Why did Rose choose Daystar over any other university in Kenya?

Practical, Ethical and most of all: Christian

Rose Muiu grew up in Kenya. At the age of six, she committed her life to Christ through the influence of her grandmother, Eva. She was later baptized at Kariobangi Baptist Church at age 11. She loved spending her school breaks at the German mission, Diguna. When she was finishing high school it became obvious to one of the German volunteers that Rose had a gift for languages, a deep love for her Savior and a desire to serve others. Rose was a natural-born leader. She was sponsored to go to Germany, learn German and then study for a bachelor’s degree in theology. While there, she stayed with a German family that became like family to her. Five years later, she went back to Kenya and got a job at the German Mission Boarding school where she cared for primary aged children. Besides mastering German and theology, Rose learned western critical thinking skills. She learned to put her curiosity to work, think through options, and figure out answers to “why?” questions.

Like so many other young people in Kenya, Rose’s had one parent. Her mom earned a small living and took care of Rose and her three younger sisters. Their father had left long ago. Rose returned home and had some good jobs, first the German boarding school, then helping with outreach at a large African Inland Church in Marthare slum. She was able to save and help her mom out. In the meantime, outgoing Rose was still learning, asking questions and observing the world around her. Her time working in the Mathare exposed her to the work and needs in the slums. Then her mom became ill and passed away. It fell to Rose to look after her other three sisters, the youngest was in grade 8. When her mom passed, Rose turned to her German “dad” for help with her youngest sister’s school fees. With this assistance she was able to see the youngest through high school.

Motivated by this experience and her exposure in the slums she wanted to help other children to succeed. Rose says, “I wasn’t asking for a ‘hand-out,’ I was asking for a ‘hand-up.’” She differentiates the two, “A hand-out is just giving a street child a fish, it’s good for today, but it will not help in the long run. But a hand-up is like giving a fishing rod, now you will be able to take care of yourself for the future.” This is how she views education.

Next Rose went to work for a small non-profit in Kenya called Homeless Children International. Their aim was to take children off the streets and off sniffing glue to numb their senses and turn their lives around through Christ. This gave her additional social work experience.

In working at Homeless Children, Kenya, she formed her own vision of what she wanted to do for poor children in Kenya and she needed some real expertise to accomplish it. Rose saw that children who were on the streets were there because they weren’t able to afford school fees but she knew that often the whole family was suffering is some way and if these children had a chance to get a good education, they would be able to move towards a better life for the whole family.

Rose wanted to create a local, children’s sponsorship program helping the poorest of the poor to finish their schooling. In order to do that, she needed to know how to make a plan for the future, how to run a program, and what it takes financially to sustain such a program. “You know, we have a little problem with corruption in Kenya. So I needed to find a place to do my master’s degree that was ethical, practical and above all Christian!” Daystar University was the obvious choice. Rose enrolled in a Master of Business Administration, with emphasis in Strategic Management. She couldn’t have been more pleased with Daystar! Having studied in Germany she appreciated that classes started on time at Daystar. Also the Christ-centered classes started with prayer. She learned very practical lessons in how to manage finances, and how to structure the organization’s systems with many details. She was able to create a strategic plan and know how to build it for the future. She also valued practical lessons on how to deal with people along the way.

Now her organization sponsors over 350 children from the slums of Nairobi. But she also has many programs that run during the school breaks for the children, parents and recent high school graduates. Her program ministers to the whole family of each sponsored child by delivering food to families regularly. She raises funds from a network in Germany, but manages to raise the funds for food distributions in Kenya. “There is a lot of joy here! I’m so thankful to God that we can help these kids!”

We are so THANKFUL that Rose is giving back to the community through her ministry to the poorest children in the Nairobi slums. Rose is another example of a Daystar graduate servant leader helping to transform her community with the skills she acquired at Daystar!