In keeping with the mission of KEF to empower scholars all over the world to Pay It Forward in their communities, KEF Alumna, Hasifa, shared with us her recent founding of a local drug store.
Having graduated with a degree in Nursing, Hasifa is well aware of the difficulties of finding affordable and safe drugs in Kiboga, Uganda. Once fully stocked, her pharmacy will connect families throughout Kiboga with safe and reliable medications.
When asked about the reasons behind her new venture, she responded:
“Not everyone can manage to afford the cost of drugs in clinics.” -Hasifa
Hasifa’s drug store was inspired by her passion for providing affordable drugs that can be easily accessed by low-income populations. Lately, Hasifa has been using her new KEF laptop to research different pharmaceuticals that she could provide for her community. She dreams of one day having the resources to visibly improve local healthcare, saying:
“My goal is to ensure that l get enough capital so l can be able to have a variety of drugs to improve on the health status of the people living in this community.”
Currently, Uganda is in a situation of political turmoil. On Thursday, January 14, Ugandan citizens voted for the presidential election that pitted incumbent, Yoweri Museveni, against the country’s most popular singer, Bobi Wine. President Museveni has been in power in Uganda since 1986, and past attempts at succession have only ended in violence and intimidation.
The tension has not left our scholars unscathed. KEF sends its laptops to the capital city of Kampala for KEF scholars to pick up, but due to the recent mounting tensions and increased incidents of violence, many scholars have expressed fears of going anywhere near Kampala until the election is safely behind them. Hasifa, thankfully, was able to procure her laptop from Kampala and continue her pharmaceutical research, but many other scholars haven’t been so fortunate and must wait until political tensions decrease. In the meantime, we offer our students the support and encouragement that we can, and we celebrate achievements like Hasifa’s new drug store as little victories in an ongoing fight for education access.
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