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for and he also helped me with<br />
the website.<br />
Tibbs Dementia Foundation is a<br />
charity close to my heart like I<br />
mentioned earlier and they asked<br />
me to be in their fundraising committee<br />
team.<br />
Our Kenyan Community in Bedford<br />
would meet at Mashakaya and do<br />
what we do best to comfort our<br />
friends who were grieving and go<br />
on with our lives. At one point we<br />
meet in 3 homes within a month<br />
and we felt that we needed to<br />
meet on a lighter note and have<br />
a fun get together. We decided to<br />
organise a BBQ where our children<br />
would get to know each other and<br />
bond together and socialise hence<br />
making friends. It was a huge<br />
success and it has now become<br />
our annual event where they<br />
nominated me as their Chairlady.<br />
This is my most challenging role<br />
and my best quality which is<br />
patience is put to test often. I call<br />
for a meeting at a certain time<br />
and people rock up an hour late.<br />
Many times I feel like throwing in<br />
the towel and then I look at the<br />
bigger picture and speak to a few<br />
good mentors who encourage<br />
me to continue. When we come<br />
together like on the first Bedford<br />
African Event last year my people<br />
came including the Mayor who<br />
wanted to sing, dance and take<br />
selfies with the Kenya Community<br />
in Bedford.<br />
My next challenging role is<br />
becoming the Councillor of<br />
Queens Park. I got nominated as<br />
a Conservative candidate which<br />
was quite interesting in a Labour<br />
dominated ward and my most<br />
challenging role.<br />
My philanthropist role extends to<br />
my homeland Kenya. When I visit<br />
Kenya, I go to children’s home<br />
and give them a small donation of<br />
basic needs like flour, sugar etc.<br />
One particular home in Dec 2017<br />
left me feeling a particular way<br />
and I couldn’t sleep. I came back<br />
to England and told my friends to<br />
give me the clothes their children<br />
had outgrown. Word went round<br />
and I couldn’t fit all the donations<br />
in my house. My friend who<br />
owned a shop offered to let me<br />
use her store. I filled the store<br />
and at this point the clothes were<br />
going to be very expensive to<br />
ship on my own. My friend got a 1<br />
month’s notice from her landlord<br />
to give back the keys for the shop.<br />
I organised a fundraising event<br />
which was attended by people<br />
from all walks of life and dignitaries.<br />
The clothes benefited 6 homes<br />
in Kenya. One of the homes was in<br />
Webuye in Siaya where I met some<br />
volunteers from around the world<br />
but mostly in Europe. We formed a<br />
tight friendship and one of them<br />
spoke of his desire to build a children’s<br />
home which was also my<br />
dream. We decided to take action<br />
and in June 2019 we went back to<br />
Kenya to set a Non Governmental<br />
Organisation helping orphans<br />
all over Kenya. Our Children’s<br />
homes will be self sustaining with<br />
enough land to do large scale<br />
farming. We also engage with<br />
the community in the area and<br />
provide them with free drinking<br />
water and job opportunities.<br />
It feels like I have done so many<br />
things but I hope I will inspire<br />
someone to get out of their<br />
comfort zone and if I can do it<br />
anyone can.<br />
4THEDITION<br />
|JULY 2019<br />
53
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