Claudette Kabatesi

Class of 2018

I applied to Akilah in 2011, but I didn’t get in. Maybe it was not my time. Afterward, I met my husband, and we got married. But I continued to think about Akilah. He understands me very well. When I told him about Akilah, he started to search: What is Akilah? Where is Akilah? He checked on the computer, he read everything, and he advised me to apply again. I thought I couldn’t do it because I finished secondary school a long time ago, but I knew I wanted it. When they accepted me, I was very surprised. It’d been my dream for a long time to study there.

I’ve been at Akilah for two months now, and it’s very challenging because it’s been a long time since I went to school. But I want to study, so I push myself, and it’s coming slowly, slowly. I’m learning English. Before I couldn’t talk with somebody, but now I talk every day. I see that the girls who finish have nice lives now. I knew them before, and they were like me, but now they help themselves and their families. They’re important. Akilah helps you become a good leader and businesswoman. You can’t be a good businesswoman without respect, but they show you how to earn it.

I was very poor, but I’ve put it behind me. Now I want to be a big woman, to do business, to help people and humanity.

I don’t want to go back to where I came from. I plan to study for a Diploma in Entrepreneurship. They tell me there’s math in Entrepreneurship, but I said I can force myself. I’ll do it because I know what I want.