NAIROBI – A Kenyan Muslim young man is making a difference in his community, being involved in several charities and humanitarian efforts to help the less fortunate in the east African county.

“Deep in me, I take this as a call. It is the only way I give back to the society and I never get paid but I do it from the deepest part of my heart,” Abubakar Mohammed Adan from Garissa County told Hivisasa on phone Thursday when contacted.

Popularly known as “mheshimiwa” by locals from Garissa, Adan is the public relations officer at the Garissa Muslim Youth Organization (GMYO), group that operates helps the less fortunate in Garissa.

His work as a humanitarian activist started last October when he volunteered to help the victims of the Zoobe bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia.

He has also been organizing events aimed at helping cancer patients and also fundraisers to offset medical bills for some of his community members.

“I am very passionate about education and I am involved in helping out at the Mama Rescue Centre, Garissa Children Home and Garissa special school for the deaf and special need,” he added.

Adan also holds motivational talks with Garissa youths, encouraging them to shun tribalism and support each other.

“I see myself not just as a future leader for Muslims, but a leader for all Kenyans, therefore, it is important for every youth to understand that tribalism is an enemy of progress in our democracy and social life,” he said.

Islam started to have contact with Kenya through Muslim traders during the 8th century.

Based on different estimates from various statistical sources, Muslims in Kenya currently range between 11.1% and 35%. The majority of them concentrate at the Swahili Coast in southeast Kenya around Mombasa.

These estimates don’t include the four million Muslim Somalis living in the Somali province of Gobolka Woqooyi Bari which is occupied by Kenya since 1967 during Shifta War.