✍ In the Heart of the Chain

In a narrow alley between the colorful buildings of Cape Town, "Thabo" sat writing lines of code on his cracked laptop. Behind him, the sea sang to a city that never sleeps, and in his chest, an idea was igniting.

He had no money, but he possessed something more valuable: understanding.

Since he was young, he had seen his father running every day for a fare, returning tired, and saying:

"Freedom? It is to be the master of your time, my son."

Thabo grew up learning programming from a public library. And when he discovered "Ethereum," he was not interested in the price, but in the smart contract — the idea of creating a system that human greed cannot corrupt.

He created a small project called "Kujenga," which is a Swahili word meaning "to build." The goal was simple: a platform to fund local artisans' projects through decentralized finance (DeFi). A carpenter in Dar es Salaam? A weaver in Nairobi? Thanks to Kujenga, any investor from around the world can support them directly and earn in return.

Some laughed at him:

"And will the poor build projects on the blockchain?"

But he did not respond. He let the code speak. In the first month, his project raised enough funding to support ten small workshops.

In an interview with a local radio station, they asked him:

"Do you think cryptocurrencies will solve Africa's problems?"

He smiled and said:

"No... but the minds that believe in them might."