Ruth Emmy - Kenya
Born in 1991, Ruth Achieng’ Oduor is from Sega, Nyanza Kenya. She completed high school in 2009 at the Ng’iya Girls’ School. While studying in high school, she developed an interest in leadership and development issues leading her to join a variety of clubs; the scouts club, environmental club, and badilisha (the make a difference) club.
After high school, Ruth joined and continues to work for the local youth organization UCAHA. The organization is engaged in volunteerism and community work, which has developed her understanding for the concept community. She connected with Actionaid-Kenya through UCAHA, allowing her to access programs offering young women leadership trainings, advocacy forums, entrepreneurship, and others. These programs and networks increased her interest in further developing her leadership skills.
This interest drove her to apply for a Global Citizen Course offered by Actionaid- Denmark, she was one of the few Kenyans selected for this opportunity. The course expanded her interests in global issues while being a great resource to develop her knowledge on global citizenship. Upon completion of her course, Ruth looked for other opportunities to offer global platforms and address global issues with an aim of creating positive change. These interests led her to the Youth Without Boundaries (YWB) initiative of Communities Without Boundaries International (CWBI).
Her passion is to make a difference; create positive change in someone’s life, her community, and the world as a whole. In her spare time she enjoys debates, meeting people from different places, networking, leadership forums, advocacy forums, singing and playing scrabble. If given an opportunity to further her education, she would like to get a degree in community development.