Meet our first cohort of Amala High School Diploma students in Kakuma
“The Amala High School Diploma has come to be a ray of hope for me. I dropped out of school because when I arrived in Kakuma, regardless of my knowledge and learning ability, I was taken back to primary school even though I had already completed this level in my country. Through Amala, I have a second chance at an education system which fits my needs; it is as if the program was designed specifically for me.” - Amala High School Diploma Pioneering Student, Kakuma, Kenya
We are delighted to welcome our first cohort of 50 students to the Amala High School Diploma in Kakuma, Kenya! The Amala High School Diploma is the first international high school diploma programme that is tailored to young refugees and their host communities. Last year, we launched the diploma in Amman, Jordan in June and a second cohort in January 2021. Our pioneering cohort in Kakuma now brings our total Amala High School Diploma student count to 100!
Our first cohort of students in Kakuma come from seven different countries and have all been unable to complete their secondary education. Meet our Kakuma students:
Ndovulu
Ndovulu is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ndovulu is passionate about giving females a voice in her community and wants to use her education with Amala to encourage and motivate other girls to finish school. She strongly believes that ‘educating a girl is educating a nation’.
Changkuoth
Changkuoth is originally from South Sudan. He is a team player and leads his team on the football field. He is excited to develop his listening and leadership skills further on the High School Diploma in order to become an ethical leader in his community.
Joshua
Joshua is originally from Sudan. After completing his primary education in Kenya, Joshua reached out to Amala to continue his learning journey. With a dream of someday setting up a community-based organisation, Joshua decided to enrol on the High School Diploma to help him build resilience and develop his leadership skills.
Sadak
Sadak is originally from Ethiopia. Sadak is working towards a career in IT. He is looking forward to developing new skills on the High School Diploma in order to become a mentor and leader to those in his community who are illiterate.
Mohamad
Mohamad is originally from Somalia. Unable to complete his education, he aims to become an ambassador for his country by studying to become a cyber security engineer. Mohamad is also looking to learn more about leadership as he would like to move into a position within international relationships and affairs to give more communities a voice.
Sudi
Sudi is originally from Somalia. Her ambition is to head to university and become a professional photographer and journalist. She wants to use her skills to give a voice to women all over the world.
Idriss
Idriss is originally from Sudan and is excited to be continuing his learning journey. Once he completes the High School Diploma, Idriss has a dream of setting up his own nonprofit organisation that can help his community and hopes in ten years time it can be helping people worldwide.
Mpipi
Mpipi is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mpipi wishes to finish his education so that in the future he can help others continue their own learning journeys. In ten years time Mpipi hopes to have founded an organisation that can provide jobs to his local community.
Amuri
Amuri is originally from the Democtratic Republic of Congo. Unable to finish his education, Amuri is excited to be able to join Amala’s first cohort of the High School Diploma in Kakuma and work towards his goals. He hopes to be able to be involved in humanitarian work and to become a peace ambassador in the near future.
Esther
Esther is originally from South Sudan. After studying Amala’s Peacebuilding course in Kalobeyei, Esther was motivated to apply to the High School Diploma to improve her qualifications further. She is passionate about becoming a peacemaker and activist for female refugees.
Atem
Atem is originally from South Sudan. Atem enrolled in the High School Diploma as he wants to develop skills and gain experiences so he can have a positive impact on his community. Already an electrical engineer, Atem hopes to expand his knowledge in order to offer his services to more people.
Pascal
Pascal is originally from the Democractic Republic of Congo. He has spent the last years studying software and app development, often teaching himself. His goal is to become a software engineer and is half way there as he has already made a website for a client!
Achol
Achol is originally from South Sudan. Achol stopped going to school after she was married but is now excited to continue her educational journey. She hopes to encourage more girls to access education so they can gain more independence in their daily life. Achol’s goal is to become a social worker or open a small scale business.
Sadiq
Sadiq is originally from Somalia. Unable to continue his formal education in Kakuma, Sadiq has spent the last few years completing various online courses on IT, Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He is passionate about developing creative solutions and sustainable ideas to help achieve SDG #4 Quality Education for All.
Brian
Brian is originally from South Sudan. Brian is working towards becoming a teacher, or even a lecturer at a university, and hopes the High School Diploma will give him the skills and courage to get there. He enjoys reading in his spare time and is passionate about building more schools and making quality education available in rural areas.
Jiji
Jiji is originally from South Sudan. Jiji is looking forward to the High School Diploma and having the chance to complete his secondary education. He wants to be ‘one of those guys who will bring education to my own people’, and encourage future generations to break the cycle of conflict and poverty through education.
Rachael
Rachael is originally from South Sudan. Rachael wishes to build skills and gain knowledge on the High School Diploma in order to achieve her goal of becoming a social worker. She is committed to becoming an advocate for women and children in her community.
Babale
Babale is originally from South Sudan. Babale is passionate about technology and the role it can play in transforming communities. He plans to use the knowledge learned on the High School Diploma to teach the next generations and inspire a continuation of teaching in his community to improve tech illiteracy.
Denis
Denis is originally from South Sudan. Denis was inspired to apply to the High School Diploma after reading about the first Amala cohort in Jordan. He is excited to develop his skills in conflict resolution and to one day bring peace to tribal conflicts affecting his community.
Hamisi
Hamisi is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hamisi is most looking forward to developing his changemaker skills on the High School Diploma. He has an interest in chemistry and pursuing a career as a physician or pharmacist so he can improve healthcare in his community.
Amin
Amin is originally from Somalia. Amin has had to support himself since a young age and has therefore put work before education. He is currently working in a local pharmacy and was attracted to the flexibility that the High School Diploma provides to students. He is excited to be able to re-dedicate his time to completing his education.
