12-30-2024, 10:35 PM
I emigrated to the United States from West Africa as a little girl in search of greener pastures based on the decision of my family. I left so many loved ones behind, including my mother. It was a bittersweet moment drifting off in the ferry that transported us to the airport and watching my mother's figure slowly fading away until she became a non-existing spec against the ferry terminal’s backdrop. The sweet moment was envisioning LIFE IN AMERICA! Wow…America! And so my journey in the land of the free and all its opportunities began! I assimilated quite well in school. I got the drift of the American culture and the American tongue (sort of) within about a year-and-a-half after my arrival and I was enjoying every bit of it. Then, before you know it, problems struck. About 2 ½ years after my arrival to the States, my mom who was my best friend passed away unexpectedly. I wasn't able to attend her funeral, but at the tender age of 9, I was able to purchase her shoes (fashionable heeled pumps similar to what she wore in her heyday) that I wanted her to wear in her casket. Shortly after my mother's death, my native country became embroiled in a civil war that would last for a little over ten years. I lost lots of family members and family friends in that war. I remember (sometime during my junior year of highschool) watching a CNN coverage of the war of people being attacked and beaten to death and all I could do was watch the television helplessly and ball my eyes out, while fearing for the rest of my family members and friends I left behind.
During my early teenage years, while my friends were living their normal lives as youths, I was dealing with the loss of family members; one after another, with the most devastating being that of my paternal grandmother who raised me. I remember going from almost a 4.0 student, immediately to a 3.0 due to the devastation. She too passed from remnants of the war back home. We (my grandmother and I) received a phone call early one morning with news that my uncle and aunt (grandmother’s children) were attacked at gunpoint in their home in the capital by rebels and no one knew if their lives were spared or not. This caused my grandmother to experience a heart attack; arriving at the hospital DOA (dead on arrival); however, she was resuscitated, but her bounce back was very difficult. She passed in the hospital about a month after; shortly after her 70th birthday. By this time I was fourteen years old.
That's been my life for the most part - dealing with unimaginable blows from a very young age, but somehow managing to be resilient and persevering. By the age of nineteen, I moved out of my father's house - a decision that was heavily frowned upon by the African community as mostly everyone (my father included) thought I was setting myself up for failure. Little did they know my grit. After junior college, I transferred to the University where I received my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance by my early 20’s, with an MBA two years after. My hard work, ambition, and perseverance afforded me the opportunity to land great positions (albeit I experienced major corporate warfare that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy). It seems I missed the memo - being a young Black woman in the U.S. who dared to be ambitious and hardworking; challenging the status quo of a system that stacked the odds against her. Through the midst of trials and tribulations, I was still able to achieve the ‘American Dream’ at the precipice of thirty.
About three years ago, I decided to take a huge risk, leaving my beautiful life as I knew it in the U.S. to relocate back to Africa in an attempt to bridge the economic business development gap with the United States - a nation that provided me the opportunity to be able to give back to my people, with the plan to return to the States as a liaison to both nations. In a quest to contribute my part to a war-torn nation, while simultaneously influencing the continent as a whole, life has been short of easy to say the least. The little family I had left who I trusted and relied on to guide me through the ways of life ended up turning on me and swindled me out of most of my investments I saved to contribute to my entrepreneurial projects. These are members I gave opportunities to to initially be the face of my projects with business registrations and set-up. Their lack of transparency and deceit caused me a loss amounting to close to $40,000. Landlords too have swindled their fair share over the years as well with an additional $36,000+ due to non-existent rental regulations for foreigners like myself. Unfortunately, these are things the U.S. Embassy is not able to assist with. Corruption, mixed with civil strife in the time I've been in Africa have also been contributing factors for the stalemate of my progress towards operation of my projects, which I was able to invest in with the little I had left from those who swindled me. This is the same savings I depended on to also continue life in the U.S. to pay bills, with the biggest being my student loans. Now, with inflation and global instability, life has become even more difficult. I am in a dire need to recoup at least a portion of my losses (if not all), so my projects can continue. These projects contribute to employment opportunities, especially for the youths who are faced with hopelessness in a nation riddled with poverty and an extremely high unemployment rate. As impoverished as the nation is however, there are opportunities for visionaries like myself who see lots of potential for business development. Being willing to face adversities with the lack of resources, given the current state of the country and the world is key! Life has thrown me many lemons from which I was/am able to make lemonade, but I can only afford to do so with your help - no matter how little. A special thank you to each person who can find it in their heart to help me survive and move towards my business goals so I can return to the U.S. to collaborate and build on the emerging developments taking place throughout the continent of Africa. My gratitude to each of you for paying it forward and allowing me to be the positive change that all of us want to see in the world. https://paypal.me/EikonicChange?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US
