Meet Beverly, avid campaigner for quality education in rural schools
For Ms Beverly Nicole Adhiambo, advocacy remains one of the greatest ways to influence change in the community.
At 26, the community development professional has already bagged two awards for championing the women and youth development agenda in her home county of Homa Bay.
Last year, Ms Adhimbo was recognised with a Community Service and Sustainable Development Goals Ambassador of the Year Award by the Work Her Dream, a local Non-governmental organisation (NGO).
The former Moi University student’s constant contributions to community development has also seen her selected for the 2022 Mandela Washington Fellowship to Appalachian State University, in North Carolina, United States of America (USA).
The young leader attributes the award to her outstanding community service in Homa Bay County.
Ms Adhiambo is now a programmes officer at an NGO known as Educate, where she has been working towards recruiting out of school youth aged between 17 and 34 and teaching them business skills.
The 26-year-old recalls how her life took a drastic turn in 2007, when her family was affected by the post-election violence and had to relocate from Nakuru city to her rural home in Homa Bay.
Back in Nakuru, she attended private schools, and with the shift to the rural areas, she was exposed to inadequacies of public schools.
The institution she joined had a number of students from needy backgrounds, who could not afford basic requirements.
“I also realised that a number of learners were unable to secure admissions at the higher learning institutions, and I could not stop wondering what had become of them.
“Through my interactions with those around me, I now understand how it feels like to go to school without the motivation for further education,” she says.
After siting her Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education in 2013, Ms Adhiambo joined Moi University to pursue a bachelor of arts in community development.
Her choice of course was influenced by her uncle, who was by then working with the United Nations.
“I would always watch on television how various organisations came to the rescue of refugees and felt the urge to do the same in my community,” says Ms Adhiambo, who graduated in 2018.
She later enrolled for the Young African Leaders Initiative (Yali) Cohort 29. It is from this leadership training in civic engagement that she founded a Community-based Organisation (CBO), I4HER, with a number of friends.
Their aim was to champion quality education in the rural set ups. With Homabay being among the leading counties in teenage pregnancies, Ms Adhiambo sees the need to mentor girls and ensure that they remain in school.
“All through my university, I would engage in various mentorship programmes in high schools whenever I could,” says Ms Adhiambo.
Through the CBO, she has lead various causes such as campaign against sex for fish along the beaches of Lake Victoria, and conducted a book drive distributing books to over 3,000 primary school children.
Besides that, Ms Adhiambo's job revolves around identifying potential youth for the Educate Skill Up programme for a five-week business boot camp where the youngsters are taught how to start up and run small businesses to sustain them and their families.
After the training, the individuals are free to venture into businesses of their choice while their progress is monitored.
“The aim of the project is to ensure the youth are able to earn a living and take care of themselves,” she says, noting that more than 500 female youth have benefited from the arrangement between December 2021 to date.
“I enjoy my work since I get to interact with the youth, walk with them through the entire training process, and watch them establish their own businesses,” says the activist.
The programmes officer, who sits on the Digital Opportunity Trust Kenya Youth Leadership Advisory Board that provides strategic advice on matters online advocacy, also actively participates in weekly online mental wellness live shows.
“It is through this contribution that I got an opportunity to be part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship 2022 for a six-week programme which started in June,” she says.
The initiative brings together young leaders from 54 African countries to benefit from leadership in civic engagement.
The fellowship will also present the young advocate with an opportunity to network with young leaders from 18 different African countries currently, with the hope of future collaborations across the continent.
Through her daily interactions and networking, Ms Adhiambo has come to understand that advocacy always goes a long way in influencing change.
“Revolutions from around the world came from brave men and women who dared to make the bold step towards advocating for change. Young people must be at the forefront advocating for a better world.
“My greatest desire is to be a role model that many young girls will look up to. I also want women to know their place in society through financial independence,” she says.
