The beauty of life is that sometimes life-changing opportunities come when least expected. This is what happened to Swaga Khalfan, a participant and active volunteer in our student success program, 2018. 

Despite having successfully completed her undergraduate, Swaga did not feel fulfilled. The desire of wanting to have a job that gives her a sense of purpose and burnout from the long working hours eventually plunged her into depression. Seeking a way out from the doldrums she reached out to our programs and took up volunteering in the student success program. Through her participation in the regional program, which brings together different stakeholders in the field of academia, business and technological innovation, she developed a better understanding of the social impact sector and began to see how she could utilize her skills to impact society. She also got to introspect and discover more about herself as well as skills on how to be an effective change maker. 

After the program, Swaga got inducted into the African changemakers Program which sees over 1,000 leaders across the continent converging in 1 platform. She really enjoyed her role as the Kenyan lead and after the program she started her own initiative on building community support for the girl child. She eventually scaled up and won her place to volunteer with VSO in the ICS program, fighting poverty through volunteering globally. She has travelled across the East Africa continent as she sought her next opportunity.

She feels that her work is having an impact and that the experience at MTY helped her prepare for acclimatizing well to a multicultural workplace. It is amazing to see Swaga’s social impact continue to blossom and we can’t wait to hear what’s next in store for her!