Dear Reader,

If you're holding this letter, you are already part of the story.

The Outlast School was born from something deeply personal.

I was the girl they labeled “behind.” I failed sixth grade. I struggled to be seen.

And if it weren’t for a father who refused to believe the system’s version of me,

I might have never discovered who I truly was — or what I was called to build.

I remember the sting of watching my classmates move ahead without me —

the looks, the whispers, the shame that clung to my skin.

I wasn’t the only child in my family, but in that season, I felt alone. Like something in me had cracked.

But my father — he never saw failure.

He always assumed greatness.

And at times, that felt like pressure.

Why couldn’t he just accept what everyone else saw — that I had failed?

But he wouldn’t. He didn’t. He never did.

He held a vision of me that I hadn’t yet earned — and maybe that’s what saved me.

Because now I realize: that relentless belief in me became the engine that still drives me today.

That one person changed everything.

And now, I’m building a school that becomes that person — for girls across the continent.

Because I’ve seen what happens when a girl is finally handed the mic.

When she tells her story. When she learns to earn.

When she realizes she was never too much — only too powerful for systems that weren’t built for her.

The Outlast School is not a charity project.

It is not a feel-good initiative.

It’s a blueprint for rebuilding how we invest in African girls — from the inside out.

We don’t teach girls to dream of leaving.

We teach them how to lead — and build what will remain.

Over three years, every Outlast Scholar becomes a published author,

a paid digital creator, and a leader in her community.

But more than that, she becomes the proof that our girls were never the problem — the systems were.

My hope is that you’ll read this and realize: this isn’t my vision.

It’s ours. Yours, mine, and hers.

And together, we’ll build something that outlasts all of us.

With purpose and power,

Sandra Kemayou

Founder, The Outlast School