Blessing Lum

"The reward for work done is more work" - Jim Butcher  
I joined Open Dreams as a volunteer when I was barely 16 years old. Being taken aback by the brilliant nature of the scholars, I never saw myself as a scholarship recipient,  but my give-back spirit made me a social impact volunteer. At the age of 17, I was afforded the opportunity to study Business Management at the African Leadership College in Mauritius as a MasterCard Foundation scholar. I was the first member of my family to pursue College education abroad, after overcoming odds due to the Anglophone crisis. I was committed to gaining knowledge from the developed world, so as to contribute to change in my country. Every summer and Christmas break, you would find me in Cameroon actively participating in Open Dreams' activities.  I have been privileged to coordinate the Open Dreams Summer Academy in Bamenda and represent Open Dreams as a speaker during the Aviva Day for the years 2022 and 2023. This in essence, showed my unwavering commitment to addressing SDG 4- Education for all.

Even as a MasterCard Foundation scholar, I coordinated sessions on LinkedIn optimization, effective transitioning, and being a teaching assistant at school. These deeds and more made me receive the Social Impact award in December 2022. I was not present at the award ceremony,  as I was back home in Cameroon planning the Aviva Outreach program with the team. This award is evidence that I have a heart for my people and cannot let our background put us down. Hence a solution, the Date With Triumph-DWT venture, which seeks to enhance the professional development landscape in Cameroon. Thanks to Open Dreams, I was able to see an opportunity amidst the problem of unemployment and provided a solution to one of the root causes of unemployment which is lack of professionalism by the ever increasing workforce.

I started DWT under the Open Dreams canopy to ignite in like-minded individuals the ability to see problems as opportunities to bring forth sustainable solutions, in an effort to being catalysts of change. I envisage a Cameroon where every youth is zealous about making their dream a reality. This stems from identifying a cause, then building on your passion to birth a sustainable solution. It is about doing hard things.

Joining Open Dreams as a passionate volunteer, mentor, and an innovative facilitator is just a stitch in time, which evidently saves nine.