My name is Eliakim Ogutu, and I was born and raised in a small village in Homa Bay, Kenya. My life's journey has been marked by adversity, but also by the kindness of strangers. Growing up, I faced unimaginable challenges. I lost my father before I was born, and at just eight months old, I contracted malaria, leading to an eight-month hospitalization. My widowed mother, without education or employment, sold our livestock and land to pay my medical bills and care for my seven siblings. We struggled to survive, often going without meals, clothing, and basic necessities. At around seven years I went to stay with one of my sisters who was married early probably to flee the state of hunger that existed within our humble place of aboard where, we were squatters, conditions temporarily got better for me, but it was not long lived; My sister passed away and I had to go back home to the deplorable conditions.