Why I Started This
From Needy to Needed
I’m Jacqueline “Nachap” Gallo. In 2017 I moved to Karamoja to spend nearly two years following sixteen girls through the last stretch of secondary school; the less than 1% who make it that far. It was my PhD research in Anthropology of Education at the University of Cambridge. I wanted to understand how faith, education, and culture shape what a girl in Karamoja could dare to hope for.
In 2024, I went back to see what had become of their lives.
"Akiru was ready for university and had the grades to get there. She was among the sixteen girls I followed, all of whom were bright, determined, and full of plans. When I returned in 2024, I found her at her family compound. She had tried to enroll in a degree program. She waited for the mentor who was supposed to help her. He never arrived. And as the only educated person in her family, she alone could not figure out how to navigate the fees, the paperwork, the distance. Akiru was brewing beer to make a little money for food. She was not a failure. The system failed her."
— Dr. Gallo
Akiru wasn’t the only one.
Story after story. I found the same pattern:
Far too many young women had done everything “right” to beat the odds; and yet, even with their most honest efforts, these resilient young women could not navigate the numerous bureaucracies nor afford fees to attend university or find employment.
The barricades proved too difficult to relieve themselves and their families from dependency on foreign aid.
That’s the gap Ejoka Education exists to close.
With the expertise of my research, shared values with local leaders, trust I’ve built with Karmajong communities, and experience running a non-profit, I decided to walk away from my work as Head of School in California in 2025 to build Ejoka.
Kenyan Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai asked all of us to be hummingbirds. She described a tiny bird who, facing a massive forest fire while larger animals stood helpless, chose to carry water drop by drop.
When the others asked, "What do you think you can do? You're too little and this fire is too big,"
the hummingbird replied, "I am doing the best I can. And that is what all of us should do."
I decided to be the hummingbird. And I invite you to be one with me.
Background
PhD, Anthropology of Education, University of Cambridge.
MSc in Educational Research, University of Oxford.
MSc in Education, Mercy University.
BA in International Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia.
I've spent my career as an educator and school leader across the US, Italy, and the UK, in independent, international, public, and charter schools, and I currently serve on the Board of Trustees at the Julia Morgan School for Girls in Oakland. My research has taken me across four continents and I've lived and worked in English, Spanish, Italian, Nilotic, and Swahili-speaking communities.
I grew up and was afforded an education in a school whose mission was to be of service to others. I’ve figured out how to be the hummingbird.
