Yaaaaaaay, I finally get to publish this! It’s been ages since my last post on heroes of Faith. I apologize, but I hope you forgive me when you read about this beautiful hero of Faith. I present to you Raquel Jacobs, also known as “hero 0000003“, a regular chic that God has used to display His power and do extraordinary things. I am very passionate about telling the Raquel story because it’s is a story every young person in this generation should hear, get courage and inspiration from.
I met Raquel in 2013 at our first AIESEC conference together, she was then president of AIESEC Lagos, and looking at her, I immediately concluded that she was one of them rich pampered kids, considering the fact that she was always put together, trendy and elegantly dressed. But here is the real story:
Raquel was born in Lagos, although originally from Kaduna state in Nigeria. She lost her dad at age 16 and being the only girl and first child of four children, she automatically became an adult and had to look after her three brothers because her mom was sick most of the time. She finally lost her mom at the age of 19.
At age 16,she struggled to round up her secondary school education, but after her dad died, she couldn’t go to a university, and her younger brothers all dropped out of school. In fact her family planned to marry her off to a rich man who would take care of herself and her siblings. To escape that life, she ran away from home and lived with an uncle who tried to rape her. She left his house and found a place to live with commercial sex workers and drug dealers in Obalende, Lagos.
“For sometime I lived under the bridge because I was tired of the life in my face everyday. I lived and slept in cyber cafes because that gave me access to a computer and I could sleep without interruption. There was no one to help me, but I didn’t lose my faith. I have a solid Christian foundation and this really helped me to stay focused. Even though the pressure to conform was constantly ringing in my head, I knew all the things I see now are only temporary.”
Raquel started her first business at 17,with 200 naira she got from one of the commercial sex workers who was reluctant to give her at first, because she refused to sell her body. She started making “zobo” (a local drink) to sell and from that she upgraded to making chin chin!
“Living out there was not good for me mentally and Spiritually but I trusted God…….I had five near rape experiences on the streets and one landed me in the hospital with a scar on my side. I have scars all over from sleeping in uncomfortable places and doing odd jobs. So many times I wondered if God was still watching but I held on to Him. I remember sitting in a chair and breaking into tears. I was upset at God and upset at my dad for leaving this earth early.”
YOUR MESS BECOMES YOUR MESSAGE
Now a social entrepreneur, Raquel currently runs four initiatives.
- Club 31 Woman Network: In her first year in the university, Raquel felt the need to mentor and educate young girls about the things that she went through and that is the inspiration behind the Club 31 Woman Network. “So many times we face difficulties that alter the itenary of our lives, only to find the detour was actually God’s path”
- Beyond The Classroom: On a random day, she saw a boy walking to school with torn uniform and shoes,she followed him from a distance to his school, that drew her attention to the public school system, the bad state, and the fact that the students are uninspired and demotivated to learn. She quickly connected with the students because of her own background and Beyond The Classroom (BTC) started a few months after that. Beyond The Classroom is an NGO focused on improving education for less privileged pupils in primary schools.
- Afri Aspire Fellowship Program, an initiative built around year long social innovation projects that are implemented by selected passionate youths in Nigeria and supported by founders and private partners.
- The purple Squirrel Company, a professionally managed company with a group of trained trainers committed to equipping students by teaching them new techniques, strategies and providing avenues for learning and growth to improve them during and after school.
She says “I have been working directly with children and youths in marginalized communities in Lagos focusing on education and empowerment of girls. I am a public speaker, trainer and co- founder of Club 31 Woman. Ii am a Global Shaper, a Carrington fellow and a LEAP Africa SIP fellow. In the last four years, I have volunteered with numerous organizations including the World Economic Forum on Africa, U turn Africa and AIESEC. We are currently working on a digital literacy project for children in public primary schools,in partnership with Micro Soft, YALI and Afrika Leadership Development Institute.”
I want to quickly take the time to quote one of my favorite pastors, Levi Lusko”hard times are a passport that gives you permission to go places you wouldn’t get to any other way” and don’t forget that gold must go through fire. I am personally inspired by the Raquel story because it tells me that God will arrange every experience in my life to serve His purpose.If ever you need a mentor, this is one! God uses rescued people to rescue people, look at Raquel, mentoring young girls and letting them know there is more to life, helping children get quality access to education and all the other wonderful things she is doing. What other way could she be plugged in? Raquel is a fierce and fearless hero that had to stand and fight knowing fully well that she is the father’s daughter and none of the things she has gone through can ever separate her from the love of Christ. I love Raquel.
To read about our previous heroes, click here.
FiercenFearless#TheOneMillionChallenge#GenerationOfYoungPeopleLovingGodEverywhere!
fierce and fearless 