We have equal opportunity to make a difference

As a boy growing up in Nairobi’s Eastlands, the word ghetto basically meant home for me. From the American rappers that loosely used the word, to the cool guys on the corner of the streets that referred to where we lived as a ghetto, I assumed it only didn’t define where I live but also who I am. I was resilient, strong and sometimes even cool.

As I grew up and school took me to study with other students not from areas I grew up in, I found out rather surprisingly, that the word ghetto had a stigma attached to it. Fellow students expected me to be of a certain type - more violent and less trust worthy. I wanted to prove them wrong. I performed better than most “of them” in class and participated in more co-curricular activities. Somehow, I was accepted as a peer.