THE GIRL I AM, THE CHANGE I LEAD By Blessing Peter Titus

Yesterday, I was opportuned to be in a gathering of teenage girls—it was the International Day of the Girl Child, and Blessing Asukuruk had organised a packed programme for them through her Dear Teens Initiative. As I sat there amongst the teenagers, the theme for this year, “The girl I am, the change I lead,” kept replaying in my mind as I listened to the stories of the panelists.

The first speaker, Mrs. Grace, recalled how she had been abducted on her way back to school some 11 years ago and kept in an unknown location, along with other young ladies, for over a month. Within that period, her virginity, which she had carefully guarded as her pride, was stolen, brutally, by a group of men whose names she didn’t know. By the time she was released, she discovered that she was pregnant.

The second speaker, Miss. Blessing lost her Mum and 4 siblings in one night, 7 years ago. All shot before her eyes by gunmen who had attacked their community; she, too, was shot, in her neck and shoulder, but somehow, she survived.

What shocked me most about their narratives wasn’t just the pain they had endured but their finding purpose through it all; forgiving those who had taken so much from them and accepting the reality of their experiences. As we, the listeners, sighed and shed tears for their pain, I wondered at the sheer strength they carried in their hearts and minds to go through such devastating events and not go mad. To name a child that shouldn’t have been conceived, Angel, and love her without telling her that she’s a memorabilia of pain. To share their stories, not to gain sympathy, but to encourage these teenagers that even if detours arise, we still have a choice; to accept our realities but refuse to be defined by them.

It reminded me that leading change is not about grand gestures, pomp, or pageantry. It is about real stories, true vulnerability, and a heart that sees beyond oneself, farther and deeper into the good of others. So here I am, a girl, equipped with stories and a keypad, sharing them, unfiltered, because this girl right here is determined to lead change, one story at a time.