Out of 8650 candidates from around the world, Keaton Harris was the only South African to make the coveted Top 21 Worldwide for the Young Sustainable Impact (YSI) in August 2018.
The Stellenbosch University medical student is the CEO and Co-Founder of InforMED, a mobile healthcare translation app which focuses on breaking the language barriers between healthcare practitioners and patients. Not only does the company ensure quality health care, but saves money which could have been used on unnecessary medical tests owing to language barriers.
Harris is also the Chief Technical Officer of Screen2Care, a technological advancement assisting in urine analysis for early detection of disease.
“The greatest challenge I’ve faced was a feeling of inadequacy, ever-present thoughts that I would not amount to anything in life because my mom and I were always struggling from one crisis to another,” Harris says.
With medicine being his passion, Harris also holds a Bachelor’s of Pharmacy Degree (Hons) for which he graduated summa cum laude from the University of the Western Cape. He showed his mettle in April 2017 after he graduating with 24 Distinctions.
“My first year of studying amounted to R50 000, an amount my mom could not afford. I had to apply for financial aid, the staff were surprised to see a white student who lived in Sea Point applying for financial aid and residence. They were shocked. But for me it was simple, it was the only way I could reach my goal,” he confesses.
Harris has a few tokens of wisdom for his peers: “We as the next generation of South Africa are capable, knowledgeable and dedicated to making this country grow. By standing together, supporting, motivating and inspiring each other the country can only grow from strength to strength.”
