Kenyans might be familiar with Deputy President William Ruto's tough beginnings now, but very few people know that it was a gift from his mother, Sarah Cheruiyot, that got him to greatness.
Growing up in a family of seven siblings, the DP has, in the past, made it clear that he had a rough and poverty-ridden childhood which included hawking chicken.
In a 2010 article by The Standard, however, Ruto confessed that despite his mother's lack of formal education, she could still understand some words and even memorised the whole hymn book.
He explained that his mother's relentlessness in memorising those songs was what made him work hard in school and practically got him to the point he is today.
"Despite the fact that my mother did not get any formal education, she knows the words and pages of every song in the hymn book."
"The fact that she knows so much without formal education inspired us to do our best in school. I am who I am today because of her," Ruto observes.
To prove that his story is the perfect from-grass-to-grace one filled with thorns along the way, Ruto disclosed that he wore shoes for the first when he joined high school.
"The village is heaven. It gives one a good touch with ordinary life. The children out there are real and genuine even in their stereotyped life," he continued.
Cheruiyot's love for her son has been evident throughout the years when she firmly defended him every time he got entangled in legal battles, especially during the International Criminal Course (ICC) trial.
"I know William is innocent, and God knows it. He did not participate in the crimes he is being accused of committing.
"He did not fight anyone, he is a God-fearing person who has immensely contributed to construction and development of several churches across the country," she emotionally stated at the time.
