10/06/2023
Akima
I beat all the odds to become the first graduate in my father’s and mother’s house 💪👩🎓
My academic journey was the toughest of all. It all started way back in 2002, at Boma Primary School ( GPAA) where I learned how to write Alphabetical Letters and Numerous Numbers on the soils since there were no exercise books and chalkboards. A year later the school managed to provide for us pupil’s chalkboard and a divided A5 exercise book when we were in Primary One in the year 2004.
In January 2006, my mother decided to take my elder sister and I to Kakuma Refugee Camp for a better education system where I joined primary 3 at Wau Primary School in Zone 4. My mother went back to Narus, Eastern Equatoria State to continue her “Siko” brewing business to meet our needs in Kakuma. She left us with her relatives. 3 months later, after our first term in Wau Primary School, mum realized that we couldn’t cope with the harsh life in Kakuma thus she opted to return us back to Narus where she was based, she then saved some money during the holiday and let my sisters and I joined St. Bhakita Girls’ Primary School in Narus. We started helping mum to fetch firewoods and brew ‘Siko’ to raise our school fees and meet our needs.
St. Bhakita Girls’ Primary School built my foundation, this is were I learned how to read and write, I achieved these through the well teachings of my then P3 class teacher, Madam Serengo and continued by other well equipped teachers such as Mr. Douglas and many more. In 2008 when I was promoted to P5, mum allowed us to join boarding at the same School and I started performing better. In 2010 the syllabus were changed from Kenyan Syllabus to Sudan Syllabus at our School which made me to convince my parents to let me go to Kenya to continue with the Kenyan syllabus. I went to Nairobi in May 2010 to seek for better education but all went in vain until I returned back to Kakuma in August the same year then in September, I decided to join P7 at Fuji Refugee Camp in Phase 2, two months later my mother moved to settle in Kakuma with my siblings. I did well and I was promoted to P8.
January 2011 got me as a determined pupil ready for the Screening Mock Exams to be registered as one of the candidates that year. I did my Screening Mock Exams and passed well, the registration kicked off immediately.
On 26th of January, A DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET, an illiterate Australian ‘LOST BOY’ who was desperately looking for an underage girl to marry, mobilized a group of jobless youths to kidn@pped me on my way from school, he m0lested me so that I would be surrendered to him as a wife, lolest 😁 I tried to report them to the Kenyan policemen on the way to Lodwar but they bribed them and got away with me. The next day they took me back to Kakuma, my parents and entire family were all disappointed. My story was heard all over the Camp, The Child Protection and some UN Agencies tried their level best to come for my rescue but the then Camp Hungry Leaders blocked them away with lies that I wasn’t an underage. It took my family two weeks to treat me and my then Deputy Headteacher, Mr. Mark called my parents and I to go to his office at school and he counseled us, he told my parents how clever I was and to keep supporting me in anyway possible. When we came back home, to our surprise, we got a big group of our community men who were mobilized by the same ‘LOST BOY’ gathered waiting for my parents to convince them to marry me off to him. My parents tried their best to reject the guy but elders started cursing them, as parents they thought they best thing they could do for me was to listen to the elders’ voices. The marriage negotiation kicked off few days later no matter how I sincerely told my parents that I would rather l0se my l!fe than living in such a marriage.
I resumed my lessons with te@rs all over my face, I would just feel te@rs 😭 dropping in the middle of the lessons and my teachers and classmates would sympathize with me. I remember my desk mate, Ali Dahir writing me letters on daily basis to keep me being strong. I couldn’t imagine the fact that everyone in school knew what happened to me.
At the end of 2011, I sat for my KCPE and I scored 308 marks which earned me a scholarship from Windle Trust Kenya. I was denied this opportunity and wedded off to that same guy. Windle Trust Kenya staffs would come to our house but my father wouldn’t allow me to talk to them. I remember me begging my father one day to allow me to continue with my studies and his response was“what will I gain from your studies? You’re just a mere girl that will get married and that’s all; I am busy educating my sons whom I will benefit from their education.” I got tempted to end my precious l!fe, I was so tr@umatized and depressed.
