BRILLIANT CHELANGAT RERO

chelbrilliant@gmail.com
+254-723-941-041
P.O. Box 555 – Kericho, Kenya
PERSONAL STATEMENT

“All dreams are valid…it is only when and how an individual shall realize them” Unknown.

I would like to kindly provide the following relevant information that will guide the Selection
Committee in evaluating my application and awarding me Scholarship to pursue my Masters in
the Swansea Univesity.

I was born in a remote village, Chepsir, Kericho County, Rift Valley, in Kenya. I am the second
last born child in a family of eight siblings. Throughout my life, my family has been dependent
on subsistence farming since my parents had no formal employment. I attended local primary
school (Kapkatungor Primary) bare footed and at times even without food due to tough economic
times which was contributed by poverty.

In the year 2004, when I was in class three, my dad (Mr. Julius Rero) left my mum and with the
burden of raising eight kids singlehandedly, and this was a major blow to my academic life since
my mother, Mrs. Ruth Rero, couldn’t raise the school fees for all of us leave alone providing
basic needs like food. Despite all these challenges, I was neither deterred nor disoriented from
achieving my dream of becoming an Accountant, and a future leader.

In 2008, my dad re-appeared together with his brothers and forced me to undergo Female Genital
Mutilation which my mum was against. According to our community girls aren’t allowed to go
to school and are required to get married so that money given by the husband as dowry is given
to the father of the lady. So, my father forced me to undergo FGM but I ran away from home and
I stayed with my grandma while I went to school since she was an education champion. I wanted
to study and change that culture in future so that girls can also get the same opportunity as boys.
My mum was struggling at home to raise my siblings and on the other hand my grandma was
poor since she was old and couldn’t provide sanitary towels for me as well as putting food on the
table for the two of us and devastated me and prompted me to work even more harder since most
of the times we could sleep on an empty stomach and I could also use old clothes as sanitary
towels during my monthly period because my grandma could not get even Ksh 60 for me to buy
some sanitary.

In 2009, I completed my primary education but was unable to join high school since both my
grandma and my mom couldn’t raise my school tuition fees so I had to stay home and help my
grandma with work so that we could at least get something small (money) to cater for even the
basic needs. After sometime my grandma asked me to go back to primary school again and retry
again my Kenya Certificate of Primary Education so that the next year she’ll have gotten money
or figured out how I will join high school. I completed and fundraisings were done through out
my secondary education till I completed in 2014. I got to look for work as well as studying
through university and now I already completed my Degree awaiting my graduation.

In 2017, my friends and I started a charity organization known as Miss Brilliant Foundation
which aims at rescuing kids from FGM, Feeding the street children and distribution of sanitary
towels to vulnerable girls in both primary and secondary schools. Having undergone Female
genital Mutilation. We have rescued more than 700 girls from Female Genital Mutilation and
distributed to more than 5000 girls with sanitary towels. I have over 50 street children that I’m
currently feeding on a weekly basis, clothing them and providing shelter to some. My aspiration
is to have a zero tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation and see as many girls as possible go to
school and not get married off. I would love to see less if not zero street children roaming and
having nothing to eat. I would love to see girls not selling their bodies so as to provide
themselves with sanitary towels that is why we are working with senator Gloria Orwoba who is a
nominated senator to petition free sanitary towels in Kenyan parliament so that girls can benefit
from it and not sell themselves for it, since 600 shillings can keep a girl in school for one year.

In 2020 while there was an outbreak of Covid-19 I decided to distribute masks to street kids
since they were more exposed on the street and nobody could think about them and since nobody
was allowed outside apart from people providing special services during quarantine, the street
kids had no place to get food either so I took it upon me and started providing foodstuff to them
and hence I was futured on National and international stations such as Citizen Tv,NTV, KTN,
KTN News ,TUKO News and also CGTN Africa. It has always been my dream that people
should not stay hungry and girls access education.
I am convinced beyond doubt that there is great intellectual nurturing and cultivation of
leadership qualities advanced and promoted by Swansea University. I therefore strongly believe
that if I am granted this life time opportunity, I shall keep up the spirit of finding ways to grow
my charity organization and rescue as many girls as possible from FGM, reduce the number of
street children roaming around and also help them get food as well as girls get access to free
sanitary towels.

In light of the foregoing, I humbly request the Selection Committee to consider and award me
the scholarship for me to achieve my dreams.