From Disability to Ambassadorship
Soumaya Mohamed Yeslemis, Mauritania Soumaya Mohamed Yeslemis is a young woman from Mauritania whose education was interrupted by a walking disability. In a country where access to consistent schooling is already a challenge for many young women, a physical disability made that path even harder. Doors that should have opened for her stayed closed, not because she lacked ability, but because the systems around her weren't built with someone like her in mind.She was supported by the SAFIA Centre in Dar Naim, Nouakchott, through its UNICEF-funded programme for out-of-school young women aged 15 to 24.
It was there that Soumaya began to rebuild what interrupted schooling had taken from her. A self-taught English speaker with a sharp, curious mind, she also carried a quiet creative talent for drawing and painting, the kind of gift that often goes unnoticed when survival takes priority over self-expression. Still, she kept teaching herself, kept practicing, kept showing up.In 2023, that persistence hit a setback. She was passed over for the opportunity to represent SAFIA Centre at an international conference, a disappointment tied less to her ability and more to how she presented herself in that moment. It's a familiar story for many young people with immense potential: talent alone isn't always enough.
Confidence, self-presentation, and clarity of purpose often make the difference between being overlooked and being chosen.That setback became a turning point rather than an ending. After a coaching session with Dr. Glory Ukwenga, Soumaya made the adjustments that opened the door to the global civic space. It wasn't a transformation built on empty motivation. It was practical, targeted guidance, the kind that helps a young person see clearly what had been holding them back, and what specifically needed to change.
The results followed quickly. By October 2024, Soumaya had been selected as one of the Sahel youth representatives at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, representing the youth of Mauritania on an international stage. There, she met German Development Minister Svenja Schulze and advocated for girls' education and empowerment across the Sahel, using her own story as evidence of what becomes possible when young women are given both opportunity and the right guidance to seize it.Today, Soumaya is recognized as an Ambassador of the SAFIA Centre, where she now trains its newest intake of beneficiaries. The young woman who was once passed over now stands on the other side of that experience, helping the next group of young women avoid the same setback she once faced, and showing them, through her own example, exactly what's possible when preparation finally meets opportunity.Soumaya's story captures something Dr. Ukwenga speaks about often: transformation is not a single decision. It's a discipline, a checklist worked through with intention, and a set of adjustments most people never see happen. What the world eventually witnesses on a stage, in an ambassadorship, or in a conference room in Hamburg is only the visible outcome of quiet, deliberate work done long before anyone was watching.
Soumaya Mohamed Yeslemis, Mauritania Soumaya Mohamed Yeslemis is a young woman from Mauritania whose education was interrupted by a walking disability. In a country where access to consistent schooling is already a challenge for many young women, a physical disability made that path even harder. Doors that should have opened for her stayed closed, not because she lacked ability, but because the systems around her weren't built with someone like her in mind.She was supported by the SAFIA Centre in Dar Naim, Nouakchott, through its UNICEF-funded programme for out-of-school young women aged 15 to 24.
It was there that Soumaya began to rebuild what interrupted schooling had taken from her. A self-taught English speaker with a sharp, curious mind, she also carried a quiet creative talent for drawing and painting, the kind of gift that often goes unnoticed when survival takes priority over self-expression. Still, she kept teaching herself, kept practicing, kept showing up.In 2023, that persistence hit a setback. She was passed over for the opportunity to represent SAFIA Centre at an international conference, a disappointment tied less to her ability and more to how she presented herself in that moment. It's a familiar story for many young people with immense potential: talent alone isn't always enough.
Confidence, self-presentation, and clarity of purpose often make the difference between being overlooked and being chosen.That setback became a turning point rather than an ending. After a coaching session with Dr. Glory Ukwenga, Soumaya made the adjustments that opened the door to the global civic space. It wasn't a transformation built on empty motivation. It was practical, targeted guidance, the kind that helps a young person see clearly what had been holding them back, and what specifically needed to change.
The results followed quickly. By October 2024, Soumaya had been selected as one of the Sahel youth representatives at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, representing the youth of Mauritania on an international stage. There, she met German Development Minister Svenja Schulze and advocated for girls' education and empowerment across the Sahel, using her own story as evidence of what becomes possible when young women are given both opportunity and the right guidance to seize it.Today, Soumaya is recognized as an Ambassador of the SAFIA Centre, where she now trains its newest intake of beneficiaries. The young woman who was once passed over now stands on the other side of that experience, helping the next group of young women avoid the same setback she once faced, and showing them, through her own example, exactly what's possible when preparation finally meets opportunity.Soumaya's story captures something Dr. Ukwenga speaks about often: transformation is not a single decision. It's a discipline, a checklist worked through with intention, and a set of adjustments most people never see happen. What the world eventually witnesses on a stage, in an ambassadorship, or in a conference room in Hamburg is only the visible outcome of quiet, deliberate work done long before anyone was watching.