UNAFRAID OF THE FUTURE

Meet Toto Olita – Researcher. Humanitarian.Environmentalist.Global Citizen

“I consider myself a global citizen by calling. This is because our world is much connected as ever before and the challenges we face demand collaborative action. I believe in inclusion, fairness, community empowerment, social justice as well as protection and preservation of our environment.The training I received at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT)has equipped me with both technical and life skills. These skills have been instrumental in enhancing my outlook on the problems we face as a globe. Throughout my academic and professional journey, I have seen the need to use evidence-based research to guidedecision-making process and inform policy recommendations. This means that the solutions to the “wicked” problems promote resilience within our communities. My purpose is to help empower communities to utilise the available resources in the most efficient and innovative way in order to ensure enduring outcomes. I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to DeKUT family. Every person I met during my time at DeKUT has contributed to my progress and the person I am today. I am eternally grateful.”- Toto Olita

Toto Olita is our 2013 Actuarial Science Graduate. She is Curtin University’s recently recruited Postdoctoral researcher with training in Actuarial Science, Agriculture and Resource Economics. Her PhD was funded by the University of Western Australia’s Scholarship for International Research Fees and the Australian Research Council (ARC) Project Grant. Toto’s research focused on the design of environmental policy tools under risky situations.

Looking back at her PhD journey, she expresses that she was fortunate to work with a global team of experts from Australia, Canada and Germany in an International ARC project. “My PhD work explored a new solution to the obstacles that uncertainty creates for the successful implementation of certain types of nature conservation programs. Our solution was a new form of insurance that could be embedded within conservation contracts to offer income protection to private landholders. This research work was accepted for an oral presentation at the 6th World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists, held between 25th and 29th June 2018 in Gothenburg, Sweden; a meeting held once every 4 years and attracts participants from all over the globe”- explains Toto with a sense of gratitude.

Toto’s current work within the Centre for Crop and Disease Management explores the economic impact of plant diseases on a sustainable agricultural production system. Did you know that plant diseases cause significant economic damage with a global estimate of $220 billion (Ksh 24.5trillion) losses annually according to the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO)?This highlights the importance of the work Toto and her colleagues are involved in to our global food security, more importantly now when our world is grappling with a pandemic that has sadly affected the livelihoods of many communities. “I would like to encourage everyone that the values we bring to the table contribute to the change within our communities. The contribution of each person is essential to ensure sustainable outcomes”- she adds.

Toto’s passion to ensure better lives for community members, especially those facing extreme poverty and isolation inspired her to undertake a social research project during her Master’s studies at Curtin University’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Her thesis focused on housing shortage and unaffordability influencing homelessness crisis among low-income households in Australia. “I was able toanalyse wayshousing shortage can be tackled to help reduce the growing homelessness crisis in Australia.” – she adds.She also received an offer from Landgate (Valuations and Property Analytics) through iPREP WA to participate in a 6 week internship program to assess Landgate’s property valuation quality indicators and frameworks against best practice, nationally and internationally.

This lady’slife aspiration has always been to use the knowledge she acquiresto help improve the lives of people in the community. Beyond research, she serves her community in various capacities. For instance, after completing her high school, Toto became a volunteer teaching aid at St. Thomas Amagoro Secondary School (Busia County, Kenya). She saysthis opportunity gave her a platform to reach out to students who had to tackle issues such as discrimination, mental health and stigma as a result of teenage pregnancy. “I was moved by the passion of these students who had so much potential and so little support. I believe we can do something in our own little ways to reach out to so many young people who are at risk of dropping out of school due to lack of motivation, social injustices and access to basic needs.” Toto has also worked with teenage single mothers, youths affected by alcohol and drug abuse and young people experiencing homelessness and those facing the risk of homelessness. She counts herself fortunate to have had the opportunity to offer wellness workshops at Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre and Warnbro High School with the Australian Red Cross “Save-a-Mate” program. She echoes the words of WangariMaathai who once said, “It’s the little things citizens do that will make the difference.”

Toto believes that change begins with each one of us and that together, we can. She wraps this up with the words of Nelson Mandela, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

As a University whose focus is mainly Research, Innovation, Technology Development and Transfer for Sustainable Development, we are proud to see the work being done in line with this out there by young people who crossed our paths as our students.

We are proud of you Dr. Toto Olita!

