Yacinta, 14, joined KCE I in 2018 as a fourth grader. She hails from Kilgoris in Transmara West, where she is being raised by a single mother, who supports her family through Maasai beadwork.

Yacinta says she was brought to enroll at KCE I by her uncle. She recalls that there were quite a few other girls at the school waiting for their enrollment interviews. “We were so many. I thought I might not be able to compete against them!”

Days later, Yacinta said her uncle came home with the good news that she had been accepted to the school. She reminisces, “I was so happy I ran around our whole neighborhood to tell my friends about the good news.”

Yacinta says her favorite subjects are mathematics and science and she hopes to study law in the future. “I want to advocate for the rights of people in my community. I often hear about injustices over land and child rights.”

She shares that her greatest inspiration in life is KCE alumni Cynthia Lasoi, who is now studying nursing at University of Technology Sydney in Australia. With a glimmer in her eye, Yacinta explains, “I want to work hard and go to an international university just like her.”