John

John: A Street Kid and a Leader

John wears a broad smile and confidently introduces himself to Our Moon's newest group of students: "I'm a street kid and I'm a leader."

John's parents passed away when he was eight years old. He was split up from his older siblings and taken to live with his grandmother, who wouldn't let him go to school. After five years, he decided to take his life into his own hands and left for the streets. He was only thirteen years old, and had to work weekends to make sure he could go to school — setting up a small stationery business to feed himself, and squatting in his late grandfather's unfinished house, sharing his meagre earnings with other street kids he invited to stay.

"Our Moon has built me up in ways I couldn't have imagined. My use of English has improved exponentially, I've learnt how to use IT, and had a three month internship at KPMG where I met with clients and took part in audits."

John found out about Our Moon while volunteering for CopperRose, a Zambian NGO. When he was offered a place on Our Moon's Young Leaders programme, he knew everything in his life was about to change for the better. He ensured his street kid friends were set up with small businesses and urged them to keep going to school.

Our Moon built John up in ways he couldn't have imagined. His use of English improved exponentially, he learnt how to use IT, and completed a three-month internship at KPMG. He is now looking forward to attending Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, studying engineering combined with economics. His hope is that he can contribute to distributing affordable, clean and sustainable electricity across Zambia and inspire others along the way.

He is truly an exceptional young man.