USIU-Africa alumna recognized as a 2020 Rare Rising Scholar

By Kevin Mudavadi and CTW team

USIU-Africa alumna, Ruth Nyabuto Nyakerario, has been named as one of 2020’s Rare Rising Stars, an award given to the UK’s top ten black students. Ms. Nyakerario was selected out of a pool of more than 150 nominated candidates.

Ruth, completed her undergraduate at USIU-Africa in 2017, receiving a Magna Cum Laude in International Relations (IR). It is during this period that she developed a keen interest in Displacement, Forced Migration and Homelessness. It was this interest that prompted her to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship in 2018, which enabled her to pursue a Masters in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies in 2019 and a Masters in African Studies which she is pursuing at Oxford University.

During her studies at USIU-Africa, Ruth experienced an awakening to the host of issues that were caused by the socio-economic divide that affect people across the African continent, which spurred her to increase her efforts in trying to provide a solution to some of these problems.

“Sitting in class and hearing about the issues that were brought about and continued to persist as a result of economic inequality prompted me to try and find a way to provide solutions to these issues. After reconnecting with some of my friends from high school, I decided together with my friend, Viney Gisore, to establish our foundation, Out of the Streets.”

“The Foundation is committed to ensuring that homeless children in Kenya have access to education, food, empowerment, clothing, and, if possible, re-united with their families. The programme started in February 2015 with feeding programmes, with Viney and I cooking self-funded hot meals and sharing lunch and a few hours with the children every week. After a short while, word spread, and we would have 150-200 homeless children coming for meals each time,” she adds.

As part of her efforts to expand the Foundation’s reach and impact, Ruth spearheaded talent events at rehabilitation centres for street children and established libraries, in addition to establishing a center in Majengo that would run weekend education sessions for 50 students, most of whom were not in school.

Currently, Out of the Streets is working towards establishing its own rehabilitation centre, and is currently fundraising, hoping to incorporate the lessons they have learnt thus far into their strategy. They also intend to work in conjunction with other similar community-based organisations that reach out to children in other locales.

Ruth, who is currently interning at the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, hopes to go back to community work, and apply her classroom knowledge to the solution of real life problems.

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