Sahara
Sahara is originally from Somalia. Sahara wants to become a strong advocate for young girls in the community. By completing the Amala High School Diploma, she hopes to attend university and become a role model for refugee girls.
Lavie
Lavie is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lavie believes ‘education is life’ and wants to use this second opportunity to complete his education to better support his family, but also to encourage others around him who dropped out of school to return to learning.
Kaloni
Kaloni is originally from Sudan. He applied to the High School Diploma to develop his skills in problem-solving and innovation. Kaloni believes these entrepreneurial skills are crucial to improving economic independence amongst his community.
Baobab
Baobab is originally from the Democratic of Congo. Baobab is looking forward to improving his proficiency in english and communication skills by interacting with other students and facilitators on the High School Diploma. He is particularly excited about the Storytelling course as he hopes to become a filmmaker in the future.
Titus
Titus is originally from Sudan. Unable to afford secondary school, Titus turned to a career in masonry. The High School Diploma was exactly what Titus was looking for to finish his education. He is excited to put his skills and knowledge into action!
Fatuma
Fatuma is originally from Somalia. She is interested in a career in healthcare and medicine and applied to the High School Diploma to prove to others that girls can also continue their education and follow their dreams!
Edward
Edward is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Edward is thrilled to be continuing his education so that he will be able to provide help and assist vulnerable members in the community.
Makuar
Makuar is originally from South Sudan. Makuar’s goal is to become a front end developer and is therefore looking forward to improving his computer and science skills through our Scientific Informed Action and Maths for Change courses on the High School Diploma.
Jal
Jal is originally from South Sudan. In ten years time Jal hopes he will have an office somewhere, supporting other refugees like himself to access education so they can change their lives as he did. He is looking forward to studying the High School Diploma and using it as a stepping stone to do something good in the future.
John
John is originally from South Sudan. John spends his time teaching younger children in his community. He is excited about the Amala High School Diploma and sees it as a chance to not only gain access to new learning and training opportunities but to become a changemaker in his community.
Amer
Amer is originally from South Sudan. She hopes to one day become a nurse or pharmacist so she can save lives and improve the healthcare available in South Sudan. Amer is most excited about meeting new people and making friends on the High School Diploma!
James
James is originally from South Sudan. He applied to the Amala High School Diploma because he wants to become a teacher. As a teacher, James hopes he can interact with others and encourage them to achieve their goals.
Christopher
Christopher is originally from Burundi. Christopher has been learning independently for some years now, and was close to giving up on his formal education before he came across the Amala High School Diploma. He is excited to be part of an organisation and what possibilities lie in wait for him now that he can finally complete his secondary education.
Patrick
Patrick is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Patrick’s goal is to become a teacher after he completes the Amala High School Diploma and dreams of hopefully setting up a school to help the local community.
Mbilizi
Mbilizi is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mbilizi first heard about Amala last year and applied to the High School Diploma as soon as applications opened. He was particularly drawn to the range of courses that the diploma offers, and is excited to match his own interests to projects within the programme.
Athou
Athou is originally from South Sudan. She is a keen entrepreneur and is therefore most looking forward to the social entrepreneurship course in the High School Diploma. Athou also has an interest in understanding different cultures around her and believes getting to know your neighbour is key to creating community change.
Byaombe
Byaombe is originally from the Democratic of Congo. Byaombe is interested in supporting others in his community to access education and improve their english. After teaching himself skills online, he is most looking forward to being in a class with other students.
Tuyisenge
Tuyisenge is originally from Burundi. Tuyisenge applied to the Amala High School Diploma in order to get one step closer to reaching his goal of studying Information Technology at university.
Ayuen
Ayuen is originally from South Sudan. Unable to continue his formal education due to lack of funds, Ayuen signed up for various free courses in the Kakuma to continue his learning. He is now looking forward to the wider range of courses that the High School Diploma has to offer.
Mishambo
Mishambo is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mishambo is most looking forward to studying with students from other countries. His dream is to become a journalist and has his sights set on a job at the BBC or CNN.
Liem
Liem is originally from South Sudan. Without the support to continue her high school education, Liem had to drop out but continued learning through informal courses and spent time improving her english. She is interested in becoming a nurse or a midwife after finishing her studies.
Thei
Thei is originally from South Sudan. Thei is a very reflective person and is most looking forward to sharing his thoughts and views with other students on the High School Diploma. He is passionate about developing his problem solving skills in order to create innovative solutions to problems facing his community and refugees.
Bateule
Bateule is originally from the Republic of Congo. Bateule has a long term plan of completing his education and going into a career where he can help create opportunities for fellow young refugees. He is optimistic that the skills gained from the High School Diploma will help him meet his goal of becoming a problem solver and innovator.
Ayuen
Ayuen is originally from South Sudan. Ayuen was unable to complete his secondary school in Kakuma and has been waiting for an opportunity like this for a while. He is passionate about helping others, who also had to drop out of school, re-enter the education system.
Yom
Yom is originally from South Sudan. Having witnessed the civil war in her country, Yom wants to become a peace ambassador and be part of the change. She is most looking forward to the Peacebuilding course on the High School Diploma.
Rodger
Rodger is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rodger is passionate about raising awareness around gender equality and gender based violence. He is interested in how business and training can empower youths and improve communities.
Philip
Philip is originally from Rwanda. Philip joined the Amala High School Diploma to develop his changemaker skills and hopes to help his wider refugee community.
Manyok
Manyok is originally from South Sudan. Manyok recognises the power education has on improving livelihoods and hopes to one day use the skills and knowledge he will learn at Amala to assist others to return to learning.
Hawo
Hawo is originally from Somalia. Hawo was drawn to the Amala High School Diploma due to its flexibility and online learning model. Her future goal is to become a business woman so she can open more schools that focus on entrepreneurial skills for those in her community.
