Salma Hayek is known for her Hollywood roles, but she is also heavily obsessed with another cause – charity work in Kenya. Salma has travelled to Kenya’s slum areas more than once to support Shining Hope For Communities (SHOFCO), a charity that seeks to change difficult conditions in the African country. But the star’s dedication goes beyond her work for the organisation – she is a confidante and friend of the charity’s founder Kennedy Odede, who has spoken out about the actress’ incredible support for the people of Kenya.
“Whenever I’m personally going through something in my life, Salma is there for me. She’s not fake, to me Salma is real. That’s how kind of a person she is. She’s just a person with a soul who cares about others,” Kennedy explained.
The Kenya-based charity aims to help transform urban slums by providing important services and advocacy platforms for residents, as well as education for all women and girls. And Salma has seen the work of the charity first-hand during personal trips to the country.
“I was fortunate to be with Salma in my hometown, the Kibera slum, which is the largest in Kenya. Salma has empathy, she has a soul, and I have been fortunate to watch her. When she sees women struggling, children struggling, she gets very upset and does a lot of things she doesn’t talk about. She meets people where they are at. She has been a personal supporter of works like SHOFCO and Girl Effect. She is imbued with strategies. She wants to see big changes, not just incremental improvements,” Odede informed.
SHOFCO is just one of several charities that Salma lends her support to. She also uses her social media accounts, where she has 29 million followers, to raise awareness for the charity. Hayek is also a frequent guest at socially conscious events, for example, this year she carried the torch at the opening of the Olympics in Paris