During my early teenage years, while my friends were living their normal lives as youths, I was dealing with the loss of family members; one after another, with the most devastating being that of my paternal grandmother who raised me. I remember going from almost a 4.0 student, immediately to a 3.0 due to the devastation. She too passed from remnants of the war back home. We (my grandmother and I) received a phone call early one morning with news that my uncle and aunt (grandmother’s children) were attacked at gunpoint in their home in the capital by rebels and no one knew if their lives were spared or not. This caused my grandmother to experience a heart attack; arriving at the hospital DOA (dead on arrival); however, she was resuscitated, but her bounce back was very difficult. She passed in the hospital about a month after; shortly after her 70th birthday. By this time I was fourteen years old.
That's been my life for the most part - dealing with unimaginable blows from a very young age, but somehow managing to be resilient and persevering. By the age of nineteen, I moved out of my father's house - a decision that was heavily frowned upon by the African community as mostly everyone (my father included) thought I was setting myself up for failure. Little did they know my grit. After junior college, I transferred to the University where I received my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance by my early 20’s, with an MBA two years after. My hard work, ambition, and perseverance afforded me the opportunity to land great positions (albeit I experienced major corporate warfare that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy). It seems I missed the memo - being a young Black woman in the U.S. who dared to be ambitious and hardworking; challenging the status quo of a system that stacked the odds against her. Through the midst of trials and tribulations, I was still able to achieve the ‘American Dream’ at the precipice of thirty.
About three years ago, I decided to take a huge risk, leaving my beautiful life as I knew it in the U.S. to relocate back to Africa in an attempt to bridge the economic business development gap with the United States - a nation that provided me the opportunity to be able to give back to my people, with the plan to return to the States as a liaison to both nations. In a quest to contribute my part to a war-torn nation, while simultaneously influencing the continent as a whole, life has been short of easy to say the least. The little family I had left who I trusted and relied on to guide me through the ways of life ended up turning on me and swindled me out of most of my investments I saved to contribute to my entrepreneurial projects. These are members I gave opportunities to to initially be the face of my projects with business registrations and set-up. Their lack of transparency and deceit caused me a loss amounting to close to $40,000. Landlords too have swindled their fair share over the years as well with an additional $36,000+ due to non-existent rental regulations for foreigners like myself. Unfortunately, these are things the U.S. Embassy is not able to assist with. Corruption, mixed with civil strife in the time I've been in Africa have also been contributing factors for the stalemate of my progress towards operation of my projects, which I was able to invest in with the little I had left from those who swindled me. This is the same savings I depended on to also continue life in the U.S. to pay bills, with the biggest being my student loans. Now, with inflation and global instability, life has become even more difficult. I am in a dire need to recoup at least a portion of my losses (if not all), so my projects can continue. These projects contribute to employment opportunities, especially for the youths who are faced with hopelessness in a nation riddled with poverty and an extremely high unemployment rate. As impoverished as the nation is however, there are opportunities for visionaries like myself who see lots of potential for business development. Being willing to face adversities with the lack of resources, given the current state of the country and the world is key! Life has thrown me many lemons from which I was/am able to make lemonade, but I can only afford to do so with your help - no matter how little. A special thank you to each person who can find it in their heart to help me survive and move towards my business goals so I can return to the U.S. to collaborate and build on the emerging developments taking place throughout the continent of Africa. My gratitude to each of you for paying it forward and allowing me to be the positive change that all of us want to see in the world. https://paypal.me/EikonicChange?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US