2007 Akili Dada Scholars
In 2007 Akili Dada awarded scholarships to the five amazing young women featured below. These scholars stood out because of their academic achievements and incredible tenacity. They have overcome incredible adversities while showing a spirit of leadership and are deserving of all our support. Below are excerpts from some of their essays.
"I continue to grow and amaze myself in different ways and now I know for sure I am able."
"During the course of the school term, I felt a lot of pressure from all sides especially my peers who sometimes made me feel like I am left out of some of the wonderful experiences and undertakings that are going on. Due to my weak financial ability, I don’t get to experience some of these fantastic activities, for example going for movies and lunch in various places. Although this made me to sometimes feel low in their presence, I learned to overcome it by telling myself that a time will come when I will have all the pleasures I need but I myself have to work hard to achieve these desires".
“My ambition in life had always been to study veterinary medicine but in 2002 I changed my mind and decided to pursue ophthalmology which I believe will help the world and especially my country Kenya. I decided to do this so as to work on eye diseases after being a victim of one of the rarest eye disabilities”.
"In the future I would like to study medicine and then later on specialize on neuron-surgery...In April I conducted my community service at Sang’alo dispensary which is located in North Nandi District [in rural Kenya]. In the dispensary, I did thorough cleaning of the floors, windows and shelves, I helped nurses to record in-coming patients, I helped in guiding the patients to the places they need to go in the institution. I enjoyed doing this because I got to meet all kinds of people. I even reassured some of the very ill people and in the process they even felt better. Through the community service I get the driving force to move towards realizing my dream of wanting to be a doctor in the coming future".
"As part of joining Akili Dada I was required to do voluntary work in my community. One of the things that had been insisted on during the mentoring conference was that during community service was for us to form good relationships with the people we were going to work with. I met the respectable Cecilia Kerio, director and administrator to Kenya Pediatrics Association in Kenya. She mentored me while there and taught me the pros and cons of the industry that she worked with. I thoroughly enjoyed myself though my work was fairly simple. The most important lesson though that I learned from the Kenya Pediatrics Associations was that of determination, goal setting and hard work. The Kenya Pediatrics Association is an organization that works hard to ensure that all Kenyan children are immunized against diseases such as tuberculosis, tetanus, measles, polio, measles and many others".
"I’m on the school swimming team and football team. I’m also a member of the young farmer’s association club of which I was the head in the year 2006"
"Maybe one day I may be ready to participate in counseling someone infected or affected by the AIDS virus".
"I have a liking for Business Studies and that is why my career choice leans heavily on business. I’m interested in both Economics and Accounts and I would like to be an economist in the near future".