It is always believed that being born in absolute poverty is one big curse that would never allow anyone to get a good education, least of all a university degree.

Yousuf Bahati, 30, defied the odds, went to school and even earned a University degree. Born in Uganda, in biting poverty, he grew up with his mother and for a very long time never knew who his father was.

Despite the abject poverty he grew up in, he was determined to overcome it and get a good education. And fortunately for him, his mother was very supportive and understood the value of education despite her peasant roots.

"I grew up only seeing my mother. I loved going to school very much and fortunately my mother worked tooth and nail to ensure that I did go there,” he said.

"My mother was a very courageous woman. She did all kinds of odd work, earning peanuts, in order to save for our education.”

According to Bahati, as part of his efforts to raise money to go to school and afford money to buy basic necessities like clothes, he sold milk for his uncle. After completing primary seven, Bahati got some information that his father was alive and in Rwanda.

"Our father left our mother when we were very young. We had even started believing he was already dead.”

However on hearing of his father’s existence still, he boarded a bus to Rwanda in search of him the next morning. He managed to locate him in Gisenyi but unfortunately the old man could not raise funds for his education.

Luckily enough, he got a government bursary but he had to struggle hard to raise money for his upkeep and house rent. A few years after he had settled in Kigali and started going to school in Rwanda, Bahati lost his mother.

He was not always able to raise money for food but kept hope alive. He says that he has always been optimistic and this is what has kept him going in tough times.

All his efforts paid off recently when he was awarded a Bachelors degree in Business Administration, with a major in Human Resource Management from the School of Finance and Banking (SFB).

"I can not change my history but I can determine my future. With prayers, determination and hard work, I managed to earn myself a degree. I hope to apply my knowledge for my benefit and my family.”

His story is most probably a reflection of many other young people’s lives in these parts of the world. For someone who had to make ends meet, sometimes transporting water for sale on a bicycle has something to show for all his toil.

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