I WAS DRESSED LIKE A HOMELESS PERSON TO BEG MONEY AT WALMART, I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO GO TO SCHOOL OR TO PLAY BASKETBALL
Mercy Amechi is from Enugu state Nigeria, she was a
college athlete and a chef, she currently owns her food business Chyfoodnetwork, (fedup.co/plug/cookwchy) she moved to the United States of America seven years ago to study and also to
play basketball; Mercy attended Monroe college in New York where she obtained an associate degree and then moved to Hampton University Virginia, where she also obtained
a B.sc in Sport management and business. Growing up, she dreamt of living abroad
but also thought that it was a fanciful hope which will never happen, but as
God will have it, today she is living in America and living her dreams.
Mercy shares her story about why and how she left Nigeria
to pursue her dreams abroad, the challenges she encountered, what kept her going and
how she overcame all obstacles to get to where she has always dreamt to be. As a young girl growing up in Nigeria, she hatred
going to school, the only thing she loves doing was sport and cooking and that
was the only reason she went to school.
She got a scholarship to come to the US to play basketball and also to go to school through the Ejike Ugboaja foundation, a
charitable organization that provides educational opportunities for young
Nigerians through sport. She got to know about the foundation through a friend
on Facebook who happens to be one of the coaches that comes to the camp every
year to select young athlete to travel to America for a camp where they could
be discovered by schools. She was fortunate to be selected to attend the camp
in Atlanta. During the camp, some coaches took interest in her but
unfortunately, she did not receive I-20 to remain in the country to go to school and to
play basketball, she returned back to Nigeria, but she never gave up, she kept
sending series of emails to the organizer of the program until he got her a scholarship
to come back to America.
ARE YOU A NURSE WHO ASPIRES TO PURSUE YOUR CAREER ABROAD, JOIN US ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 2020. AS NURSE TOPE SHARES HER STORY AS PSYCHIATRIC NURSE IN VIRGINIA USA. JOIN US TO KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO SUCCEED AS A NURSE ABROAD.
I LEFT NIGERIA BECAUSE I WAS TIRED AND
FRUSTRATED, MY PARENT WANTED ME TO DO MY MASTERS DEGREE IN NIGERIA BUT I DECLINED,TO HAVE MY WAY, I TOLD
THEM THAT NOBODY CAN TEACH ME IN NIGERIA ANYMORE
Tunji Offeyi is an award winning UK based Journalist, Poet and a global analyst,
he was born in Lagos state Nigeria,
attended Lagos state University where he obtained a BA in Literature in English
and in 2009 he moved to the United Kingdom for further study, where he also obtained
a master’s degree in International Relations from Staffordshire University. Tunji
began his career in journalism in 2003 through the week magazine (Now defunct) and
rose to the rank of Special Correspondent (Lagos) , as an experienced
Journalist he had the privilege to interview great personalities like Izi
Codron the producer of the Hit movie Hotel Rwanda, Nigerian legendary flutist
Tee Mac Iseli, Professor Liz Barnes-Vice Chancellor Staffordshire University, and
several Nollywood Stars such as Segun Arinze, Stephanie Okereke-Linus, Richard
Mofe Damijo (RMD) amongst other notable names in the Nigerian entertainment
industry.
He has written several
poems and short stories notable among his story is the pleasures of the night, this
story caught the attention of the government and influences their decision to
take action against prostitution and other vices going on around the night clubs
in Lagos. Tunji is also the author of the book Echoes from The Soul (A
collection of poems) which was launched at The Albany Centre, London in 2009.
He has received several awards for some of his write ups, his poem ‘Chapta two’
was recently published by the prestigious Cake magazine, a Poetry magazine
based in the University of Lancaster, after being mocked by a poet in a reading
club in London. He is married to a Hungarian
woman Kitti and they are blessed with a lovely son Noé , also known as Eniola.
Tunji loves traveling with his family and they have been to 15 different countries of
the world.
Tunji shares his story on how he moved from Nigeria to the
United Kingdom and how transition was for him, he left Nigeria because he was
tired of the country and frustrated about the situation of things in the
country; his parent wanted him to do his master’s degree in Nigeria but he
declined saying to them that he is too intelligent to be taught in Nigeria and those who can teach him are in the UK. of course, this was to provoke his family so he can have his way to leave the country. Like every other youth in Nigeria, he had tried
all he could to succeed in his career but all to no avail, he was famous but
has nothing to show for it, he got the opportunity to come to the United Kingdom,
it wasn’t an easy journey for him starting out in the UK, as he came into the
country with just twenty pounds which lasted for just one week after his
arrival and his dream was almost fading out after one week in the UK. He got
some support from the pastor of the church he attended when he first arrived until he was able to get
a job. He was kicked out from where he was squatting with a family, he moved in with some friends in a single room
and continued to struggle to live his dream, he got a job with more hours and
was able to rent his own apartment and life began to evolve from there for him, he
met his wife they got married and moved to a bigger apartment he no longer
lives in the hustle and bustle of London and now he is living his dream. He advised those who aspires to leave their country to pursue their dreams abroad to plan
it right, get the right documents in place, so they can have a peaceful migration , because if they don’t get it
right from the beginning, they might spend the better part of their life running from immigration
and might even be deported after spending so many years without achieving
nothing.
