Episode 33: Evelyne Keomian wasn’t supposed to go to school, but now she runs schools on two continents

When Evelyne Keomian was growing up in Côte d’Ivoire, she was told that there was no need for girls to go to school. She tells us how she refused to listen and went to school anyway — even when she wasn’t enrolled — and how her painful pursuit of education made her an advocate of quality education for every child.

Today, Keomian is an educator, and the founder of the Karat School Project, a direct service nonprofit organization with the mission to help break the cycle of poverty through education. Since it was founded in 2018, the organization has served over 1,000 children and women in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

A class meets outdoors at the school Evelyne Keomian founded in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Photo courtesy of the Karat School Project’s Instagram account.
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