Get Gladwell to Concordia

My name is Gladwell Pamba, a female writer living in Kenya. My parents told me as a little girl, I had a way with words from the time I could make coherent sentences to the time I could read and write. They recognized my extraordinary storytelling gift and use of language and became my writing coaches. When I was 8 years old, I wrote a composition about my school, and my teacher, Mrs. Neddy Omukubi, told me I am going to be an author. I am grateful to my parents and teachers for planting this writing seed in me early.

Recently, I've enjoyed some success through my writing. I was selected as the East Africa winner of the 2022 International Literary Seminars; I won the Afreada X Africa Writes Contest and the 2023 CC Adetula Fellowship in Creative Writing for African Women Writers. I was also selected to attend the Jahazi Press Masterclass and the University of East Anglia Masterclass/Goethe Institute taught by Zukiswa Wanner, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Jean McNeil. My work was shortlisted for Writivism Short Story Prize and my stories have been anthologized, and published both locally and internationally.

On the morning of 1st March this year, something profound happened. I received an email from Concordia University: "Congratulations Gladwell!" I applied to the Master of Arts in Creative Writing last year, and was accepted!

I flew out of bed the way Jackie Chan leaps from the 47th floor and into space. I started packing, hastily like the Israelites on their last night. Then I was doing 180 splits. Cartwheel. Headstand. I was gully-creeping. Lipala dance. Kuku dance. Shoki. Gwara gwara. Name any dance style; I was doing it! Panting after that little bout of lunacy, I sat and read the email properly, loudly, in large font. Concordia had accepted me into the program and offered a partial scholarship to cover my tuition. The cost of living in Canada for two years would be my responsibility. I do not have the financial muscles for that.

In a single year, I will need approximately $9900 for housing, $4800 for food, $1600 for a one-way plane ticket to Canada, $672 for local transport, and $960 for phone charges for a total expense of $17932.

I thought to myself, behold, the time has come for me to sell my head; kidneys aren't sufficient. When I calculated what I need to survive in Canada for one year, the figures looked equivalent to Kenya's annual budget. I laughed a painful laugh. I laughed at the audacity of my bold dreams, at my stubborn spirit that ignores bank balances. I laughed at every person who told me I was a great author, that I was destined for greatness, and that my time was coming.

Dear friends, my time has come. Please help me achieve my dreams. I am inviting you to contribute to the growth of this writing seed that promises a great harvest in the future.

I hope you will be a part of my journey. I am grateful for any amount of support.

For MPESA donations, please use the following details:

Lipa na Mpesa

PAYBILL Number 522522

ACOUNT NUMBER 7517855

Gladwell