Read the story of this young man named Joshua Okoduwa who shared story of his hard times during his studies abroad.
Okoduwa shared his story through a LinkedIn post saying he is from the hood. Read what he wrote below;
I am from the hood,
Where teenage pregnancy and drug abuse were the order of the day,
I am from the hood where cultism thrived from dusk to dawn,
I am from the hood where I lived in a ‘face-me-I-face-you’ housing situation, with smoky and dark kitchens to sometimes cooking in the passageways,
I am from the hood where we burnt candles and used lanterns with kerosene to read,
I am from the hood where my neighbours would fight each other over their ‘I better pass you generators’
I am from the hood, where we attended random weddings on Saturdays just because we didn’t have rice at home, and we would save the meat so we could use it for Stew for Sunday.
I am from the hood where we would padlock our drums of water because we feared neighbours were stealing from them in our absence,
I am from the hood where I lived with rats, and you would have to set traps for them, so they don’t end up eating your life documents from education and birth. Rats that became neutral to poisons and traps.
I am from the hood where I shared a room with three grown-ups, sleeping on the bare floor, and we were happy,
I am from the hood,
Where my mom would make meals in large pots, and the only time we had whole chicken was once a year, during the Christmas season.
I am from the hood where I never let my friends visit me because I didn’t want them to know my living conditions, the hood, where I would meet my friends at bus stops, because how dare you know my house address.
I started Restructure Africa from the hood; my situation was as bad as the people we were reaching out to, but I believed in getting them ahead, and I am super grateful to God for the successes.
I was raised on the streets of Agege,
The Joshua that you know today didn’t come from the fine streets of Jerusalem, but with God, patience, people, and perseverance, the story is ever-changing. Glory to God!
Today, I hope to remind every child from the streets and slums, anyone who runs from their backgrounds and upbringing, that their dreams are valid. It does get better.
I am from the hood,
The hood raised me,
I could have been a forgotten story,
I could have ended up lost, my dreams buried,
But God brought me out of the hoods to show that He can work with anyone and everyone,
From AGEGE to the WORLD,
Congratulations to all of us from the hood,
Our dreams are valid.
I have struggled to share this story because I don’t want to be pitied, cancelled or engulfed with the fear of not being accepted within circles.
There is a hood in every one of us,
My masters in Poverty and Development is to ensure that I can get as many young people out of the hood and support the expansion of their human capacities to compete globally.
We may never look like what we have been through, but it is a reality that we may never recover from.
Thank you Chevening Awards for the opportunity to build my capacities, University of Sussex, Institute of Development Studies,
With love,
Joshua
Sequel to this, we all at yabacampus.com congratulates them and wish them more success ahead.
Source: Joshua Okoduwa|LinkedIn
Nonetheless, we encourage students to participate in some of the ongoing scholarships currently available on our website Yabacampus.com. We have fully and partially funded scholarships from different parts of the world.
Checkout latest scholarship openings here https://www.yabacampus.com/category/scholarships/
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