Editor,
My nonprofit organization, International Peace Initiatives, works with Women Can International, the nonprofit organization that Chao Sio co-founded. This letter is in support of the release of Sio, who has been arrested for being in the U.S. illegally.
I worked with Sio when I was at UNM last spring semester, and I found her a formidable advocate for Africa and Kenya. Her vision for Africa requires people with her foresight and determination. Women Can International is an organization whose work affects people not only in Africa, but also across Albuquerque and the UNM campus.
Sio and her organization often give presentations to classes at UNM and participate in local events to help educate New
Mexicans about the problems Kenya and Africa face and how supporting such groups can make a positive impact.
Sio is an extraordinary person and her loss from the community will be detrimental to all. Deporting her will jeopardize her work as an international advocate for poverty eradication, HIV/AIDS and women's empowerment in the world.
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Sio's interest in Africa and her work in the U.S. have shown that she is not the kind of person who would wish to abuse the law. She is an advocate of human rights and the rule of law everywhere in the world.
As a fellow Kenyan, I wish for her release so that she can return to Kenya on her own, without having her future jeopardized. Thank you, Daily Lobo, for highlighting her case.
Karambu Ringera
President/Founder
International Peace Initiatives
