Children’s rights activist Abraham Keita has been accepted to study at Yale University in the United States.

Keita is the 2015 International Children’s Peace Prize Winner who played a leading role in the fight to end violence against children in Liberia. Through the Liberian Children’s Parliament, he advocated for the establishment of the 2011 Children Law, a national legislation on the rights of children.

Keita said he chose to attend Yale University over admission opportunities at four other universities, which all came in late March.

“People often say college is the place most suitable for fun, meeting new friends, and making lasting connections. If this is so, then I wish to experience all these in the geometric walls of Yale,” he wrote in an article published by Organize for Liberia.

OFL is a charity organization based in the U.S. that engages young Liberian leaders by mentoring them to build their capacities. The organization invited Keita to the U.S. in 2017 to work on his college application.

“Though I harbored little self-doubt, however, I mustered the courage between October 2017 and January 2018, and submitted applications to five schools – Amherst College, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Harvard, and Yale Universities,” he said.

The activist said it took him more than two days to complete each of the applications.

“And then, there are tests to write (SAT), school scores to report – finally, recommendations from high school counselors and teachers,” he added.

Keita said nevertheless, his “improbable” journey to college enrollment was backed by determination and perseverance, as his previous attempts to apply to universities in the U.S. during two previous visits to speak at events had failed.

Born during the country’s brutal civil war, Keita grew up in extreme poverty with his mother and siblings in the slum community of West Point. His father, who was employed as a driver for a humanitarian organization, was killed in an ambush while he was only five years old.

He said his mother has continued to be his strength, inspiration, and the single thread which keeps throughout his life’s journey.

“In 2016, I became the first high school graduate in my entire lineage, in over four generations. A year after, my brother who is three years my senior, also graduated. At the moment, we have younger siblings – cousins, nieces – who are in elementary and junior levels. A repetition of ‘firsts,’ I am also the first-generation college student in my family,” he said.

He also paid tribute to his late father whose life he said was dedicated to educating Keita and his siblings, despite the family’s limited opportunities.

“At the time of his death, my eldest sister was in 11th grade, but she and all other ceased to attend school after he was killed. Things became so difficult that death seemed to be the only liberating option for my mother, aunts, uncles, siblings, and everyone in my family. We had lost all hope, and the world seemed to have turned against us. Many days, I recalled family members wondering whether we had offended God,” Keita said.

According to the activist, growing up in a slum community, his mother changed the story and offered him better opportunities when she enrolled him at the single public school in the area.

Keita will be joining Yale University’s Class of 2022.

Featured photo by OFL