Victor’s “Life-changing experience”
Every time a student under our scholarship shares their story, it becomes another source of motivation to continue fighting for academic equality for children of underserved backgrounds.
Victor Ahmedu is one of our beneficiaries from our 2019 class. Victor has experienced many traumatic events in his short lifetime: his father passed away, extended family members left him and his mother vulnerable, and he was faced with the new responsibility of helping his mother provide for the family. Through everything, Victor continues to persevere in life and in school- maintaining an A grade average.
Below Victor recounts his experience with loss and grief, the lessons he has learnt, and the opportunities he is blessed to have.
Just like it is said in the Bible “When the Lord turned the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream” my story is a total summary of this passage.
My story is one filled with so many highs and lows. I see myself as a child with bright prospects, however, with a tough background. I lost my dad at the age of eight, leaving just my widowed mother, me and my siblings. All we had at the time was my mother’s pension. I finished primary school successfully to the glory of God, and Junior secondary school was on the horizon. Unfortunately, things got worse. Everything was falling apart and I could not do anything about it. The economic situation in Nigeria was terrible: cost of food increased, school fees and tuition rose, everything was inflated. Despite my mother’s hard work and effort to provide for us, our financial situation was deteriorating and it started to look like I would have to drop out of school.
In the year 2019, after my basic education certificate Examination (BECE) while awaiting my result and with the uncertainty surrounding furthering my education, I enrolled to learn shoe making as a skill.
On one fateful day at my shoe making apprenticeship, I decided to turn on the radio and I switched it over to Wazobia FM. They were guests on the radio show, however, they were rounding up the radio segment. Fortunately, I was able to catch some details from the segment, like the name of this foundation. I found out that El Pasion Foundation was conducting interviews for students like me from challenging backgrounds. It felt like everything I prayed for was just a step away.
After a long period of waiting I was called upon and since then I have been a beneficiary of their acts of benevolence, as they have been helping to pay my school fees. Being a beneficiary under their scholarship has helped me concentrate on my studies without fear of getting kicked out of school.
From my experience with the foundation I can boldly say that their activities agree with the foundation’s vision, which is to make a Nigeria where every youth has opportunity for a better life. This foundation has not just given me the opportunity to have a better life but has helped me and every other beneficiary out there to have hope of making a great impact in our various families and communities. My hope is that well-meaning individuals will support this foundation to touch more lives.
By
Victor Ahmedu
