Rosemary Kariuki – a joyful life of service
When Rosemary Kariuki OAM arrived in Sydney in December 1999 from Kenya, with $300 and no safety net, she made a quiet, life-shaping decision: to choose joy as a coping strategy.
“I put it in my mind I was on holiday. If I thought I had lost everything, I would go crazy,” she says.
“So, I told myself, let me treat it as an adventure.”
That mindset has powered an extraordinary journey from newcomer to community leader, author, an OAM honour and Australian of the Year Local Hero.
Rosemary was born in Eldoret in Kenya’s Rift Valley. It is a region famed for producing world-class long-distance runners, although she jokes, “I was more a cheerer than a runner.”
Her upbringing was centred on extended family.
“We were about 40 kids living together. There was always food, always laughter and big family parties.”
Her father, Livingstone Kariuki, had been a freedom fighter and was jailed for seven years during the Mau Mau rebellion against the British colonial authorities.
After Kenya’s independence in 1963, he bought farmland, built various businesses and championed education for his children. Her mother, Hannah, lived to 100 and was a role model for daily optimism.
“My mum never carried grudges, and she always said, Follow your dreams.’
“She was such a happy person and that spirit of joy carried me through even the darkest times.”
Rosemary excelled at school. She studied secretarial skills at Cathedral College, Nyeri before securing a government role in Nairobi.
She married, had children and settled back in Eldoret. There, Rosemary started a small business to complement her regional government role.
In the 1990s, Kenyans were divided by intercommunal violence.
As a Kikuyu woman working in a government office, Rosemary became a target, “because we owned so many farms and businesses.”
Her shop was burnt down, and she was attacked in her home with a hammer.
She decided to leave everything behind – her home, her possessions, her career – and make her way to Nairobi alone.
Her marriage had ended because of domestic violence and, knowing nothing except kangaroos, she chose Australia.
“Because it was the furthest place from Kenya and I thought they couldn’t get me there.”
Landing in Sydney at 39, Rosemary was alone in a strange city without options. Until an act of kindness from a stranger changed everything.
At the airport, an Ethiopian woman, Meskerem, offered her a place to stay.
“She became my guardian angel,” Rosemary recalls.
In those early months, she saw how isolation eroded confidence.
“Those first years were the hardest. I cried every night, and I realised that isolation destroys women.”
She responded by volunteering to create spaces where women could meet, talk, dance and share stories and knowledge.
“Information is power,” she says.
From her early days in Australia volunteering grew signature initiatives that now touch thousands.
Rosemary co-founded the African Women’s Group, established the African Women’s Dinner Dance which today attracts more than 400 attendees, and created the African Village Market to support migrant entrepreneurs. Her event formula is simple: welcome first, services second.
“After our first dinner dance, a domestic violence survivor shared her abusive relationship and how she is now a free woman. The following Monday, we saw over 20 women visit the local service to report domestic violence.”
That moment confirmed she had the right approach to achieve real change.
“Leaflets don’t change lives; coffee, dancing, a smile and friendship do.”
For 20 years, Rosemary has served as a Multicultural Community Liaison Officer with NSW Police in Auburn, Holroyd, Parramatta, and now in Campbelltown. In this role, she helps to build trust between law enforcement and communities.
Her honours reflect the breadth and growing impact of her programs.
She was awarded Parramatta’s Citizen of the Year (2012), African Australian of the Year (2013), a Community Fellowship from Western Sydney University, a Rotary Paul Harris Fellowship, Australia’s Local Hero (2021), and the Order of Australia Medal (2022).
Her story has been shared in the award-winning documentary Rosemary’s Way and in her memoir A Joyful Life. She also shares her story with three others as part of the Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe.
She recently launched the Mama Rosemary Foundation to sustain practical support for women and families.
Rosemary also serves on the Advisory Board for Multicultural NSW, bringing lived experience and the solutions mindset she has learned from her programs.
She advocates for women’s safety, inclusive services and participation as a collective strength that benefits all.
Rosemary remains close to Meskerem, her ‘Aussie mum’, and delights in being a grandmother.
The spirit of the parties of her childhood have infused the community events she now curates: rooms full of music, colour and laughter where information is shared openly, access to services is simplified and new friendships begin.
Her impact is tangible and measured in changed lives.
She enjoys helping women step out of isolation, find safety, start businesses and feel seen and heard.
“I’ve been through the ups and downs and I remember what it was like when I had no one to hold me,” she says.
“So for as long as I’m able, I’m going to keep showing up.”