As a young girl, Dr. Bosire endured deeply painful experiences, including sexual violence, underscoring the systemic challenges women in her community faced. She saw women forgo contraception out of fear of upsetting their partners. She saw her own mother, among others, forced to make difficult choices to feed their families, sometimes engaging in commercial sex work that exposed them to serious health risks.
She recognized the immense strength of the women around her and wondered what they could achieve if they weren’t forced into choices that jeopardized their health just to meet their basic needs. “Certain things were more of a priority,” Dr. Bosire says. “For us, it was just having a meal that day. Everything began and ended with: Can we eat today?”
A second chance that changed everything
Bosire knows firsthand how these tradeoffs could derail one’s future. At thirteen, struggling with inconsistent income from odd jobs, she began selling drugs at school. Within just two months, she was expelled. Depressed and isolated, she started using drugs herself. But at the end of the term, she learned that two teachers had fought for her to take her final exams.
With just two weeks to prepare, she studied intensely, cramming in a year’s worth of material. On the day the results were in, too afraid to check her results, Dr. Bosire asked her friend to run ahead and look for her. Before her friend returned, her teachers erupted into cheering and ululation, lifting her onto their shoulders in celebration—she had earned the second-highest marks in the school.
The experience shifted something in her. It gave her the confidence to believe in herself and her own power to shape her future. Later, when she enrolled at the University of Nairobi’s School of Medicine, she received a full scholarship.
