I am writing this in one of such situations in a change-maker’s life which oftentimes, people do not get to see. Spending the last few days pondering on the term 'turning point' and how my erratic story – filled with success, fears, struggles, hard work, discouragement, and motivation – can be transformed into a well-navigated piece, has brought me deep thoughts and reminiscence. I applaud my successes as a 21-year old, fifth-year Pharm.D (Doctor of Pharmacy) candidate, co-founder/chief executive officer of a health-related social enterprise, student vice-president in my college, international youth leader, trainer, and mentor. However, it is high time I drew a map back to when I was none of these.
As far back as I remember, I have been a 'doer' and always got comments like “proactive, industrious, and multitasking student” in my middle/high school reports. Asides being the first child of a single mother in a family of females, I am from a struggling background, situated in the suburban. Growing up, I have had to live with the pressure of being a pacesetter, striving daily to lead my siblings in the right path, preaching the importance of character, hard work, vision and patience as being indispensable tools for success – especially in our society where females are still stereotyped.
Despite my years of ambition and interest in healthcare, I never had a grasp of my exact career purpose. I was good in quite a handful – literature/writing, public speaking, sciences, fine art, volleyball and even choreography. However, not until I witnessed the last few tomentous years of my father’s life, did my path become clearer. I lost him when I was 15, to a myriad of chronic medical conditions, the majority of which were diagnosed late and not well managed. From that day, I gradually came to realize that I was in the middle of a cross-link between pain and purpose. Just a while after, I was filled with an unending desire to do something about chronic/non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease in low-middle-income-countries, where death rates are over 80 percent globally. And so, I spent years digging up research, observing and understanding the challenges of people dealing with such conditions, as well as crafting potential solutions.
At some point, I realized I could never be too ready to begin, and against all odds, I founded CHRONmate, a youth-led organization poised to reduce the burden of chronic/non-communicable diseases in vulnerable regions through four approaches: support, innovation, collaboration and advocacy. In barely two months of inception, we have recorded impact stories through our community engagement, campaigns, health education and our recent event, the Youth Meetup Series (YMS1.0), tagged “Let’s Talk NCDs” which gathered about a hundred youths from diverse disciplines to dialogue and generate workable solutions to chronic diseases in their communities.
As this posts, I do have a zeal for youth engagement. I believe that we are the most potent drivers of change, especially as we currently constitute the largest population in history (1.8 billion). This continuously motivates me to take up initiatives, serve in active leadership and advocacy roles locally and internationally, as well as volunteer in programs targeted at youth empowerment, capacity building, skills acquisition and gender balance. I have done so with Solhub Africa against drug abuse, Florix concepts on youth empowerment, Explore and Express Initiative on peer pressure and one of highest impact projects - which was a two-day leadership and capacity building summit that groomed about 350 students in my college.
“Every disappointment is a blessing” was my father’s anthem. And in that, I witnessed the greatest pain of losing a loved one, become a gateway to success and impact. My turning point was a sad lane where I had to lose to gain. Now, my greatest career desire lies in global public health - to help families in resource-poor settings live longer, healthier and happier, without suffering from preventable diseases. CHRONmate is a social enterprise founded on solid ground that will in the near future, become a globally recognized hub of innovative health solutions, advocacy, and augmented financial and medical support in regions plagued with chronic/non-communicable diseases.
Right now, I am having a self-appraisal; on how uneasy and daring it is when I take bold steps and strive to be better each day; not allowing present challenging realities to hinder my future success. However, another reality is that because of a sad story, I am a strong woman and a change-maker with a purpose. Truly, the course of our lives depends on what we do or do not do in a few moments where we either count losses or discover opportunities for change.