Alice In the Real World
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland), tells a story of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by magical creatures (Wikipedia). My story is about a girl called Ugonna who fell into a rabbit hole which the girl child faces if she wants an education — financing her education. Great dialogues and statistics weren’t going to fill this hole; she needed to pay her school fees. She had just gotten admission into the University of Port Harcourt and the first ‘welcome’ was “Pay your school fees or forfeit your admission or better still, don’t go to school”. That was her reality in 2014.
Numbers Speak!
The global figure for out-of-school children is estimated at 121 million, 65 million being girls. Over 80 per cent of these girls live in Sub Saharan Africa. (UNICEF Information sheet, Girls’ Education, Nigerian office, September 2007). This was seven years before she fell into the hole of reality. Just like many of these girls who never had the chance to go to school, poverty and economic issues have been one of the main barriers to getting an education. Fast-forward to 2017 and the story hasn’t really changed.
At a conference I attended in April, one of the leaders we spoke with recalled how he effectively crunched numbers daily in his former job but did not really see the effect first-hand of all he was doing until he encountered real people in his new position. “A child died in his mother’s arms because she did not have three thousand Naira for hospital bills” he recalled with tears in his eyes. Can we hear numbers speaking to us now?
In Ugonna’s case she needed about One hundred thousand Naira to cover her tuition.
Ugonna
While waiting for a meeting in church, a gentle voice coming from behind said “good evening” and immediately I turned to see a petite girl with a radiant smile which could brighten anyone’s day. “Are you a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul — A charity organisation which provides aid to poor people in the society?” she asked. After telling her I was a member, she continued by telling me her issues with school fees. This wasn’t new to us; we have had worse cases but this was a problem at that time because we were low on funding and we couldn’t give her all our money because we had people in the hospital and surrounding communities to assist. Raising funds for a new startup or project could be stressful and this was a similar experience — get a hundred thousand Naira in 3 weeks so she can continue her studies.
The easy part was getting contacts which included the numbers of the parents to confirm her story and see if they could help, her uncle, the Priest of a nearby parish and benefactors of the society. The hard part was making the calls. I felt like a sales rep: “My name is Tonye Harry and I’m a member of the society of St. Vincent de Paul, a charity organisation in the Catholic church and…”.
The first week was frustrating; her parents weren’t having enough money for her tuition but the good news was that they wanted her to be in school, her uncles were off the hook immediately I spoke with them — so many excuses, the society was willing to give ten thousand Naira and the Priest who referred her to us did not want to disclose a fixed amount. I was hunted by the numbers everyday — hundred thousand in three weeks.
We were still on the same issue as last week, no one had even promised, talk less of sending cash. I called her dad and almost got angry on the phone (I think I did) “Sir, you have to give us something so we could help your daughter out. If this is not done, your daughter will be out of school. Do you want that to happen?”. I guess that’s what frustration can make you do. I remember talking with Ugonna and she said “Tonye, I went to a security agency and asked if I could work night shifts but they rejected me… I can do anything to get this cash. I’m still trying my best”. Looking at her stature I knew why she wasn’t picked but her determination to go to school shocked me. I had not seen a girl like her prior to our encounter. All week she had helped in the process and not wavering. It got to a point I almost called her to weigh her options. She was her miracle.
I had a talk with her on the first day of the third week. We needed to explain that she should think of differing her admission or forfeit if we couldn’t get the money. In her usual way, she smiled, thanked us for our help so far then we laughed about other things.
“Am I speaking with Tonye from the society of St. Vincent de Paul?, please were can I meet you to give you my contribution to the tuition Ugonna needs to pay”. That was the defining moment. Next day we received donations from benefactors and It kept rolling. Her parents managed to raise Forty thousand Naira, the society added ten thousand Naira so did the Priest and in just few days to the deadline we raised more than our mark. I felt so emotional when I called her to break the news. It was just surreal, I still don’t know how to explain the feeling with words. Ugonna was my miracle.
The Miracle
Ugonna is currently in her 4th year in a five year course which she would round up next year. I met Ugonna 2 years after in a cab going from Rumuokoro to Choba park. I felt like a baby who had just learnt how to walk, I couldn’t control my excitement. “I’m doing some side jobs around school to help sustain myself in school. I currently help a friend of mine sell phones around school while trying to read and balance things up”. At that moment I felt small but at the same time I felt honored to have met a fighter. This experience I just narrated changed something in me and that’s the purpose of human existence.
Dear Ugonna, if you see this article, I just want to tell you how grateful I am for this experience. You are the miracle of your generation and the example most girls should follow. Educating you would surely educate generations to come. You are the miracle. The event was just a way of telling the world that we are our own miracles. Ugonna this experience has been a gift to my life and as every year passes by and I think about this, I feel like you gave me a gift when I was 19 years old and now that I clocked 22 on May 16th I still feel the same way.
Thank You!
“I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
— Etienne de Grellet
