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When you have a job that pays you enough
to cover your basic needs,

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your bills, and even some more to spend,

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the assumption is that you'd be happy,

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or, even better, fulfilled.

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And it seems unthinkable
when you wake up and say

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you're going to leave a job like that
to pursue a passion.

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And that was my dilemma six years ago.

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I had a comfortable job,
I lived a comfortable life,

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and people expected me to be fulfilled,

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but I wasn't.

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There was something
in me that wanted more.

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There was a misalignment between
the things I did on a daily basis

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and the things that I deeply cared about.

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And so I decided to quit

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and explore the possibility of bringing
this passion into my daily routine.

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And the think about finding your passion

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is that it's not straightforward.

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Even for people and money and degrees,

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they still struggle
to identify their passion.

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And here I was as a 30-year old
talking about finding my passion

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and turning it into a career.

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Literally, people told me,

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"You don't talk about passion
until you've made enough money."

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(Laughter)

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"Or at least until
you're ready to retire."

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Because, there's a notion
that looking inward

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and finding the things that give us
pleasure and fulfillment

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is a luxury that only the rich can enjoy,

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or a pleasure that only
the retired can indulge in.

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Which made me wonder:

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is passion only for the rich

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or an experience only
the retired can enjoy?

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For many of us, we've been led to believe

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that life is a race for survival.

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We've been conditioned to see ourselves
as survivors that must do everything

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in our power to survive.

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In Africa, we had to go
through school, cram and pass,

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in the hope that you get a job after,

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and if you do, stick at it
no matter how much it sucks.

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(Laughter)

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Until you get a better offer
or you're asked to retire.

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And as a dropout,

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I knew that I was not
entitled to anything.

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Every opportunity was a privilege.

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And so when I thought about quitting,

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it was a huge risk.

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I was given two alternatives,

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which are the most popular in Africa.

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The first one is sign up for any course
at a vocational institution and do it.

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My second option, settle
for any job offer you can get,

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no matter the working conditions,

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and do it.

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That probably explains why we have
so many of our young people

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being trafficked in search
of greener pastures.

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I opted for the first option.

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I did look at a couple
vocational institutions

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in the hope that I would find a course
that resonated with my persona,

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my dream, and my aspiration.

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I was disappointed to learn that there
was no room for misfits like me

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in these institutions.

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The education system
in many parts of the world

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has been designed
around pre-selected options

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that young people are expected
to fit in or risk becoming misfits.

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And so going through school
I was nurtured and conditioned

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to think in the straight line
and stay within the straight line.

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But when I dropped out, I discovered
a world of possibilities.

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I knew I could be anything,
I could study anything,

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so I leveraged free online courses.

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That's how I built my CV,
got into employment,

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and worked for eight years.

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And after eight years,

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I told myself there must be more to life

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than just going through
the routines of life.

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So in 2014 I started an organization called Kyusa