I never stepped into a classroom in my life. I don’t know the multiplication tables beyond the basics. I never wrote essays or studied history. I did not even understand what a proper CV looked like when I first started looking for work. My parents could not afford school fees, and from a young age, I had to fend for myself. I carried the weight of survival on my shoulders long before most children even thought about exams or homework.
I grew up in a small village in Western Kenya. Life was hard, and everyone around me seemed to accept it as their fate. Some children went to school and played in the afternoons, while I worked. I helped my mother sell vegetables, carried water from the river, and ran errands for anyone who would pay me. By the time I was fifteen, I understood one hard truth: if I wanted a life different from this, I had to find a way myself.…CONTINUE READING
