Born into poverty, my aim is to motivate others to overcome it
A young woman looks at her empty wallet. Juliet Akayi has written a book to inspire and motivate everyone on how to overcome poverty.
What you need to know:
- My mother sells second-hand clothes in Mungatsi village in Nambale constituency, Busia County.
- At 20, and a second-year student at Kenyatta University, I have published a book “From Poverty To Riches”.
As the seventh-born among eight children raised by a single mother, my childhood reflected my circumstances.
My mother sells second-hand clothes in Mungatsi village in Nambale constituency, Busia County. I attended Mungatsi Primary School.
At 20, and a second-year student at Kenyatta University, I have published a book “From Poverty To Riches”. Getting the most basic items such as food was hard.
Waking up early in the morning and walking long distances to school wasn't easy and getting fees was an uphill task.
Seeing how hard my mother worked to provide for us, I wanted something better for my family and I.
Inspire young people
So, I worked very hard in school to score 305 out of 500 in my national primary examinations and joined St Thomas Aquinas Madende Secondary as a day scholar. I excelled and joined Kenyatta University. I decided that I would inspire many young people who may find themselves in situations like mine.
Since Form Two in 2015, I have participated in community outreaches, visiting other schools to tell the students my story and encourage them.
Nairobi and Busia are counties with high teenage pregnancies and so I dedicate a huge part of my extra-curricular time to talk to girls.
I also save part of the little money I have, and the contributions from my friends, to donate sanitary towels to help them experience their periods and journey into womanhood with dignity.
My motivation, really, is the life I have lived. I was born and raised in poverty, and I know there are so many like me.
Overcoming poverty
I wrote my book to inspire and motivate everyone on ways of overcoming poverty to pursue their ambitions. To survive, I did odd jobs such as hawking clothes to my classmates in college, just an honest way to earn a living.
With the same experience, I encourage youths to venture into entrepreneurship, use what is in their hand at that moment to seek the future.
I also extend my writing to my social media pages, such as Facebook where I share snippets of my daily life with the world.
I will always walk across the country to educate youths and share what I have with others.
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