I am many things. One thing I am particularly known for is my passion to explore and my desire to see new things, places, eat new foods and to share different experiences. Sometimes it’s hard to balance all these passions with pressing realities but one must make the decision objectively and after considering all relevant consequences.
A week or two before my embassy appointment, I received a letter I had been waiting for, for nearly a year – it was an admission letter to the bar school in Kenya. I was at crossroads between choosing to travel 8525.99 miles – literally across the world to experience a new culture and train in a field that I had limited skills in, or to finally get over the last hurdle of becoming a licensed advocate which has been a longtime dream of mine.
Truth be told, the American Embassy is not the friendliest consulate I have ever been to. The aisle of glass and the microphones are a tad bit intimidating, even for this lawyer. I did manage to convince the stern officer of the nature and purpose of my visit and I was issued a visa. It was not until this point in time that I had a serious reality check and I knew what I had to do…
Saturday, January 11th 2014 was a remarkably cold day in Washington DC… well, maybe not, but I guess my body was going through shock after having spent the prior week with my family in the beautiful, humid coastal city of Mombasa. My overly energetic sister Shiru had insisted that I visualize and master the art of feeling warm and thinking of the sun, and the blissful feeling of the warm rays on my skin… I should have taken this lesson more seriously, as the sun is just but a distant dream to me now…
The Atlas Service Corps started in 2006, and is an international network of nonprofit leaders and organizations that promotes innovation, cooperation, and solutions to address the world’s 21st century challenges. Their mission is to address critical social issues by developing leaders, strengthening organizations, and promoting innovation through an overseas fellowship of skilled non-profit professionals. Atlas Corps engages leaders committed to the nonprofit sector through 12-18 month professional fellowships at organizations to learn best practices, build organizational capacity, and return home to create a network of global change makers.
Current Fellows 2014
I am humbled and excited to be serving at the Nike Foundation and supporting the girl effect. With my passion for girls, the skills I learned from working with “Sisterhood” and my experience working in law and in the civil society in Kenya, I realized I had come across the opportunity of a lifetime
I love the fact that my passion and career have started to converge, and I cannot wait to see what this journey will look like in the coming months…
A few fellows from class 14 donning traditional attire