Gaella Kabeya grew up in Lusaka, Zambia and started school at the age of five.  She was a high-achieving student from the beginning of her school.  She won a Kucetekela Foundation scholarship and was the best student in the selection exams.   While at Leopards Hill Secondary School, she was a powerful, outspoken student who motivated her peers to work hard as she was the top student in her class for which she won many academic and co-curricular activities awards.   She was a leader of many school clubs such as debate, sports, science club and consequently was selected as Entertainment Prefect.   She also participated in international programs such as The Global Service Summit, Model United Nations and Teen Vision Trust Leadership Conferences.   Here are her thoughts:

My name is Gaella. I am a proud alumni of Kucetekela Foundation, Leopards Hill Secondary School in Lusaka, The African Leadership Academy and The University of Rochester, where I graduated (class of 2018) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Over the years, my interests and passions have changed. However, at the moment, I’m interested in improving the customer experience for consumers in Lusaka through experiential marketing. Some of the challenges I run into every day in Lusaka with regards to consumer products and services are bad customer service and a lack of information about products and services. It is just plain hard to access information about any products and services before buying. I am still figuring out all the pieces that I need to effectively solve these problems but I’m well on my way there.

Gaella performing in a theatre production at Rochester.

I moved back to Zambia right after graduation because I wanted to be closer to my family and I’ve always had this deep rooted conviction that Zambia is where I will make it. I am just starting my journey to the big leagues, I hope I make it there sooner rather than later. Right now, is a time of mixed emotions for me, the most prominent are confusion and excitement; confusion because I’m still trying to figure out what is next for me moving forward and excitement because I have so much to choose from and learn every day. For now, I spend my days job hunting, going to the gym, reading, learning how to farm tomatoes and planning my future.

I believe it’s a wonderful time to alive because of the number of new opportunities that I see around me everyday. I feel very lucky to be a part of KF, to have been given many great opportunities to education and life at large. I am happy to be back n Zambia and I look forward to making meaningful social impact.