Contestant 5
Doosuur Perpetua Agemafa
– Law Student
Age: 24
I am tired of feeling small. I am tired of running from my voice, from my passions, I am tired of down playing my achievements because I feel I should not speak for a cause as bold as what I stand for. I am going to say it here, loudly, boldly. I am a girl who believes that young people like me are the future of sustainability in Nigeria and beyond. I do not just believe it, I live it, and I have taken the boldest step in my life to try to give young people in my university community the podium they need to drive change in the society.
I birthed Universities Outreach Initiative through self-doubt, fear and utter confusion. All I wanted was to gather the students in my university community together for a visit to the IDP camp. The gift God gave me is the ability to see the full picture, I wanted what I wanted; to have an IDP visit, to put my university students in an environment different from what they are used to, one outside their phones.
I envisioned the whole day, medical students carrying out a medical outreach, drugs to combat basic health issues, counselling to help with more major challenges. I pictured barbing hairs, braiding, gifting children with the joy of the Christmas season.
I put it all together. I cried a lot, I was scared more than half the time, but I did it and some how, I started a volunteer network for students that has given over 50 students volunteer experiences. I don’t have all the answers, I don’t fully know what I am doing yet, some days I wake up and I have no idea what to do next, but I do something every single day, either a social media post to grown our organizational handle, or I speak to one student about our community.
I say our because, it stopped being my own this year when the UOI management team came into existence. People care what happens to this little baby I birthed. Some morning I wake with post natal depression, I forget why I started and I get drowned in the doubts, the ‘what ifs’ and the voice of my childhood that tells me someone like me should not dare something so bold, On those mornings, I go online and I see a review like the one I will attach to this, from my student volunteers and it reminds me that, I am not alone.
What I do matters, this dream to restructure Nigeria by building young people who are committed to the community, who care for people other than themselves is valid. The fear is there, and it is valid. Sometimes I have no idea what I am doing, but I know that this Vision will grow as far as I grow. So, amidst my doubt, through my confusion, I try to take one step everyday. I am owning my voice. Writing this was Impossible last week because I felt I had nothing to say, this morning, I woke up with a confidence I lacked Yesterday, I looked around and I realized, I am a final year law student about to graduate with a 2.1 result, that academic journey has been brutal, yet I am finishing strong.
I have founded an organization that is impacting young people, it is not empowering them yet, but it is changing their minds, that alone is one step to youth empowerment. I Mentor young girls, who look up to me, who see strength in my weakness. I have been doing this afraid and rattled by doubt, I want to do it boldly one day. I want to stand in front of thousands of young girls and tell them my story, I will title it, Through the Ashes. That title captures the story of my life.