Right now Narok County, Kenya is similar to many other places around the world as people shelter in place to protect themselves from Covid-19. Businesses and schools have temporarily closed, but Kenyans remain optimistic. Monicah, an Asante Africa Foundation LEI Program participant, is studying Agricultural Education at her local university and continues to pursue her goals despite the challenges added by the pandemic. 

“For now they have closed the university due to government directives in place to prevent Covid-19, but I am attending online classes,” Monicah explains, “We hope in God that all shall be well.” 

Monicah comes from a very large family.  Her father has three wives and seventeen children among them. Not all of her siblings have had the opportunity to attend school and Monicah’s father struggles to cover her school fees which further motivates Monicah to succeed.  “I attended because I was determined to work hard in order to make my vision come true,” she says. 

In 2018, Monicah joined the LEI Program where she learned business and leadership skills. Thanks to the lessons about saving and budgeting, Monicah was able to raise enough capital to start her own small-scale business that she calls, “The Blessings Business.” She was selling shoes and bags at her university campus until the pandemic closure, but she will pick up where she left off once the school reopens. Monicah looks forward to making her business successful by implementing the personal branding and digital literacy skills that she recently learned at the 2020 LEI Summit.

In the meantime, Monicah has been thinking of ways to better her community as soon as the pandemic passes.  She plans to pay-it-forward by empowering her peers to be self-reliant, but her even bigger dream is to start a charity to benefit local orphans, the needy, and the elderly. “My wish is to make sure that I make the lives of others better by giving back,” Monica concludes.

Written By: Shauna White