Farmer to Pharmacist: Recent Episodes
Stephen Seki
Farmer to pharmacist podcast is about Stephen Seki and his life journey. He is joined on the podcast by his wife and his sister in law to discuss the difficult topics in detail to give you a deep understanding of his journey.
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Looking back at my life it feels surreal that I am now living a life beyond my wildest dreams. From that statement, you may think that I am a rich millionaire. I’m not. However, I do feel very rich and as I tell you my story perhaps you will understand why.
My journey begins in a small village in Uganda called Kabaseke. This was the place I spent the first ten years of my life. My mother, a young village girl at the time, gave birth to my sister and I before she was eighteen. Unable to provide for two young babies, she left us with my father. He was a much older man with a family home he shared with my stepmother and my half brothers and sisters.
My father was a very promiscuous man and in line with local custom, each woman that he got pregnant would bring the child to his marital home for him to look after. Most of the women did not have much and leaving their child with the father was often the best choice. By the time I came along, my stepmother had been through this process of strange women bringing children born out of her husband’s extra-marital affairs several times.
Six months after giving birth to me, my mother was thrown out by my father from his marital home at the age of eighteen. Without anything to her name and two young babies aged ten months (my older sister) and six months (me);, she was asked to leave. Faced with the lack of financial security and with nowhere to go with two young babies, my mother made the tough decision to leave us with my father. He was rich and had the means to at least provide food and shelter for my sister and I. She made the hard decision to leave in the hope that one day she will return for us. As an adult I can understand why my mother had to leave, all the other women were dismissed in a similar manner. For the longest time I was angry that this happened to me, but had she stayed what kind of life would she have been able to provide for me?
Growing up as the youngest of such a large family on my stepmother’s terms was very difficult. I still remember the place I grew up very vividly. The family home was situated on a large compound. On this compound was the big house in which my stepmother and my father stayed along with all my siblings from their marriage. Each of my siblings from my stepmother had their own room in the big house. All the other bastard children, me included, were forbidden from entering the big house unless we had permission. Instead we stayed in the small rooms surrounding the big house. These rooms are referred to as boys’ quarters in Uganda and are often reserved for employed workers that stay onsite. The boys’ quarter rooms were not enough to house everybody so I grew up sleeping in the kitchen. Residue heat from the open fire meant it was always warm in the kitchen; which was fortunate for me as I did not have a blanket to cover me so the residue heat protected me from the cold. My bed was the straw in the kitchen which was often used as kindling to start the fire when it was time for cooking. For a pillow, I used a small rock to prop up my head. I was the youngest of all the children, so with my mother absent, my father uninterested and my stepmother hating the very sight of me; my bastard siblings became my stand in parents. Apart from my sister I was significantly younger than the rest of my half siblings and grew up being pushed around by everybody. Our stepmother was not interested in any of us and only spoke to us to set tasks that she wanted us to complete. I remember her being a cold woman who was the only mother figure I had from the day my mother left. She would often beat me unprovoked and send me to bed with no food. Being young and looking for any...
In this last chapter we find out whether Stephen reached his dream of being a pharmacist. Joined by his wife Kuda and sister-in-law Rutendo they discuss the difficulties Stephen encountered. Stephen found out he had a life threatening illness and this was a particularly difficult thing for him to go through.
In this last episode Stephen we would to ask you to send us your questions to hold our last ever Q&A.
In this episode Stephen speaks about his university experience and the many difficult challenges that he faced.
Rutendo and Stephen dive deeper into how its like to finish university with no job and how that feeling leaves many people feeling disheartened. They explore the challenges from applying to jobs to dealing with pressures from friends and family.
We hope you enjoy this episode. Check out the video on YouTube "Stephen Seki'.
This week Rutendo and Stephen share their Alevel experiences. Both of them did not perform well during Alevels and they share how they still managed to gain access to university despite failing.
This episode outlines the importance of never giving up when you have a dream and how to find a different route when your plans don't work out.
Stephen and Rutendo discuss their GCSE results day and the pressure. Stephen reveals his GCSE results in detail and explains how he was able to use his experiences setbacks to increase his exam performance. Rutendo and Stephen discuss the difference between school and work; highlighting the key to being successful in both.
Rutendo adds in her experiences and gives methods to help everyone achieve their best both in school and the work place. Listen to the very end to get this week's challenge.
In this episode Stephen and Kuda discuss life in secondary school and the struggles that immigrant students face.
Stephen discusses life after primary school and the big jump to secondary school. Stephen and Rutendo discuss how they both dealt with bullying and both talk about the best method for dealing with bullies.
Please don't forget to share this podcast with friends and family to help their growth too.
See you on the next episode.
In this week's episode Kuda and Stephen discuss Stephen's experience of a UK primary school. Stephen was now living his dream and how it felt like to have everything that he has ever wanted. This journey moves fast and Stephen has to adjust very quickly to his new life.
Kuda shares her personal thoughts on her own experience coming to the UK and asks Stephen difficult questions to dig deeper into his experiences.
We hope you enjoy this episode.
This week Rutendo and Stephen discuss Stephens' first experience on the aeroplane and the first moments after he landed. Did he see his mum? Did he get to hid dream?
We find out in this episode.
In this week's episode Stephen and Rutendo answer your questions to give you the methods that could help you take your life to the next level.
We would love to hear more from you so send us any question you would like to be answered from the book or anything else.
Rutendo and Stephen explore how things like an aeroplane had to be described like big birds because to help him understand. As a village boy Stephen was had never ventured far from home and in this episode we see his struggle to adjust to new surroundings.
This episode is like a movie with all the sneaking around but deep within it is a strong message about taking risks when reaching for your dreams. These themes are explored further by Stephen and Rutendo throughout.
In today's episode, Stephen shares stories about his first hero and why this person remains extremely important to him till this day. Rutendo asks the difficult questions and offers nuggets of wisdom we can all learn from.
Don't forget to send us your questions below so we can continue to dig deep in the podcast together.
In this week's podcast, my co-star Rutendo and I discuss a tough situation from my childhood and how I overcame it. I hope you can take away some healthy tips on how to deal with a similar event in you own life.
In this week's episode myself and my co-host Rutendo read and discuss chapter two of my book Farmer to Pharmacist. We discuss in detail first day in school, the two hour walk to school with no shoes and my first experience of being beaten by teachers in school.
This chapter is the most important in my book because at the tender age of five, I became a man and let go of all the childish things.
Share this episode if you enjoyed it and leave us a question on topics you want us to discuss in greater detail