MY JOURNEY

I am the first and the only female child out of three children my parents have. Am from Kumba, South West Region, Cameroon. My mother is a petit-trader and my father a retired driver by profession. My two junior brothers dropped out of school due to financial difficulties so that I could push ahead with my education. They are currently apprentices in Kumba, where we are all based. I also have a four years old son, and I am not yet legally married to his father. But as an African and the first grand child to both my maternal and paternal grand parents, I have more than 35 cousins who all look up to me for guidance and support. This is one of the main reason i keep striving for a better life for us all.

Kumba is a junction town in my region and full of many economic activities, but my immediate community (my quarter) is a typical African ghetto set up. It is made up of a mix of Christians and Muslims. The living conditions are very poor and many people there are womenwhodropout of school, just at the primary level. And it is the habitat of the Hausa people who usually are not education inclined. Most of the young girls have given birth are jobless and some do petit trade for survival and some are into some hand work; such as hair stylists, seamstress.

The biggest challenge am facing right now are the needs of my organization. I need perspective partners for mentorship and financial assistance to meet up my objectives. When this is achieved then it will help the women in my community. I will also love to carry out training on digital empowerment in my neighborhood, so that the women and young girls learn a lot and change their lives.

They are very uneducated, so I will love to tell them the importance of education and advice them to go back to school.

Also I will love to advice them of early child bearing which main cause is prostitution.

Most importantly I will teach them some empowering skills so that they become sustainable.

And I love to teach them how to use the Internet for better purposes, other than Facebook and WhatApp.

I will love to Carry on activities to eradicate or curb all the above issues women in my community face, such as organizing trainings and workshops, advice them on the importance of education and HIV Aids.

Most importantly I will be giving the ladies capital in kind to start up their little petite trade, such as sewing machines, refrigerator to make yoghurt, Ice cream machines etc.

With all these my actions I will be supporting

Women; especially Survivors of Human trafficking, young mothers, young women who don’t have any idea about digital empowerments.

I raise funds from letters of appeal to some businesspersons in my community.

Also, since I have an organization called Survivors’ Network, Cameroon we the members often contribute money for our activities.

I need a means of movement that mobility and financial resources to carry out my activities. I also need more training on public speaking and also more practical on digital empowerment.

The Poem Below, Best tells My Journey.

STILL I RISE, BY MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.