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Who are you?

Name:
Abigail Salome Inapat

Age:
31

Country:
Uganda

Job:
E-Learning Administrator

Abigail Salome Inapat

Increase Your Earnings By… 2,000%!

Abigail Salome Inapat enhanced her job satisfaction dramatically through the Cisco Networking Academy. And her salary is now 20 times higher.

Even with two jobs, Abigail was having difficulty making ends meet in upcountry Uganda: "I was teaching in both a secondary school and a computing institute, but I was earning barely enough to sustain me and my year-old son. Life was difficult and I was dying to improve my academic credentials to be more competitive in the job market."

From History to IT

Desperate to improve her situation, Abigail scanned the papers for opportunities. She soon noticed some courses at the academy in the Department of Women and Gender Studies at the prestigious Makerere University in Kampala.

"There were scholarships for female teachers teaching in girls’ secondary schools to join the IT Essentials course as a way to bridge the gender digital divide," she recalls.

"I was originally a graduate teacher of History and Religious Studies, but got more interested in IT and I started pursuing short computer courses in 2002, but they were not enough to change my job. So I took a long, deep breath and applied for the scholarship."

City of opportunity

Moving to Kampala was the next hurdle. "On the 24th April 2005 I packed a few things, borrowed some money for my rent, living expenses and childcare and prepared myself for the minimum three months I would need to complete the course."

Abigail and her young son soon arrived in the capital. Then Abigail got down to work. "I would often burn the midnight oil just to make sure I understood everything in a module so as to be a better technician," she remarks, proudly. "Because of that, I did my assessments well ahead of every one else." But it wasn’t just commitment that drove Abigail to finish her course quickly. She was fast running out of money.

From student to instructor

Not surprisingly, Abigail passed both her IT Essentials and CCNA courses at Makerere University. Because of her outstanding performance, diligence and commitment to her studies, her then instructor, Mary Mbabazi, chose her to teach the IT Essentials course at the academy.

She immediately enrolled for instructor training at the Regional Academy. Meanwhile, there have been yet more developments in Abigail’s career, as she explains: "I have also been working in the University as E-Learning Administrator with the Directorate of ICT Support (DICTS) since October 2006."

"At the interview I was up against three other candidates, but my newly-enhanced CV saw to it that I won through in the end," she adds.

A jump in salary

Now Abigail is earning a staggering 20 times more than when she was in her former teaching post. The long-term security for her, her son and several other members of her family are now assured, and she has moved out of her single room to a place of her own in Kampala.

As well as her own hard work, Abigail identifies the content of her NetAcad courses as being instrumental in her success, both as a student, and an instructor. "The rich content, labs, worksheets, quizzes, multimedia etc are all excellent, and enable a student to take responsibility for their learning," she says.

A deeply religious woman, Abigail also praises her God for the support and encouragement of the Networking Academy and particularly her instructor, Mary Mbabazi.