Cynthia Ebot Takang 

I grew up in a normal home, both parents alive and conscious of my right to quality education. I attended a normal primary and secondary school and gathered the knowledge I was supposed to. There were some rocky periods at home but my family did their best to make sure our education was never compromised even if it meant going into debt. I went on to study a not very popular field in my family: journalism. When I had my degree, I was expected to continue to do Masters in a University here or write a competitive entrance examination and get a government job, settle down and live a normal, quiet life.

 

I wanted nothing normal, my path in journalism had opened my eyes to the existing problems in Cameroon and the plethora of opportunities out there I could benefit from to solve these problems in my community.

I remember that night, I was evacuated from my dorm in 2016 from Queen of the Rosary College because the strike in the Anglophone regions had started and all students residing in Yaounde had to go back home. I made it out, and enrolled in another school and did not miss a year. What about the others, those who missed several years of education due to this crisis and keep missing out on quality education?

 

It is in their memory that I volunteer at Open Dreams to support these students to stand a chance to take hold of their future through quality education home and abroad. 

 

I heard about the community from a friend whose brothers had benefitted from programs and I came in hoping to grab an opportunity immediately after graduation. Getting into the Open Dreams community rewired my intentions and made me give even more than I took. By documenting activities through short reports with my mobile phone and social media posts to increase the reach of our activities this has given me purpose. Some activities such as cultural day, visits to the UK high commissioner's residence, Aviva celebration. My mission to foster quality education has led me to win a UNESCO award through Media and Information Literacy and continue using my journalism skills in the community to shine the light on the potential of these high achieving low-income scholars.