How my dreams were restored by the Jumbam Scholars Program

The Ongoing Anglophone Crisis which started in 2016, has affected me in many ways. I am one of the more than 700,000 students that were forced to stop schooling when the crisis began. It started like a joke when I was in form two.

When classes were first canceled, we were happy to stay at home from school. We thought it would be brief and we would return to school soon. As days went by, I became bored at home and started missing my friends whom I had not seen for a long time. Then, they announced there would be no school that year. I was astonished and disappointed. Yet, I had high hopes for the next school year.

The following school year, there was no still school. My family had to move from Kumbo to Oku so we could continue our education there. When we reached Oku, my sisters and I went to school for one year, and then the crisis reached to Oku. So, l spent another year at home. Soon my father left Kumbo for Douala. He was a trader. He used to sell second-hand clothes to provide for my family. Unfortunately, soon after arriving in Douala, he became terribly sick with cerebral malaria and died. Within a very short period, my father died, l was internally displaced and l missed two years of education due to the Anglophone Crisis.

I became discouraged. With all these troubles and how my mother was suffering to send us to school, and despite during very well in my O'levels examinations, I planned to drop out of school. When my mother heard about the Ngek C. Jumbam Scholarship Program, she encouraged me to apply for the scholarship. After a phone interview, I was surprised to receive a phone call that l had been selected. There was joy in our home that evening.

The Jumbam Family Foundation (JFF) has relieved me of many worries I had. I felt like I was drowning in mud and JFF has removed me. The foundation has reduced my mother's responsibilities and worries too. JFF means the world to me and the only way I can repay JFF is only hard work and success. I must make the most of this opportunity they have blessed me with.

When I came into the JFF family, l only thought of how to get any job that will sustain my family. However thanks to the mentorship I have received, I have learned to dream big. I had always dreamt of becoming an engineer but with the death of my father and my mother's situation, I started to believe that this was impossible. Fortunately, JFF made me know that there is nothing that is impossible. So, my dream for the future is to be an engineer.

Engineering is divided into four main parts; chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical. I'd love to be a mechanical engineer because it builds solutions to many problems in society and improves efficiency across a wide range of industries as in the production of machines. I also love engineering because it is the application of physics and mathematics which are my favorite subjects.

Also being an engineer will enable me to help those who are less fortunate, just as I have been helped. As it is often said, "do unto others what you want them to do unto you."

I am very thankful for JFF's support and for their belief in me. I wish to make them proud and see that they made the right choice in choosing me as one of their first scholars so that they will be encouraged to help many more children.