Kenyan Medical Doctor Awarded DAAD-Prize in Fulda

Kenyan medical doctor, Kulthoum Fumo, was awarded this year’s DAAD-Prize at the Fulda University of Applied Sciences.

Kulthoum Fumo, a University of Nairobi graduate of surgery and currently a student of Public Health at the Fulda University of Applied Sciences is this year’s DAAD-Prize winner.

Fumo was recognized for her excellent academic achievements, her commitment to health education and her work as a tutor in the Faculty of Nursing and Health at the University.

“In her home country, Kenya, Ms. Fumo belongs to an ethnic minority and grew up in an environment where higher education is discouraged for women. However, she has consistently and successfully pursued her path against considerable resistance, “the University President Prof. Dr. med. Karim Khakzar emphasized in his speech during the Award ceremony at the Fulda Palace.

Fumo plans on training to become a specialist in the field of public health and preventive medicine. During her undergraduate studies at the University of Nairobi, she was involved in education campaigns on topics such as kidney disease or the HIV transmission of mothers to their children, perinatal mortality, rheumatic heart disease or drug allergies. 

“I’m convinced prevention is better than treating disease. If we want to make significant progress in health care, then we must first raise awareness and promoting healthy living, “she says

As an awardee of the DAAD-Prize, Kulthoum Fumo, joins a long list of Kenyan awardees. The first Kenyan to receive this prestigious award was Paul Oloo in 2002 from the University of Augsburg; followed by Erick Mule Kitili in 2007, from the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg; then came Ian Innocent Ogutu, from University of Heidelberg in 2010; Francis Kwach Odhiambo in 2011 at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences; he was followed by yet another Odhiambo; Sydney Odhiambo from the Technical University of Darmstadt and Mary Mwangi from Hochschule Bremerhaven, both awarded in 2014.

READ: Kenyan Student Wins DAAD Award for International Students 2014

The DAAD prize, that comes with a €1000 cash award, was introduced more than a decade ago to recognise foreign students in German Universities who show excellence performance in their studies as well as an intercultural engagement.