My Journey

I am Azinwi Ngum, I grow up with my grandmother, in a Muslim community where girls education is regarded as a taboo. I was fortunate, my grandmother, though Muslim, did all she could to send me to school, but some of my friends and girls around whom I grew up with, did not have this opportunity. Their parents thought it was a waste of time and money for them to school because they were soon to be married off to a \"chosen groom\". How long will girls continue to sacrifice their future? I have always though of ways I could raise my voice to this breaking this culture. With support from the British High Commission in Cameroon, friend and family, I have used the social media to promote girl child education, reached out to close to 10,000 youths through events in secondary schools and universities on the ripple effects on the community if a girl is educated and how stereotyping could kill a girls dream. Using community radios, I have also been able to reach out to the rural population on these issues but am still limited in resources to reach the remote areas where the situation is far worse. I believe change begins with me, and am willing and open to learning new ways to making this world a better way for girls and young people in my community.