I rose from being Miss Korogocho to heading an organisation

“Standing on the podium that evening when I was being crowned Miss Koch I had mixed emotions- on the one hand, I was overjoyed that my hard work and patience were now being rewarded while on the other I felt very scared that I had exposed myself to a lot of people, many of them strangers.

I overcame that fear and I immediately hit the ground running, being on top of things as the reigning beauty queen. This mainly involved teaching adolescent girls and boys their rights, talking to children about being positive, especially in school, talking to young people to reform and resist crime and engaging them in community activities.  At times my colleagues thought I was on the extreme because of the passion I brought to the job.

My creative display on the runway and active involvement in the initiative earned me a win as the first female Coordinator of the then Miss Koch Initiative CBO (now Miss Koch Kenya) during the year 2006 leadership elections and I was again re-elected in 2007.

The highlight of my work was in 2010 when I was chosen to be one of the young people from the slums to go watch the World Cup.

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This initiative by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) was to have us see sports as a way of fighting crime as well as giving the youth a chance to make a decent living.

This was an iconic moment. I had been working on the safety of girls in my community and it attracted the attention of some UN-Habitat staff working on their Safer Cities Programme.

I was invited to a meeting and to my shock then Executive Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka was present. I had no idea that she would attend. I was asked to make a speech. Apparently, the speech impressed Mrs Tibaijuka to the extent that she insisted I must be part of the group heading to South Africa for the World Cup.

In South Africa, I once again made a moving speech and was invited on a trip to Nelson Mandela’s home.

It was an emotional moment for a girl who was born in Uasin Gishu County and attended different schools before completing my education at St. Valentine school in Machakos. From there I joined TVET College Kenya Institute of Development Studies (KIDS) and got a diploma in Social work. After years of my work within the community, a friend saw my hard work and influence on young people in the community education and decided to support my degree course in Business and Business Entrepreneurship studies. I got my Degree award in Business and Business Entrepreneurship Second Class Upper Division from the University of Northampton.

My first job was at my late aunt’s food kiosk. I later got a job at the Mara Restaurant and later worked at an Indian restaurant as a hostess cum waitress. However, one day while leaving work late I was attacked and stabbed. I stopped working feeling that the employer did not care for me enough to ensure safe transport home.

During Covid19 pandemic I rallied support to get over 8000 families to receive dry foods and wash facilities within the community and schools. I also adopted a woman who has been under my care and support since 2021 after constructing for her a house after many years of living in a shack.

Under the different thematic areas run under Miss Koch Kenya, I have mobilised resources to help in constructing an Early Childhood Development (ECD) learning centre to support children under five. Currently, I won a contract through Lohana Ladies Circle to support a year plan for the 2023 school feeding program for the ECD Learners where 150 children will benefit.

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I have helped reform over 120 young people within Korogocho informal settlements and guided them to a better living through vocational training in creative arts and urban farming within the informal settlements.

I have mobilised over Sh80 million since taking leadership, through charismatically creating and maintaining key contacts in the organisation’s network. I was chairperson of the Pamanech Project Committee overseeing a health facilities upgrading project within Korogocho which is funded by Comic Relief to the tune of Sh200million and implemented by Africa Population & Health Research Institute (APHRC) 2016-2018. 

 The downside is that this has slowed my personal growth. I was also on the verge of being killed by some ill-motivated people out of jealousy. 

My plans for the future include building a strong institution that will continue to create impact and change in the lives of the people living in deplorable conditions. This fits into my mantra in life that everyone is created for a purpose and never to lose hope in life despite the odds.”