For students in rural public schools, quality education is often out of reach—not for lack of potential, but for lack of resources. Divine Mugisha, a student and passionate education advocate based in Nairobi, Kenya, is changing that through Library Without Walls. Inspired by her own challenges growing up in underserved schools, she’s using digital innovation to give youth access to a future shaped by knowledge, not circumstance.
Breaking Barriers, One Digital Library at a Time
Divine Mugisha – Nairobi, Kenya
Divine Mugisha’s passion for education is deeply personal. As a student, she has lived the barriers that stand in the way of many African youth—overcrowded classrooms, absent teachers, missing textbooks. But through Ubuntu.Lab, she discovered a way to turn that experience into action. “I wanted to improve my leadership skills,” she says. “Earlier in the year, I participated in three days of transformative leadership training organized by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, and I fell in love with the concept of transformative leadership; that’s what inspired me to learn more. I also wanted to be in a space with fellow changemakers.”
What she was seeking went beyond strategy. “When I joined, I was hoping to gain advanced empathy as a leader—the ability to listen, collaborate, and co-create with both society and my team.”
A turning point came when she had to shrink her dream to fit a prototype. “We were coming up with prototypes. I was tasked to break down a million-dollar project that I had been working on for 2 years into a $2000 prototype.” The lesson was humbling—and liberating. “We are always told to dream big, but through the prototyping, I learnt that small actions with big impacts are key. A dream that felt like it wouldn’t be achieved anytime soon, because it was too expensive, feels achievable by doing the small things at a time.”
Another powerful moment reshaped how she approached impact. “We learnt about the co-creation of solutions with society. That it’s not about doing something for them but about doing it with them. It changed my approach as a changemaker.”
Her hub experience offered an added spark. “Being a part of the hub community helped me to be motivated. It was very motivating to see many young people who were passionate about creating change.” As a result, Divine says, “I feel more confident in my leadership, in my interactions, and in my problem solving.”
Her prototype, Library Without Walls, emerged from a clear and pressing challenge. “I work in the education space to give vulnerable youths access to quality education. Lack of access to learning materials is one of the biggest challenges that hinders many young people who go to public schools in rural areas from accessing quality education, and keeps their passing rate really low.” Her vision is to change that by building “a library of resources” students can access anytime, anywhere.
“I believe and I have seen that education can change lives,” she says. “Many young people are living in extreme poverty and go to school with hope for a better future, but most schools are not effective at all. No teachers, no books, not enough space to learn in.”
So far, progress has already begun. “We have a partnership with the manufacturers of the Offline Digital learning devices where we will upload thousands of learning materials, creating a digital library which can give students access to quality learning materials.”
Looking ahead, Divine and her team are building step by step. “We hope to get funds to purchase the devices, collect, create, and upload learning resources. Then we will pilot the project at Dzaleka Community Day Secondary School, monitoring and evaluation and making necessary adjustments.” The goal is scale. “We will fundraise for more funds to buy more devices and establish more libraries in different schools.”
Her reflection is filled with gratitude and conviction. “This was an eye-opening experience. I am now a better leader and more confident in leading change. Co-creation has become one of my core values, and thank you for teaching me what it means to apply the golden rule in reverse.” She explains, “Co-creation is about doing for others what they want you to do for them, rather than doing unto others what you wish could be done for you. Leaders need to lead with more Ubuntu, and that way, even our national leadership would be better. I hope this course not only teaches students but also reaches out to the community and educates our leaders on how to lead with Ubuntu.”
I uploaded my secondary school photo. I took the photo with my friends in my final year when we were sent home and missed our first-term exam because the school had no paper to print the exams. I was a young girl full of dreams to escape poverty through education, but the learning conditions were very tough. We had more than 100 students in a class, and I could barely understand what the teacher was teaching. I tried to study to make up for the content I missed in class, but the library could hold fewer than 10 students at a time. I cannot count how many times we never had teachers for a certain subject, or how many students were unable to pass secondary school, not because they are not intelligent or didn’t work hard enough, but because the reality of most public schools is beyond everyone’s capabilities. With Libraries Without Walls, we hope to provide students access to thousands of learning resources and AI tutors, which will help them pass and achieve their dreams.