Meet South Sudanese Woman Driving Uber in Nairobi

• Twenty-seven-year-old South Sudanese national Akima Nguet is an Uber driver in Nairobi city
• The mother of two, who is currently breastfeeding the youngest, says she ventured into the business to make ends meet
• Akima and the rest of her family have been refugees in Kenya for the last 15 years

Akima Nguet Yaak's has picked and dropped hundreds of passengers to different destinations as an Uber driver, but few have the slightest idea that she is a refugee and a lactating mother.

Akima's story began in 1994 in Boma, South Sudan, after which political instability pushed her into Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp in 2006.

Been a refugee for 15 years

Speaking to TUKO.co.ke's Hillary Lisimba, the 27-year-old admitted that she still owns a ration card for the refugee camp.

"Actually, I’m planning to go to Kakuma soon to renew my alliance ID. I gave birth to my first son Stanley in that camp," she said.

After 15 years of Akima, her mother and her siblings being refugees in Kenya, she ventured into something that is the proverbial road less taken; Uber.

She explained that the idea of becoming a cab driver came to her mind because she not only enjoys driving but also noticed the business^[2] was picking up really fast in Kenya.

Has a two-month-old baby

Akima believes she is Nairobi's first South Sudanese female Uber driver, a feat accentuated by the fact that she is a nursing mother.

Yes, apart from the nine-year-old Stanley, Akima has a newborn called Ethan who is two months old.

She admitted that it's tough balancing work and Uber driving given that her son is still too young, but she is grateful to have a young and loving mother who takes good care of the newborn in her absence.

"It's been a wonderful experience though, as every passenger both men and women tend to feel comfortable with me as a female cab driver," Akima expressed.

In her words, so long as it’s a job that puts food on the table for her family^[3] she will go down on her knees for it.

Akima added that she does it for her sons as well as parents, whom she hopes to uplift soon as she becomes financially stable.

"I will never allow primitivity to let me sleep on an empty stomach. To those who think I am too beautiful to do this, my beauty needs a good amount of money to be maintained," she posited.

Adut Akech

Kakuma Refugee Camp has over the years become a breeding ground for talented and entrepreneurial South Sudanese refugees.

Another of such is Adut Akech who not only became a professional model^[4] but also joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

At the age of 21, the one-time refugee recently became a new homeowner in the US, a milestone that she celebrated on Instagram.

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Source: Tuko^[5]

References

1. ^{^} Subscribe (corp.tuko.co.ke)
2. ^{^} business (www.tuko.co.ke)
3. ^{^} family (www.tuko.co.ke)
4. ^{^} became a professional model (www.tuko.co.ke)
5. ^{^} Tuko (www.tuko.co.ke)