Succeeding amidst overwhelming odds

Life is a journey which holdsdifferent challenges that an individual must overcome in order to succeed. Unfortunately, my birth was rather an obstacle for my teenage mother who was abandoned by her boyfriend when she became pregnant. My grandmother though uneducated insisted that my mother continued her education while she helped raised me.

Grandma was a strong woman who struggled to educate me and my other cousinswith very limited resources. I was a child of sin because my little village did not sanction children born out of wedlock. I first understood that I was a bastard when one of the community mothers cautioned my friendsagainst playing with me. I was worried because I actually thought it was a contagious disease. I became an introvert because I was afraid of rejection.

Through all these challenges my grandma kept encouraging me to focus on my education because it was the vehicle that will propel me to a new and better life.

Unfortunately, during the first term in form five I became pregnant and just like the case of my mother, the man who impregnated me disappeared. Fortunately, my mother was working already and she could take care of my daughter so I could continue with my studies. I was determined to empower myself through education especially to help protect girls from all forms of exploitation.

I finally had my doctorate degree in 2015, and even before that I started publishing books and papers advocating for the rights of girls and women. I have worked with groups thatpromote the rights of women and now I am a member of an NGO that works for the social and economic empowerment of women where I give my fifty cents for the empowerment of girls and women in my country.