Karl Svensson

Today we called Karl Svensson, who graduated in 2006 and lives in Kenya today. In his 3rd year at SSHL, Karl was involved in starting the Kenya project.

What are you doing today?
Today I live in Kenya, I more or less grew up here. I worked for a year as a maketing manager and business developer at a company that was doing sewage recycling of water. Now I work as CEO of a Swedish company with offices down here. We work with different types of innovative products from Sweden, England and the USA, which are well suited for the East African market. For example, we have a project with SSHL where we have installed a water filter at a school, the company also does this for households and large industries. We also work with solar panels, LED lighting, a mobile payment system and more – it is very wide. We also do consulting work for Swedish SME companies here.

I thrive very well in Kenya, things happen every day. Now, unfortunately, there have been several terrorist attacks and security is a question mark, but the positive aspects outweigh the negative ones – you can get to the wild animals and the incredible views of the beautiful nature out in the wilderness in just an hour’s drive.

Why did you choose SSHL?

I went to the Swedish School in Nairobi until the 9th grade and then moved to Sweden where I went to a couple of other schools. I did not like it very much there and encountered many prejudices in some places. I had a lot of family friends who thought that I should instead go with more like-minded students at Sigtuna – many who have lived abroad and have an international background. I also had a good friend from Kenya at Sigtuna. I co-financed and lived in the boarding school and it was a good and stable environment where I had many friends around me.

What were your experiences at school?

I enjoyed it incredibly much. I lived in Ängsbacken with the boys there, it felt like coming home after a while of having moved around and not really found himself. We were a pretty sporty home. The education was very good and you had a good proximity to teachers and other adults at the school.

It was also about learning to have respect for the elderly and other students and to be able to deal with people up close. You were up to 30 students in a dormitory, and you had to learn to compromise and handle different situations.

What would you like to say to those who go here today?

Bring a lot of memories from Sigtuna! You do not stop to look back and miss the time there. Take advantage of the friendships you build there.

And to those who would like to start school this fall?

If you want to have a heavenly fun life with a lot of friends but also get very good tools for a successful school education, I think you should choose Sigtuna, absolutely. For the parents, I believe that there is no better environment to choose for their children.