The Road to Edinburgh

When I finished high school, I was accepted into the program and university that I had dreamt of attending, for as long as I could remember.

Yet, the intense competition meant that I was unable to qualify for a scholarship – financially, I did not stand a chance at attending my dream school. Having to make the difficult decision of choosing a different path to pursue my aspirations led me to revaluate what I believed myself to be capable of, as well as what failing meant for my future.

Failing, it turns out, was an important part of learning, but it was not an end in itself. At some point, I stopped worrying about the failures – there were many and I am sure there will be many more – and began to consider what I could do to inspire myself and other women to follow their dreams.

I had met and heard about women from a diversity of backgrounds who were doing incredible work in a multitude of disciplines. Yet, there were very few spaces around me that celebrated them. The inequalities that shape our realities as women, and eventually the access that we have to transformative resources like education and support, inherently influence our ability to empower ourselves to effect change in our lives, our communities but also across the globe.

It’s what inspired my idea to create Empower, a digital platform where women can read the stories of other women who have faced countless obstacles, but still pursued their dreams. The women I interviewed surmounted immense difficulties to create schools, speak against oppression and reframe the discussion on what it means to be a woman. The more I worked on Empower, the more I was inspired to power through all the rejections and shift the narrative on what it means to be successful.

MasterCard Foundation Scholar: Soufia Bham, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Growing up, I was told that too much ambition was not desirable in a woman, but it is the collective dreams and ambitions of all women around us that improve and save lives every day. Whether in business, fine arts or astrophysics, women have made contributions that warrant us investing in them equally as much, if not more, than in men.

I intend to put the education I receive from the University of Edinburgh in the service of other women around me and push for positive change.

The fact that people are willing to invest in us and believe in our capacity as change-makers in Africa is incredibly uplifting. Becoming a MasterCard Foundation Scholar at the University of Edinburgh has not only given me access to an incredible education, but also to a support system that strives to push me through the obstacles on the path to leadership. At Edinburgh, I find myself not only inspired by the scenery and the warm welcome, but also the huge diversity of experiences and opinions that makes up the campus and The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Community.

Through these encounters, we Scholars will grow stronger in solving issues that touch the African continent, and bound by our passion for change, we will make our mark on the world.

Originally from Mauritius, Soufia Bham is a MasterCard Foundation Scholar in the first cohort in the Scholars Program at the University of Edinburgh. She is pursuing graduate studies in Global Health and Public Policy.