UAE: Kenyan Nursing Award winner starts school with bonus – News

Anna Qabale Duba, who won $250,000 in the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Awards, also has ambitions to open a hospital in her hometown

Anna Qabale Duba with adult learners at school

Less than a year after winning one of the nursing profession’s top awards, Kenyan national Anna Qabale Duba has opened the doors of a new school building that will educate more than 200 children and adults in her village.

Duba, who won a $250,000 grand prize at the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Awards in May 2022, hails from the remote village of Turbi, which still has no electricity. As a result, the school building will run primarily on solar energy.

“I installed solar panels in my classroom,” she said. “This means that even students from the immediate area can come there and use the classrooms as study rooms at night. The school will also have an administration building with a space where teachers can rest or have lunch.”

There are classes from preschool to grade 4, and Duba hopes to expand the school to teach children through grade 6 in the coming years.

The school marks the realization of Duba’s dream for her village and her people. “Education gave me wings to fly,” she said. “I came from such a small village, from humble beginnings, and no one could help me. It was education that helped me write my story. The power of being able to write my own story helped me get to where I am now. I hope the children in our village can have that kind of power.”

In addition to educating children, the school will also give parents a space to learn. “Ninety percent of the children who attend this school have illiterate parents,” she said. “So now in the afternoon, when the parents come to pick up the kids, I’m setting them up to teach them the basics of reading and writing.”

However, her dream didn’t end there. “I dreamed of having a school and now it’s a reality,” she said. “My next goal is to build a hospital in my hometown, because there is no hospital within at least 200 kilometers. There is only a small clinic. If I build a hospital, it will ensure that everyone, especially pregnant women, can get necessary medical care.”

She is also keen to pursue further studies. She is currently preparing to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where she received a fellowship from the CDC titled “Public Health Emergency Management.” “It was a tough competition and I think I was the only Kenyan who managed to get a spot,” she said. “It’s a three-month fellowship and I’m really looking forward to learning more.”

Duba, the youngest of a family of nine, is the village’s first graduate and the only educated child in her family. She had many challenges growing up and nearly got married at 14. “But, my brother and teacher came to my rescue,” she said. “That’s how I managed to get through high school and then college.”

Despite being born in a nomadic community, Duba said she was lucky because by the time she was born, her parents had already settled in an area with only one school. A desire to help others led her into nursing. “I’ve been seeing people around me struggle to access medical care, especially during labor,” she said. “So after high school, when it came to choosing a career, I chose nursing.”

To attend nursing school, Duba moved almost 500 kilometers. While studying Nursing, she won the title of Miss Tourism Kenya 2013. Since then, she has used her influence to advocate for gender equality and education in her community. Shortly after graduating, she established the Qabale Duba Foundation, which works to raise awareness on a variety of topics, including safe period health. However, those aren’t the only reasons she’s passionate about it.

“I had FGM at age 12 without my consent,” she said. “I want to stop this harmful cultural practice, so I’ve been very vocal.”