Ndogo is from the coastal city of Mombasa.
Nyota Ndogo
She was a school drop-out who worked as a maid before switching to designing and selling clothes to make ends meet. Her father, Abdala Atib wanted her to get a job but she just couldn’t find one that interests her. museke
Eventually, Ndogo found herself designing and selling clothes on social media platforms in order to create her own business.
Ndogo on Working hard: Ndogo dedicated herself and began working very hard in fashion design subsequently opening stores in Kenya after all of the stores she sold failed under pressure, forcing an agreement by bosses to put all their shops up for sale while they pull out completely! “I didn’t have money or anything else, I was covered from head-to-toe with blood,”
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Swahili Language is more known for poetry and music in Africa, however she was adamant about writing a novel.
The desperation to “bind us with a semblance of unity”, as Rachael Blackshear wrote in her brilliant piece on managing social networks captures the need for escapism. If not literature, then where do we escape but through captivating storylines and characters?
I myself lived out daydreams that curved my life’s trajectory while I free-hand drew them on scratch paper; these would be a young Ndogo wishing someone would rescue her from poverty or a fatherly con artist who’d perpetuate the suffering of even more people by convincing various stakeholders to rapidly blow up their lives alongside low incomes/high salaries because he needs someones help bringing in an influx of cash
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When her husband was killed in front of her, the then 12-year old Ndogo resolved to kill those who did it.
Ndogo had long been struggling with poverty and mistreatment. Then came the Jacobin insurgency in 2007 that initiated a deadly wave of violence spiral out of control. Dead bodies followed, as did clashes with police and militaires that drove people towards self-reliance through fear and offensive action. The occupation years made life even more difficult, bringing into relief some opportunities for safe alternatives to the cycle of hunger, greed and injustice.”
From house maid to ordinary civilian during the events after the French coup, she always believed in “if it wasn’t for me, it had no hope”. Eventually becoming a community organizer and digital strategist at Activate Africa Foundation is her way