Meet Hajah Kandeh

Hajah Kandeh fled the conflict diamond war in her country of birth, Sierra Leone, where she had suffered tremendous violence.  She credits her survival to all the strangers who have “loved her into being.”

At 16, she won a scholarship to France after placing first in the national exams for best French language students .

In college, she won a “Best Actress” award for The Revelation, a play she wrote and starred in.

She graduated First Class from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone where she majored in Political Science and French literature. 

After college, she worked for the BBC as a freelance writer in Sierra Leone. Upon arriving in San Francisco,  she struggled to establish herself in her new home working retail, customer service, nannying, and other odd jobs many immigrants need to get started in America. After working in the hospitality department of Saks and later getting her certification, she secured a position as a mental health counselor for a local non-profit. 

She actively engages in women’s writing groups and conferences, including “Writing Ourselves Whole,” where women of all backgrounds come together and connect through writing and telling their stories.

Hajah loves poetry, smart movies and great conversations and has been afraid of snakes most of her life. She is fluent in several languages including French, Russian, and Krio and dreams of traveling the world someday.  

Hajah chronicles her experiences in a riveting Memoir which readers state they, “could not put it down.”  It reads like a movie, but it is every bit a true story of resilience, redemption, and hope. Daughter of a Thousand Stars is a book about one woman's unyielding will to survive against all odds and dares us to believe in our own inherent capacity to overcome.

You can find it on Amazon.

Hajah is the founder of "Do Tell", an organization which aims to educate and empower children to speak up in a safe space about sexual abuse and other violations. Her passion is to help them through the long journey of healing necessary to becoming healthy whole adults capable of living fulfilling lives. 

Hajah  lives in San Francisco with her son and a feisty black cat named Luna where she pays it forward by making magic wherever she goes, one person at a time, one day at a time.