“Early in my life, my teachers took a strong interest in my academic ability and encouraged me to challenge myself by taking on difficult tasks. They recommended that I take an entrance exam before I reached the entrance grade for secondary school, even though my chances of continuing elite schooling were slim because of my lack of financial support.
By the grace of my teachers, I passed the entrance exam and interview and gained admission. I went to one of the best Catholic secondary schools in what was then Eastern Nigeria. I was not very comfortable in the environment and schooling was very difficult at times, but I was able to strive towards its completion.
After secondary school I went to school for agriculture. The students here were paid as a means of employment, but I was faced with paying school fees for my two siblings and could not because the school salary was not enough. I carried this shame with me and was even shamed by my family who didn't believe I could do what it took to get through school. My father was the only one who understood my struggle of having to provide support for people other than myself. His empathy grounded me in my belief that if I could, I would always help people around me who need help.
Luckily, after my agricultural schooling I was awarded a scholarship to study in the United States. I could not believe it, but cautiously followed the instructions to secure a visa. A man from my village who believed in my academic merit traveled an entire day to help me with the scholarship application. At first, I refused to fill the forms because I did not feel I met the qualifications of other applicants. However, he insisted and made sure that I filled out the forms, and personally submitted them for me.
After living in the US for four years, the desire to help was heavily solidified in me. I began to see and hear what was called "pay back to community".
Since I did not have the finances to officially give back to my community, I started by paying school fees for students in primary school. This was simply an act of kindness, and I just went back to school and did what I could to pay the fees.
Up to this point, I paid school fees for six years for a young man whose father died after he secured admission into medical school, an individual through secondary school, and two students through secondary and university.
One day I also met a child walking from one corner to another with a plastic jar. I asked him why and he explained that he has been to people who sold water and they were selling because there was no power to pump water out of the holes. We then dug a giant hole for the community and brought a generator to pump water.
When more people started to come to me to request help, I decided to go public. My father-in-law's nickname was Udukoro and I learned that he gave away land, helped people find jobs, helped pay school fees, and took on people into his business. In short, he was a philanthropist. After the Nigerian civil war, he lost everything and was impoverished to the extent of not being able to take care of himself. My determination is to keep his name on the radar for as long as I can.
Donation of books and used clothes came from my friends and family in the United States. A group of women from Ikwuame interested in building a community library requested books, so I gave them some spare boxes of books. I also gave books to individual students.
The Christmas party was the first public event I did for the children. With the help of my grandson, Arinze, and other family and volunteers, we organized a celebration to be held in Chief Udukoro’s compound. We set up chairs and tents for the children, and during the event we would sing, recite scripture, eat, dance, and give presents. At the end, the children would always show their gratitude to me by giving me a big, collective THANK YOU GRANDMA.
The first Christmas party started off small with eighty seven children. The second party had one hundred and fifty children in attendance. Since then, the number has grown so much that I am wondering if I should lower the age of children for attendance. Last year's attendance was over five hundred, so much that we actually ran out of presents.
Shipping the presents has also become a serious financial burden. With the present obstacles, I am inclined to just work with certain schools and give scholarship to the best five children in each class, while providing extra help for the last five students in each class. However, the financial constraints of a project like also requires a commitment that I cannot provide for by myself.
It is my hope to help as many if not all people in my community and expand my projects to promote community development.”