On 26 January 2012 Parramatta Council, Australia announced Rosemary Kariuki-Ffye as it's Citizen of the Year. Rosemary is originally from Kenya and is actively involved with the Creators of Peace programme.
Reporting in the Parramatta Sun, Ann Tarasov writes:
Ms Kariuki-Ffye, who works as the Multicultural Liaison Officer for Holroyd Police, said she was very surprised to be declared Citizen of the Year because she hadn't realised she was nominated.
"I feel honoured to win, it's a wonderful feeling," Ms Kariuki-Ffye said.
Originally from Kenya, Ms Kariuki Ffye received the honour for her work with the African Village Market, a program aimed at helping African migrants start their own businesses, which she founded.
She has also been running the African Women's Dinner for the past six years.
When accepting her award Ms Kariuki-Ffye told the crowd that she had just told her friends on Facebook that she was very proud to be an Australian.
"And I asked them, how have you given back to Australia today?
"I think it's so important that we all give back to Australia.
"If we all gave back something small imagine, what a better, better place this will be."
Ms Kariuki-Ffye said when she came to Australia as a refugee in 1999 she didn't have any posessions and now she feels very lucky for everything that she has.