Biography

In July 2002, Dr. Karambu Ringera, a native-born Kenyan, was working on her doctorate degree at the University of Denver. While home visiting her family, she met with a group of women affected by HIV/AIDS. The women asked for Karambu's help in addressing some of the problems facing the community, especially educating children whose parents died of AIDS and getting medications for those struggling with the disease. Karambu told the women, “I am just a student and really have no money." That November, she hosted a fundraising dinner in Denver and raised enough money to send 7 orphans to school.

Shortly after this, Ringera founded International Peace Initiatives (IPI). Through IPI, Ringera has launched an AIDS Orphans Education Fund for children orphaned by AIDS in Kenya, the Institute of Nonviolence and Peace (INPEACE) training hub in Africa, and works to establish Community Homes (as opposed to orphanages) for orphans in Kenya. Ringera is also a peace activist working with grassroots groups to highlight the impact of HIV/AIDS, poverty, and war on women and the effects of women's grassroots peace initiatives on communities in Africa. She convened the first Women's International Grassroots Peace Congress in Nairobi Kenya in August 2005. 

Since starting IPI, Dr. Karambu Ringera has helped provide education, shelter, and other basic needs for more than 1,000 orphans and vulnerable children. She has also provided life skills and vocational training to women’s groups enabling them to earn an income and support themselves and their families. In addition, IPI has held community peace forums to sensitize the community on the importance of peace in society. This has helped participants learn how to live peacefully with other members of the community.