I WAS
BULLIED, CALLED A BOOTY SCRATCHER AND VERY NASTY NAMES, BEING CALLED AN AFRICAN
WAS AN INSULT, I STRUGGLED WITH IT FOR A VERY LONG TIME AND I WAS NOT PROUD OF
MY GHANAIAN /AFRICAN ROOTS.
3RD RUNNER UP MISS UNIVERSE GHANA 2015, SHARES HER STORY FROM DIASPORA
Marie
Louise Ocran is a Ghanaian American, she is a model and was the third runner up
Miss Universe Ghana 2015, she is also a food entrepreneur, a computer
programmer and the founder of more to life international; a non-profit
organization that provides mental health education to youths in Ghana, her personal experience as a suicide attempt
survivor inspired her to set up her organization. As a young girl she attempted suicide twice because she was constantly
bullied and oppressed by her school mates and also, due to other life situation
such as living in poverty which lead her to a state of despair that forced her
to almost take her life. she started her organization, “More to Life International,” to
raise awareness about the need for programs addressing mental health issues and
wellbeing in African.
In
2016, she was recognized for her work by the International Association of
Applied Psychology of United Nations as she was a keynote speaker for an SDG’s
event. She has also worked with International Center for Research on Women.
Today,
she is co-owner of MAMA, Tulsa’s first African & Caribbean, food business alongside
being a full stack developer. She believes that being a full stack developer
helps her bridge the gap between her passions.
On
our story from diaspora she tells her story on how she moved from Ghana to
American and how transition was for her.
Marie
came To American at the age of seven, her father won the visa lottery and he
filed for her and her siblings to join him. She had the opportunity to attend
middle and high school in American, middle school was very tough for her as she
had a difficult time adjusting to the system. She dealt with a lot of self-hate,
she was bullied because of her accent and was called names like booty scratcher
and other nasty names, being called an African was an insult, she was ashamed
of her African/Ghanaian root for a very long time and she struggled with it, and
so, she decided to work on her accent to change the way she speaks so that she
can be accepted in the community, she bought some training tapes to learn how
to speak like Americans without a trace of any accent, this went on for a very
long time, it was recently that she came to full acceptance of who she is and
where she is from and to begin to love her culture.
On
why Africans look up to migration as an ultimate goal, she said it is because of
how the media portrays African and the western world. African is being portrayed as poverty stricken, while America is seen
as as a land of gold with so many skyscrapers, because of this, even as a little
girl in Ghana, migration was her first goal in life and many in
African still wish that even if they could get to American airport and die
before stepping their feet on the soil they have made it in life, to her migration is
an ultimate goal to Africans because they feel that there is no opportunity for
them in African or perhaps, they do not know how to take advantage of the
little opportunities that are available. She advised young people who aspires to
leave their country to pursue their dreams elsewhere to wait on any opportunity
that is too good to be true, and to research on such opportunity before jumping into it and not
to take any risk if they are not sure of what lies ahead of them.
I am Tunji Offeyi-a UK based Journalist-Poet,born in the Coastal city of Lagos,Nigeria.I wrote
the book Echoes From The Soul (A collection of poems) which was launched at The Albany
Centre,London in 2009.My highest qualification is MA International Relations from Staffordshire
University having initially bagged a BA(Literature in English) from Lagos State University.I also
retrained in Journalism through a program I participated in at the University of Derby and
Guardian UK.Prior to all this I practised for several years in Lagos Nigeria writing mainly for The
Week magazine(Now defunct)and rose to the rank of Special Correspondent(Lagos).As an
experienced Journalist I have had the privilege to interview great personalities like Izi Codronthe producer of the Hit movie Hotel Rwanda,Nigerian legendary flutist Tee Mac Iseli,Professor
Liz Barnes-Vice Chancellor Staffordshire University,and several Nollywood Stars such as Segun
Arinze,Stephanie Okereke-Linus,Richard Mofe Damijo(RMD) amongst other notable names in
the NIgerian entertainment industry.Some of my career highlights was writing a story titled
Pleasures of The Night which caused the government to take actions against prostitution and
other vices going on around Lagos night clubs at the time.I have done Collaborations with
Television for Enviroment(TVE)UK-which informed my story Filming Against Poverty.My poem
titled Chapta Two was recently published by Cake Poetry of the University of Lancaster.My blog
link is tunjiwites.wordpress.com.
My personal life revolves around my Hungarian wife Kitti and our Son Noé also known as
Eniola.We love travelling and have visited over 15 countries at the last count,when we are less
busy we tend to our vegetable garden allotment near our home in Stoke-on-Trent.
