Sery Kone graduated from Brigham Young University–Hawaii in June 2015 with a degree in business management. Born and raised in Côte d'Ivoire, he survived child labor on the country's cacao farms and left a corporate career to build Well Africa, a nonprofit organization providing schools and clinics across West Africa. Now a loving husband and father, Kone’s story is one of faith, perseverance, and giving back through education.
The Ground Beneath Him
Kone grew up in a family much like any other until his parents divorced when he was four years old. After their separation, he was stolen from his mother, left hundreds of miles from the only home he knew in Abidjan. There, still a small child, he became one of the many children in Côte d'Ivoire subjected to labor on the country's cacao farms. His days were consumed by grueling work — ten hours at a time on the farm — with little food, brutal beatings and without the care a child of that age should receive.
After six years of forced labor, Kone escaped his father’s village, boarded a bus and made his way back to Abidjan. He describes what followed as his first miracle: he was welcomed into an orphanage and given shelter, the first stability he had known in years. During high school, he met the missionaries and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a decision which shaped the rest of his life.
Though his early years were challenging, Kone does not try to erase them. Instead, he counts them among the many experiences that shaped who he is today.
"Throughout that [time], I had some very impactful experiences that definitely made me who I am today," he said. The hardship gave him the determination and faith that would carry him across the world and back again.
The Seed of an Answer
Kone served a mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2007 to 2009. There he met his mission president, President Livingstone, who saw potential in the young missionary and first raised the idea of attending BYU–Hawaii.
"He just planted the seed in my mind," Kone recalled, "and then I decided to go that route when I came back from my mission."
Choosing to serve came with a cost for Kone. In places where the Church is well established, a mission is an expected milestone, but Kone's circumstances were different. Because the local educational system was not built to accommodate a two-year absence, serving had meant an all-or-nothing decision.
"I have always been the only member of the Church in my family,” he said. “So for me, going on a mission represented a decision that I had to make between continuing with the educational system as it is here, or completely dropping out. And obviously, I made the choice to go and serve."
When Kone returned home, he could not simply pick up where he had left off. But the idea of BYU–Hawaii gave him a clear direction to move toward.
Faith, Four Times Over
When Kone prayed about the decision to attend BYU–Hawaii, the answer came quietly, though unmistakably.
"It wasn't a dramatic spiritual experience like an angel visiting," he said, "But I knew deep in my heart that I needed to go to BYU–Hawaii. There were very few moments like that in my life where I exactly knew what I had to do."
He kept a picture of the flag circle on campus in his small room and looked at it every day. "There was absolutely nothing in my life that could have predicted, or that could have even made it possible for me to even think about the eventuality of going to the United States," he said.
That conviction was tested. It took three years and four applications to finally be admitted to BYUH, with three rejections along the way. What kept him going was the same clarity he had felt in prayer. Finally, with the support of his mission president, funding through the IWORK program, and the opportunities available to international students, Kone was finally admitted to BYU–Hawaii.
"When I was rejected the first time, I didn't give up. The second time, I didn't give up. Then the third time,” he said with a laugh. “It was only on the fourth time that I got accepted. I think they got tired of me, because I was going to keep applying."
Building a Foundation
Kone looks back on his time at BYU–Hawaii as a period filled with spiritual growth and strong bonds with those around him. Like many students, he only recognized the fullness of what surrounded him after he had left.
"You just don't realize what is available and made available to you until you leave," he said. "And then you look back, and you're like, 'Wow, I had such an incredible experience in such an amazing place.'"
His education always carried a feeling of purpose beyond himself. "I wasn't going to school for myself," he said. "I knew that going to school was a responsibility to learn for myself, but to also position myself to serve when I come back to my country."
The temple also shaped Kone's time at BYU–Hawaii in a way he never expected. When he arrived, his English was limited, and he was placed in a language-learning program alongside students whose first languages shared no roots with his native French.
Discouraged and doubting his decision to enroll, Kone was given simple counsel by a teacher: go to the temple and serve. He served every Saturday morning, memorizing and repeating the ordinances week after week. Three months later, he passed the language-learning program and was ready for his regular classes. He points directly to that weekly service as what carried his English forward.
Above all, he remembers the people — administrators, professors, and friends who surrounded him.
"It was just this unique period of my time that cemented everything that I stand for today and everything that I hope to achieve in my life," he said.
Boardrooms and Bigger Dreams
At BYU–Hawaii, Kone joined Enactus, an international nonprofit organization that brings together students, academics, and business leaders to develop entrepreneurial projects focused on improving the lives of people in their communities. While serving as the organization president, the team won its first national championship in the United States, and remembers it fondly. "It was a sweet experience," he said.
That championship conference changed the course of his career, as Walmart offered him a job on the spot.
He became an international auditor for the company in Bentonville, Arkansas, and was later transferred to Mexico City. The company treated him well, he is careful to note, but something pulled him in another direction.
"The passion for the things that I started when I was at BYU–Hawaii just took over," he said.
In 2018, he left Walmart and returned home to keep the promise he had made to himself as a student.
Degrees of Impact
That promise had taken shape long before he graduated. He started his nonprofit, Well Africa, in September 2012, during his first semester at BYU–Hawaii, encouraged by mentors and friends.
"These were the incredible people that just surrounded me with their love, their support, and kind of got me started," he said.
At its heart, the work was about returning what he had been given, and for Kone, the most important thing he had been given was education.
"Somebody put me in school. My mission president offered me the opportunity to go to BYU–Hawaii. I got an incredible education, and the support system was in place for me to succeed," he said. "So if I ever had to give something back, it's got to be education."
The organization began by building primary schools and has since expanded to include small clinics and a women's empowerment program. About a year and a half ago, it opened its first high school, and students who entered years earlier are now advancing to higher education.
Kone specifically credits Enactus with preparing him for the leadership his work now demands. The program trained him as a project manager, giving him the chance to start a project, manage it, see it through, and lead others.
"That to me was what made the difference," he said.
Don't Miss the Miracle
To current students, Kone offers a warning against complacency and an invitation to treasure their time at BYU–Hawaii.
"Some of the people you see today, you may reconnect with in a few years,” he said. "But you'll never again share these same experiences together."
In addition to advice, he offers a testimony. Kone believes deeply in the prophecy on which the school was built, and he understands the pull of staying in the comfort of the United States. Still, he encourages graduates to carry what they have learned back to their own countries.
"We shouldn't be afraid to go back," he said, "because the prophecy on which the school was built will be fulfilled through us if we just open our hearts and minds and allow the Lord to work through us to help build His kingdom wherever we come from."
The Village Behind the Vision
Kone is quick to share his gratitude widely. He is especially thankful for the Laie community, which made life easier for students who arrived with no connection to the United States.
"Whoever reads this article that is from the community of Laie, I want them to know how grateful I am for all that they've done for my family and for me," he said.
For Kone, returning home was never a step away from what he found in Hawaii. Instead, it was the whole point. "
We had to come back with a piece of what we learned there — to help improve the lives of our people," he said. "We're just happy to be back to where we feel like we belong."
