 Good morning, everyone. My name is Hare Kamba. I'm a pastoralist and a veterinarian by profession. I'm here to share with you my story, which I titled The Power of a Woman. I'm a bit nervous, so I won't move around a lot. So, when my mother was 17 years old, she went through an arranged marriage to my father. She was then 52 years old. Unfortunately, my father died shortly thereafter, when my mother was pregnant with me. In my pastoral community, you are regarded as an orphan when you lose your father, but not when you lose your mother. So, orphans are often subjected to a lot of abuse and slave-like stature when their mother remarries. I came face to face with this in the hands of my stepfather. My mother could not tolerate me suffering like that. So because of her love for me, she opted to put me in a children's orphanage when I was just five years old. The children's home was located in Garisa Town, in Northeastern Kenya, some 150 km from our village. In those days, because of the limited transportation, it took two to three days to travel to Garisa. My mother made the tibia strip to visit me. Every chance she got when I was placed at the orphanage. I remember vividly, when she took me to the home to persuade me, my mother made up many things about the orphanage. Good things. She said it offered horseback riding, bicycles, lots of fruit trees and provided a lot of food of all types. Things we in my home have never seen or experienced. So I went with her to Garisa and I was placed in the orphanage. There I met over 500 other orphan boys, with whom I lived for the next eight years. These boys came from all parts of Kenya and from all tribes. They became my brothers. It did not matter, it did not matter where they came from, the color of their skin, what tribe they belong to or what language they spoke. We developed a common bond and that established our brotherhood to this date. This was my first encounter, appreciation and tolerance for diversity. On the occasions that when my mother visits, if I complained about the bad food, the mosquitos, the frequent bouts of malaria and the occasional beatings by my older brothers, tears would well happen in her eyes. But she always told me, every time she visits, three things she will say, Hoyo, which is an endearing word in Somali language, Pasivir, work hard and I'm praying for you. I did as she asked and believe her prayers were answered. I intentionally worked hard in school and excelled in my own levels. I became one of the top three students in my region. I was selected to join the prestigious Nairobi school, a boys boarding national school located in Nairobi. And that was my first opportunity also to see a city. I also excelled in high school as well and was told to do veterinary medicine at the University of Nairobi. I completed my bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine through government funding and I later acquired a master's degree in veterinary epidemiology and public health in the Royal Veterinary College, University of London. Now it was time for me to give back. When I got my first job working as a private veterinarian, I first set up work in Garisa and joined a national and governmental organization, Veterinary Sanfrontiers, where I serve more community through veterinary development work. Then in the year 2011 drought struck hard. My mother lost 45% of our livestock, which included all of our cattle and was left with only few camels and goats. With time, I helped her restock. So today she's a proud owner of about 50 camels and 150 goats. However, my mother's livelihood is still at risk and here is where my work at Ilri comes in. I'm the Garisa Field Coordinator working on the livestock component of the accelerated value chain development program. On a daily basis, I help build capacities and reduce vulnerabilities of communities including my mother's whose livelihood is threatened by drought, scarcity of feed because of the degraded range lands, scarcity of water and livestock diseases. Especially camel diseases which receive minimal attention globally. My mother always joked that I should have studied only camel diseases in veterinary school. So when it comes to Ilri's tagline, better life through livestock. As relevant as it is to all of us here, I think no one appreciates those four words better than my mother. Better lives through livestock. I live working in my home region and giving back to the community. Four years ago, I helped to start an old boys association to support the growth and development of the boys of an age that raised me. We have already undertaken more than 18 projects and I serve as a secretary of the association today. So to conclude, when it comes to ill-critical success factors, the one I am most proud of to serve, the one I am most proud to serve is growing the capacity of others. My mother gave me up to an orphanage so that I could have a better life. It took her heart and mind but that heroic and self-flex act of hers has given me hundreds of brothers for life, a fine education and a chance to serve my lifestyle community. I admire my camel loving mother for all she has accomplished in her life. In my pastoralist community, women have traditionally been given a very low status by men. It goes in the hierarchy. Men first, then the animals, then the children and lastly the women. But not in my world. In my world, my mother is number one. It's time that my community and all African men understood the true power and place of African women, which is at the top. Thank you for listening. Thank you. I would like to appreciate the support given by Susan McMillan and Modone Njiru for their support in delivering this story to you.