WHY I CAME TO KENYA: A CHINESE MAN SOLD HOPELESSNESS ABOUT THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY TO ME, I STARTED DOING MATH; MY CURRENT SALARY WAS GOING TO DROP BY THE MERE FACT OF DEPRECIATION OF THE NAIRA SO I STARTED LOOKING OUT FOR OPPORTUNITIES.
Patrick Idemudia is from Edo state Nigeria, he is a graduate of Electrical Engineering, a seasoned professional in the Port terminal industry and has built experience in the last 16 years spanning 10 countries across the globe. He has an expertise in the automation of port terminals by deploying cutting edge technology in driving the business in the right direction. He currently works as the Head of Operations of one of the largest grain handling facilities in sub-Saharan Africa that supports 5 countries around the sub-region and lives with his family in the port city of Mombasa in Kenya.
Given his background, Patrick believes that as an employee, one is tied to the apron’s string of the employer and as such, over the years developed a passion for building business ideas and pushing them to fruition. Patrick’s interests are current affairs, wildlife reserves, football and travelling. Patrick shared his story about what motivated him to move from West Africa to East Africa, he started his career in Nigeria with a subsidiary of AP Moller ~ Maersk group known as APM Terminals where he got the opportunity to be trained in different countries; after obtaining vast trainings and experiences in his field, he was transferred to Benin republic branch of the organization to head the operations team, and later returned to Nigeria to head the operations team . Years later, he learnt about an opportunity in Kenya to flip the operations of a port grain terminal, the company needed to introduce technology to change its business operation. He saw the prospect of advancement and expansion and he left Nigeria to take up the offer in Kenya.
On why he actually left Nigeria, in the line of is job he met a Chinese investor who sold hopelessness about the Nigeria economy to him. During their discussion, he was told that the way the Nigerian Government is running the economy was not sustainable and will lead to the crash of the local currency. This got him thinking and made him start researching about their discussion. He realized that if this happens, his current earning was going to drop significantly by the mere fact of the anticipated depreciation of the Naira and so he started making contact to pursue his dreams elsewhere.
IT WAS NOT AN EASY ROAD, I MADE FRIENDS, I LOST FRIENDS, I ENCOUNTERED MANY OBSTACLES, GOT LOTS OF EXPERIENCES AND I LOST MY MOST PRECIOUS MUM DURING THIS JOURNEY, AMIDST ALL THESE, I OVERCAME AND I CONQUERED
Prisca Onyegwara popularly known as Doc Zoe, is from Imo state Nigeria, she is the CEO of Excellent Health for Africa Initiative (Exhela Initiative), a non-governmental organization that aim to create a Prisca Onyegwara popularly known as Doc Zoe, is from Imo state Nigeria, she is the CEO of Excellent Health for Africa Initiative (Exhela Initiative), a non-governmental organization that aim to create a healthy and disease-free Africa, through health education and medical outreach. She is a Public Health Consultant and an Influencer, she obtained her masters degree in public health in 2018 from the prestigious Monroe college in Bronx New York, she is also a certified health education specialize. In our story from Diaspora, Doc Zoe shares the story of her journey so far in diaspora, she spoke about how she came to the United states of America to pursue her dreams, the difficult moments in her life and how she was able to overcome them and thrived. Doc Zoe came to the United states of America in 2014 as a visitor, she was invited to a conference to speak about the health challenges in Africa, after the conference she decided to remain in the country to expand her knowledge and to gain more exposure in her field, and so she searched for opportunities to go to school to obtain her masters degree. Fortunately for her, she got admitted into Monroe college to study public health.
She spoke about the various project she has been involved in, in the rural part of African, creating awareness on various health issues, educating the people on how to stay healthy and providing free medical screening and medication. When she first started out in New York, things were going on well, she was working hard to ensure that she actualize her goals, and was also looking forward to complete her master’s program so she could move on to the next stage in her career, but in 2017 things began to turn around for her, in January 2017 she lost her mum and this threw her into a deep state of depression and things came to a halt for her, because her mum was the closest person in her life, she was her biggest fan and a big source of inspiration who believes in her even when she think of doing the impossible.
After her mum was laid to rest, she struggled to get back on her feet again, she tried to take a break from school but with encouragement from friends and faculty members in her school she forged ahead even though it was not easy, but she turned to God in prayer for strength to move on. To overcome all her pains, she channeled her anger and frustration into her passion, her study and other things she wanted to do. In 2018 she graduated with honors, she was the best graduating student and also received the dean's award in her faculty. She also rebranded her organization, acquire more trainings in her field and also worked hand in hand with the SDG 2030 goals to ensure good health and to promote the wellbeing of the people in the rural areas. Although the challenges were still there, with her team members, accommodation problem, and other issues, She recalled how she was almost raped by the boyfriend of someone who accommodated her when she was having accommodation issue and a whole lot of problems and it got to the point that she almost gave up on everything and wanted to returned back to Nigeria, but she tried her best to overcome all these, and today things are going on well. Her advise to those who aspires to leave their country to pursue their dreams elsewhere is to make their research before they make the move to leave their country, to learn more about the country they plan to move to, have a game plan and also have the right mind set.
