I am Full of Thanksgiving

My life is full of thanksgiving because if not for God and people sent to me as helpers I would have wasted away. My life would have been like a snake that pass through the rock without a trace and impact. Let me first of all be thankful to the almighty God that gave me life and the opportunity to come to this world. My struggle began the day I was born to this world when I came as a girl. I came from a big family compound where all my uncle's first born were male but my fatherhad me as his first born andI came as a female which according to them showed that my father was a weakling. When after me, another child that came from my mother was also a female my father became so frustrated but he made up his mind to train usdespite all odds. I am thankful to him for taking that decision, though frustrated by the abuse from his brothers, he did not hate us but decided to train us. Our world suddenly collapsed when we lost him to the cold hand of death in 1988.

I am so thankful to my mother for been a strong woman that decided to be by the side of her children when she decided she was not going to be passed to another man in her husband family but she wanted to be left alone to take of her children. It was a tough decision because that we had to leave the extended family house to fend for ourselves and my mother took that choice. I appreciate you my mother Bolatito for chosen us instead of another man that may constitute a serious problem for us.

I grew up in a tough way because my mother and Iwas the one that trained my other six siblings. It was a tough and rough journey,we bothwent into all kinds of trades to be able to send my siblings to school andthe struggles continued till I got married and started having my own kids too.

At the age of 43 I was still in this struggles and so my own vision was put aside because of so many family commitments that I have to fulfil.

I will forever be thankful and grateful to Jensine Larsen the founder of World Pulse for her vision to create avenue for the voices of women round the world to be heard. If not for her vision I wouldn't have come of my cocoon and my vision to help other women in my community wouldn't have seen the light of the day. I have been conciving the vision to help other women and girls not to sufferwhat my mother and I suffered.

It all started in June, 2009 with one click I got connected to World Pulse and through their program "Voice of our Future Correspondence (VOF)", I went into the competition of reporting what was happening in my community and we were given a mentor each that would be monitoring our progress. I am so grateful and thankful to my mentor then Amy Lombardo who was so effective and wonderful in mentoring me. She took me like her own sister even though weare different in colour, race and ethnic group. My wonderful sister from the global south! I got several of these sisters in my journey with world pulse that I am thankful and grateful to. The likes of Jade frank, Ellen Wigard and the host of others that have helped my dream along the way.

I emerged as one of the winners ofVOF and was awarded to go for empowerment in USA. For the first in my life I boarded an aeroplane, I travelled out of Nigeria and went to Empowerment Institute to be empowered so that I can empower the other women in my community to live their lives the way they most want it.

This now took me to another set of people that I am grateful and thankful to in my journey in life. I am grateful to David and Gail for believing in me and included me in the Imagine program and make me the program manager for Nigeria. I have empowered over 3000 women and girls in Nigeria through this program.

I am grateful to Josie Maran Cosmetics for the award of $25,000 given to my organization in 2015, it has really move my work forward in Nigeria. I am also thankful to Theresa one of our mentors in Imagine for her encouragement in moving my Empowerment work forward with her style of mentoring.

Every time I look back, rewind to 2009, what my life used to be and what it is now, my heart is always full of gratitudes to these wonderful people that God has brought on my way. They are helpers of my destiny and I am so grateful to them all.