By Purity Ntonda
Growing up in a refugee camp is not a piece of cake. Especially when you have big dreams. Dreams to change yourself and to change the world. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, this phrase is true and I am a living example.
My name is Purity T. Ntonda I am a 20yearold girl from Namibia. From the time I was young, I always wanted to succeed. To see myself somewhere and not somewhere near but somewhere far. A place where I can create a beautiful future. However, being a refugee teenage girl made all my dreams seem so impossible. Nevertheless that Deep in my heart, I knew that I was the captain of my own ship and I had to steer myself the way I wanted to go. I needed to make a change in my life, but the question was how? When I was in high school I thought that my fellow refugee brothers and sisters were not working hard to get a scholarship to the local Universities, little did I know it was much harder than I thought. It did not take time until I joined the society of Dukwi at 18. At 19 years of age, my high school results were released and I did very well. I passed with flying colours. Despite this the question ‘where do I go from here ?’ Was always at the back of my mind. Skillshare worked around the clock to help me find sponsors. They encouraged me to apply for the MasterCard scholarship Foundation and without much hope I did. To my surprise, I was selected. However, being a refugee created many challenges. One of the biggest problems was that I did not have a passport. Skillshare did everything possible to help me. We tried the Botswana government and UNHCR but neither of them could help. In this situation, there was one feasible alternative Which was to repatriate back to Namibia and acquire a passport. This was the only option but I was scared as fear of the unknown overwhelmed me and hindered my thinking capacity. My parents were also fearful of what would happen to me upon returning to Namibia so I declined the offer. Skillshare members were very supportive of me during this time especially Auntie Tshego and Mr. Andrew.
At the beginning of 2018 I reapplied for the same scholarship and by God’s grace was once more selected. My parents were still reluctant to let me go but this time was different. I was unstoppable. All I wanted was to make a change in my life and I knew that the only one who could bring about this change was me. So I repatriated and went back to Namibia, alone. I successfully got my passport and got another admission to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). I had applied for a BA in Social Work because I wanted to give hope to the people who think hope does not exist. I am currently in Ghana. KNUST offering my degree in Social Work and I am doing a business degree online course with the University of the People in the USA.
To be honest I could not have done this without the help of Skillshare International members. I owe special thanks to the three superwomen Tiny Healy, Mogogi Molaodi Leburu and Tshegofatso Phaphe. As well as my best friends Ernestine Harimenshi and Brenda Mulife. Mr. Andrew Andriano, my cousins Morgan Penna and Eric Manja Without the support of my family and everyone else who encouraged me during these difficult days I would not be where I am today.
All I can say is that success does not come to you, you have to go out and find it. You might be required to leave your comfort zone but trust that God has great things in store for you.