By Kasia Mychajlowycz

David Kimani Kienja is our only Kenyan volunteer. A ROTH scholar, David studies biochemistry at Moi University in Eldoret.

After succeeding in his national exams, David was accepted to university, but didn’t have the necessary tuition fees. “The friends that I had left in Piave were painting the Maternity Ward,” says David, referring to the 2007 ROTH building project in Kenya. “ROTH gave those guys the contact and they told me, we have a muzungu contact. So it’s kind of luck, because I wasn’t even around Piave Maternity Ward.”

David’s came to stay and volunteer at the ROTH house, working as the quantity surveyor  on-site and, more recently, collaborating with our founder and friend Frederique Vallieres on her master’s project. He speaks Kikuyu, his tribal language, as well as Kiswahili and English, making him indispensable for communicating at the site, at home and in town. David returns to Moi University to start his third year in late July.