Hope Runs
Page 18
Read more about her at www.ClaireDiazOrtiz.com or on Twitter via @claire.
Samuel Ikua Gachagua was born in rural Kenya in 1992. After losing his parents at a young age, he struggled to survive until he was placed in an orphanage in Nyeri, Kenya, a move that saved his life. In 2006, two women came to live in his orphanage for a year and start a nonprofit organization, Hope Runs. Soon after, Sammy had his first experiences of videography—which would become one of his passions—during a photo shoot for Runner’s World at the orphanage. Since that time, he has always had a camera or two in his pocket.
In 2009, he received a scholarship to Maine Central Institute, granting him a rare US visa and the chance to begin his sophomore year of high school in the United States, under the guardianship of the women who had lived in his orphanage years earlier and had searched far and wide for a way to bring him to the United States for a better education. He graduated from high school in 2012 and spent a year as a fellow with Global Citizen Year, a nonprofit organization in Ecuador, where he led service projects in rural communities and learned his fourth language. He is currently eager to pursue a college education.
Sammy is an up-and-coming motivational speaker and has been featured prominently in the award-winning documentary The Roots of Happiness, as well as in local print and television media in Maine. This is his first book.
Find him on Twitter via @sammyikua or at www.sammyikua.com.
Website: www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/revell/newsletters-signup
Twitter: RevellBooks
Facebook: Revell