Raif

My name is Raif. I am from a country in northern Africa where I live with my mother, step-father, and younger half-brother. My mother and I were abandoned when I was a young child by my birth father. Living without a father figure growing up, I felt alone and it was a very difficult time for me. However, I see now how these struggles have impacted who I am today, from being a young child and having to learn how to cook and provide for myself while my mother worked, to going to school and working harder than everyone around me. I have been shaped by my drive to overcome and succeed.

After my parent’s divorce, my mother became a believer in Christ in spite of the oppression of women in my country. Her influence laid the foundation of my faith that further developed through my involvement in Young Life and my church. At Young Life club, I felt loved and accepted in a way I had never experienced before. Now I am a Young Life leader and am currently working with street children and leading club in poor neighborhoods.

I believe that my greatest strength is that I am really hard working and I have a strong drive to achieve my dreams in order to help those around me. I want to use my engineering and computer science degree to go to medical school and become a doctor in the future. As a Developing Global Leaders scholarship recipient, I will become the first person in my family to graduate from university.