At sixteen, I didn’t have a plan to work in international development. I had basketball.
That’s how I got in. Not through the perfect degree, not through a big connection, not through a job application I had carefully prepared. Through a sport I already loved and already showed up for.
Eight years later, I’m still in this work. And I’ve come to believe the way I got in is more common, and more useful, than the way most of us are told it’s supposed to happen.
What people think you need
A lot of young Africans think there is one correct entry point. The right course. The right internship. The right person to know. And if you don’t have it, the door is closed.
So they wait. They wait until they feel qualified enough, connected enough, ready enough.
I understand that. But here is what I have learned:
Most doors don’t open from the “correct” entry point. They open from wherever your interest already is.
What the court taught me
Basketball gave me my ground before I had any idea what I was building.
It taught me discipline. It taught me teamwork. It taught me how to keep going when the game isn’t going your way. And it taught me something I still use every single day: individual excellence means nothing if the team around you isn’t set up to succeed.
I didn’t know it then, but that is basically what youth development is about. Not just talented individuals, but the systems around them.
The moment that changed how I saw my own voice
As a teenage volunteer, I had no title. No budget. Nothing that would have made my opinion “count” on paper.
And yet the organisation I worked with asked for our ideas before the programme was even finalised. They ran it by us before it was decided.
I didn’t realise how rare that was until much later. But it taught me something early: your perspective has value before you have the title. You don’t have to wait until you’re “senior” to have something worth saying.
How to find your own way in
If you’re trying to get into a field and it feels like every door is shut, here is what I’d tell you if we were sitting down together.
01 · START
Start with what you already do without being asked
Sport. Church media. Coding. Debate. Running a small business. Organising people. Writing. Whatever you already show up for, even when nobody is paying you, is a doorway. Write it down.
02 · LOOK
Look for the people working on problems close to it
Every interest sits next to real problems. If you love sport, there are organisations using sport to reach young people. If you love design, there are nonprofits that desperately need someone who can make their work look credible. Find three organisations working near your interest.
03 · OFFER
Offer something specific, not “any role”
“I’m open to anything” is easy to ignore. “I can run your social media for your next event” or “I can help coach the under-15s on Saturdays” is much easier to say yes to. Small and specific gets you in the room.
04 · RECORD
Keep a record of what you do
Once you’re in, document it. What you did, what happened, what you learned. A photo, a link, a short note. This becomes your evidence later, for jobs, scholarships and whatever comes next. Nobody can take away proof.
ONE MOVE YOU CAN MAKE THIS WEEK
Write down one thing you already love doing. Then find one organisation, programme or person working on a problem close to it, and send them one specific offer of help.
That’s it. One message. You don’t need a perfect plan. At sixteen, I definitely didn’t have one.
I’m still building, and I’m still learning. But everything I do now started from where my interest already was.
What’s your “basketball”? Tell me on Instagram at @jessica.c.ohaka or on LinkedIn. And if you want a lesson like this in your inbox every two weeks, join Letters from Jess below.
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