two years in under most difficult circumstances with will to survive, in 1994 Kenneth was sponsored by an Anglican Church in United Kingdom (St. Peter’s in East Gate, Lincoln) to pursue his studies in Kenya. From there, he was able to the United States in 1999.
Kenneth earned, Masters Degree in Public Administration & Policy Analysis, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Ill, U.S.A, 2004, BA in Sociology, Taylor University, Upland, Indiana, U.S.A, 2002 and BA in Community Development, Daystar University, Nairobi, Kenya, 2003
While in the United States, Kenneth founded South Sudan Hope N.F.P.: a humanitarian organization to help his fellow countrymen left back in South Sudan, with the support of American friends and concerned citizens.
Kenneth is currently an Executive with Illinois Department on Aging (IDOA ) helping older people live independently in their own homes through quality customer service, information and assistance, advocating and linking older persons and care givers, disabled persons and professionals to pharmaceutical programs, alternative care and community based services. Provides extensive programmatic support for the departments state wide, adult protective services, senior health insurance program, community based program, pharmaceutical clearing house, Older Americans Act and public benefit programs.