FROM BAKING AS A HOBBY TO DOING IT COMMERCIALLY

Meet Lourine Owiti – A Graduate in Tourism and Hospitality Management having a bliss in Baking as she applies her hospitality skills to serve the community

“My 4 years at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology were amazing. The learning was great; it gave me exposure as far as my career is concerned and was both fun and experiential kind of learning. We had good lecturers who took us through school work and life generally and impacted us with life skills; special shout out to Dr. Misiko, Mrs. Kimondo and Mr. Osiako, among others. Amazing lecturers they were.”- Lourine Owiti

Mark Anthony said that if you do what you love, you will never have to work a day in your life and on education, Albert Einstein said that Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything they learned in school. These two quotes seem to have been applied accordingly by Lourine Owiti; our graduate in Tourism and Hospitality Management who is now pursuing baking out of passion while serving in the administration of an Non – Governmental Organization (NGO) in Kisumu, Kenya.

Owiti graduated in 2015 and is currently working with an NGO called KUAP; a health NGO in Kisumu running different projects like HIV preventionand care services, HIV care and treatment, water and sanitation, clinical services, nutritional services, home based care for clients,children counseling services as well as a children rescue center. Her day to day duties involve handling clients, staff and stakeholders. While it might appear to some that Owiti is in an industry she was not prepared to work in as she pursued her course, she says that hospitality is a service.
industry and having learnt about service to clients, her studies in Tourism and Hospitality Management has helped herhandle her work and clients diligently and professionally. She further adds that hospitality taught her tobe a good manager and that has helped her quite much. This, we believe, is the real essence of education; application of knowledge and skills gained in service and in creating a better world.

In a country (and world) where looking for job is almost a full -time job for thousands of people, Owiti felt that she needed more and looked within; she turned to her passion in baking. After baking for a while as a hobby, she decided to do it commercially, especially when the COVID -19 pandemic hit. She started “Cakes by Lolo” and she bakes cakes for different occasions like birthdays, weddings,anniversaries, baby and bridal showers, corporate events; and all kinds of events where a cake is needed. Owiti is focusing on growing this business and making it bigger and better and to extend her passion in baking further, she hopes to one day create a resource centre where people can be trained on baking.

As we strive to be an Entrepreneurial University and produce more graduates who are not just job seekers but job creators, efforts such as Owiti’s are stories of success to us and we celebrate her and wish her the very best. In her words, “I would like to encourage any young person who wishes to do something for themselves; be it in business, furthering education or whatever it is to just start. Start where you are and with what you have; you just need to start, put in the work, be committed and everything will work out just right.”

TAKING THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY BY STORM
Meet Donald Njeru – Founder, Electruxx Animations

“I started learning animations online while at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT) and founded Electruxx Animations. I joined the University’s hub - DeHUB which facilitated me and my partners Michael Makau and Sheltone Ochieng to further enhance our skills. To date, we have worked on animations for various companies in different fields like film, gaming, manufacturing, medicine, architecture and music among others. Our clients are mainly from America and Europe. ” – Donald Njeru

Donald graduated in April 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Like many students in DeKUT, he did not spend his years at the University just pursuing his degree programme but investing in his passion using the available resources. “I had Passion for Electronics since Primary School. I wanted to study at DeKUT as I had relatives recommend it as the best Institution – I was not disappointed. While at DeKUT, I started learning animations online using Blender3D which is a free open source animation software since I could not afford other 3D software and joined DeHUB which facilitated my growth, and that of my partners, in various ways” – explains Donald.

In May 2020, the University (DeKUT) launched a Film Hub with the support of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and Kenya Film Commission to support the young people (and old alike) like Donald in learning and venturing into the creative industry. Donald was one of those invited to this auspicious occasion to showcase his work. During this occasion, he reminisced: “The support I got here at DeKUT was great. I got all the necessary exposure and mentoring I needed to meet the outside market requirements. With the exposure and networking I got while here, I was able to get clients and venture to the job market with ease. DeKUT facilitated a lot through DeHUB by organizing and facilitating events that exposed us; one of the most memorable and impactful being the Global World Summit in 2015 which Barack Obama attended - we met a lot of people and networked when presenting our animations. What lacked was the equipment for film but that need has now been met for future animators with the launch of the DeKUT Film Hub.”

Donald is inspired by film, love for animations and cartoons. He says that he has always wanted to put his story out there in the big screens. He and his partners have come up with a second establishment by the name BlenderAfrica which will deal with animations or projects that are done mostly by African artists and companies using Blender3D which is their native software. He adds that other animation news and tutorials will also feature on the website which is going to be launched in July. Donald is currently working on a short film that will feature in international film festivals. “African animation film content is not exploited. I want to create a pilot episode for cartoon network, adult swim, Netflix or any other network looking for African digital content. With my partners, we want our African short film animations to be on the international market by next year. We are also creating local animation skits for our local TV stations” – he adds.

With the establishment of DeKUT Film Hub, we hope to promote the creative industry and support the young people trying to penetrate this industry with the necessary training and infrastructure to successfully venture into the industry.