The whole of 2012 I wasn’t able to join high school which finished me more, I gave birth to my first son towards the end of the year. In January 2013, I started leaving my baby with my elder sister and a nanny, and I joined a special school in Nakuru town. I would walked to town and back home sometimes when I lacked fares, eating lunch at school was something I had to do away with due to lack of money. Whenever I failed to pay my school fees and decided to stay at home, the then Director of the school, Mr. Kabaka would give me a phone call and tell me to keep going to school until the day I would get money to clear the fees. I studied Form 1&2 the same year, the following year I studied Form 3 and at the end of 2015, I sat for my KCSE at Hope Well High School where I scored a mean grade of C+ (52 pts). After I received my High School results slip, I decided to come to Juba to look for green pastures. When I realized that I had nobody to connect here, I boarded a cargo plane full of soldiers, fi****ms and two pickup to Maban, then I proceeded to Paloch to Melut where I secured a job with one of the NGOs. When the ‘LOST BOY’ heard that I was working in Melut, he manipulated his clansmen who were living in Melut to threaten my then boss until I lost my job, when I tried to apply for jobs in other Organizations they also went there to threatened the Senior Managers.
In December 2016 I decided to register my own company and I started supplying some NGOs in Melut and Bor with Stationeries. The guy’s clansmen, through their selfish actions, pushed me to convince my father to filed the divorce and in February 2017, I successfully made it out of that miserable marriage alive, I started feeling breathe in me and I immediately started gaining weight for the very first time 🤩 I paid the guy’s dowry back from my savings. Two months later, I managed to secure a job with a national NGO still in Melut and I hired someone to run my company. Towards the end of the year, I decided to resign and moved to Juba to settle. I continued running my company and started selling some goods from Egypt.
It didn’t take me a year in Juba before I met a bunch of jealous women who hate seeing their fellow woman progressing, they approached me as friends who were in need of my help then boom distractions 😁 they tried their level best to fight me left and right but I stood firm and kept moving.
I held my head high no matter the amount of pullback they were throwing my way. Towards the end of 2018, I decided to join one of the Universities here in Juba and a good friend of mine and a brother, Ajang advised me to join Starford International University where he was studying and I honored his advice. In January 2019, I enrolled for Bachelor of Arts in International Relations & Diplomacy at Starford International University where I was conferred with a degree on 20th of May 2023.
As a breadwinner in the family, I have been chasing errands while studying so that I could help my parents educate my siblings and to give my son the best life I could afford, additionally, I was paying my tuition fees alone. Within these hectic years too, I decided to start a peaceful and humble family with my childhood friend and I got blessed with another two bouncing boys. When I just gave birth to my second son in 2021, I bought a car and I started driving it as a Cab/Uber in Nairobi, my story went viral on the media and inspired many, though some ungrateful people took it as a failure, some called me taxi/Uber driver up-to date 😁 I swear, all the things that I have survived could even k!ll the people who subjected me to them 😂
Today I am the BIGGEST inspiration to my parents and siblings and most especially my father. He is now encouraging me to enroll for Masters immediately. I have liberated my younger sisters who are now allowed to study and get married at their own timings. I did this by bringing my parents all the way from Nairobi to Juba to witness how beautiful it’s to educate a girl child.
To my Baba and Mama, I acknowledged your contribution and support during my academic milestones. I love you two forever ❤️❤️
To my handsome Baba, thanks for standing behind my back and supporting every decision I made in my life. I love you so very much ❤️
To my beautiful Mama, thanks for helping me to raise my sons, I couldn’t manage studying while raising them here in Juba. I love you so very much ❤️
To my beautiful sisters, thanks for helping mama and I in raising my kids, I love you all, so very much ❤️
To my handsome little brothers, thanks for your love and encouraging words, you’re young by age but very mature in wording. I love you all so very much ❤️❤️
To my beautiful grandmother, Nyandeng Dau Atem thanks for helping me raise my newborn, Yaak. I love you so very much Kokokdie ❤️
To my adorable sons, thanks for bearing with me as a partially absentee but a providing mother. I have been on and off trying to provide you with a better living standard. I love you with my whole soul ❤️❤️❤️
To my supportive husband and a loving father of my sons, thanks for being always there in my absence and presence. I will live to love you 😘
To my few friends who never left my back, thanks for your support, I wouldn’t have achieved this alone without you. I will forever carry you in the special part of my heart ❤️
To my few relatives who understood the meaning of “BLOOD IS THICKER than water” thanks for helping me achieve my academic milestone. I will always love you ❤️
To all my teachers who have been teaching me from nursery school to the University, thanks for instilling your knowledge in me. I am the person I am today because of your well teachings. I will live to adore you ❤️
To my h@ters and enem!es, your insu!ts, m0ckeries and cr!tics kept me going harder, I will live to remember you all 😁
To those who were convinced to believe all the negative words that were said about me, learn to be wise and stop judging people by the rum0rs 😁
TO GOD BE THE GLORY 🙏🙏🙏
