I am happy to announce that I am opening the wing for the children and teens in Africa. The people of Africa are in need of an improvement of their mindsets. The continent is suffering not only because of poverty, but most of all from old and persistent traditions that endanger the youths.

I’m not talking about the fact that they got colonized and when they got their independence couldn’t financially recovered, I’m talking about traditions that also plagued my childhood. For example, girls are not allowed to go to school but instead learn how to become good housewives, then get married right after reaching puberty, or girls being excised just because of some beliefs.

When I was a Medical Secretary in my home country, I worked in a little practice made of psychologists and psychiatrists who aimed to help refugees and people seeking asylum with their mental health. I heard so many stories. Stories of women who escaped a situation where they were being held as sexual slaves by many men, or men who were being sold. We had a young woman who was excised right after birth from the doyens of the little village she comes from because they believe that women should serve the men. She came to all of her appointments, on time and without a smile in her face, we were the same age at the time. This could have been me right there coming to appointment to try to manage a situation I was forced in, but it wasn’t because of both of my parents’ mindset.

A young man came after he was forced to leave Nigeria with his younger sister. They both got on a small boat to attempt to cross the Mediterranean sea. The strength of the water made the boat to flip over. The man made it to Europe, but his sister drowned.

I left this center after only a month as it was emotionally overwhelming for me. But growing up, my classmates were mostly children of African immigrants and when we talked about our situations at home I knew something was wrong… it was parents not able to read, parents not speaking French relying on the kid for the translation, teaching them to see life through the lens of Africa and behave like if they were living there.

I’ve always followed the missions of some of the humanitarian organizations in Africa and noticed that it is impossible to help the continent financially if the mindsets are not right. I heard something in the numerous podcasts I listen to everyday that stuck with me. It says “a person with money go see a person with experience, the person with experience ends up with the money and the person with the money ends up with the experience”. If you give money to someone who thinks it doesn’t deserve it, it will soon loose it. Jim Rohn gave the example of the lottery winners in one of his books.

That’s why my foundation will support and advocate with UNICEF. UNICEF is fighting so strongly for the people around the world, they are making a difference in this world and I am happy to join them and make their mission mine.

Change in Africa is complicated I must say. It’s complicated because they haven’t found their leadership style yet, and imposing our style wouldn’t be fair. Some would say that colonization took the hold on African’s mentalities while others would say slavery broke them. While those might be true, religion and old traditions, even old tribes can be added to the reasons. In the country where my parents come from, the first things they teach kids are how to read the Quran and how to pray. Religion is a huge part in this country, so if we were to go help we would have to take that into consideration.