Stephen Nyachieo Areba spent his Professional Fellowship at Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities.

“My placement with the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities has really been important. Here I got to establish relationships with various organizations that I will take home and will directly impact my project. I have borrowed many innovative aspects from working with these institutions. There is a wealth of resources that I will be borrowing from them and transferring from projects.”

Stephen Nyachieo Areba has a robust understanding, not only of the challenges affecting people with disabilities, but also those facing other marginalized groups, and how these spheres can interact and render specific populations particularly vulnerable. Working as a rehabilitation officer for the Lutheran World Federation at the Hagadera Refugee Camp in the Dadaab Refugee Complex, his primary responsibilities center around the protection and support of refugees with disabilities who have fled their homelands been temporarily settled in Kenya.

In addition to possessing a vast skill set which he uses to mentor and support refugees with disabilities, Stephen has a professional background in occupational therapy, which he practiced earlier in his career.

Stephen has used what he learned during the PFP-IDE Fellowship and in his host site to help increase the efficacy of inclusive employment opportunities within the Dadaab Refugee Complex.