When life hands you lemons, sell them and buy some pineapples. I adore pineapples, lemonade, not so much. But I digress.
When I met Noeline Kirabo, I could not help but notice her self awareness, confident humility and that contagious bigger than life smile. A few minutes in to our conversation, she revealed that life had not been very easy for her.
I am the founder of KYUSA which means change in Luganda. Our main objective is to empower youth who are ready to join college and train them on how to become employable. By the end of 2016, we had directly reached 250 young adults. My mother battled with cervical cancer which I found out after clearing high school. I could not join college because we had to pay for her expensive treatment.
It was a huge blow for young Noeline who encouraged her mother and opted to enrol in free libraries and read everything she could lay her hands on which changed her life.
My mum recovered fully. It was a hard time considering the fact that she raised us as a single parent and I had battled with identity crisis through teenage hood that had led to depression. When I finally met my dad, he died before I could get all my answers.
This confident leader taught herself computer packages. Her tenacity and natural people skills got her a job with the Youth ministry in Uganda. Her fearlessness got her top jobs with NGOs that needed a masters degree or PHD as qualifications (She was not qualified) but she applied anyway.
My mum told me earlier on that I can be anything I wanted to be. I could change and shape my world from a young age. This has kept me going all my life.
She has studied social entrepreneurship in India, is a YALI RLC 2017 alumna, among other accomplishments. She uses her spare time to offer motivational talks in schools.
I always tell young people to pursue what they are passionate about. To better someone else's life. Our vision at KYUSA is to eradicate youth unemployment in Uganda and expand to other countries.
Keep soaring and changing many lives Noeline, we appreciate you.
