By Harmony Okoi
Every day, a girl with a devastating childhood experience turns her scars to stars, reminding other girls that, despite societal boundaries and stereotypes, the inner powers of a determined woman are limitless.
The sobering story of Tererai Trent, a Zimbabwean, now a global scholar and champion of girl child education, is a perfect portrayal of this reality.
Growing up in a rural community in Zimbabwe, Terenai was denied education just for being a girl. At age 11, she was married off. At age 18, she had given birth to five children, enduring domestic abuse.
Despite the pain and trauma, Terenai secretly taught herself how to read and write using her brother’s textbooks.
Later, she had a voice that propelled her to go beyond the limits of that rural community. It was another woman’s voice. The voice of Jo Luck, president and CEO of Heifer International.
“If you believe in your dreams, they are achievable,” Luck, whom she met by chance, told her.
Before long, Terenai moved to the United States, where she climbed the academic ladder, bagging multiple degrees, including a PhD—the very peak of education.
She beat all odds.
This is the case of a girl relegated to the deepest low but finding courage to elevate herself to the highest point on the global stage.
“The strongest woman in the world is the woman who gets back up,” said Alice Walker, an American novelist and Pulitzer Prize winner.
Like Terenai, Africa as a continent has strong, independent, intellectual, financially outstanding, mind-blowing, and unique women.
Many didn’t have the best childhood opportunities, but they discovered themselves and turned their scars to stars through sheer determination.
The global stage is replete with women who continue to be the girl child’s role model. Think about Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian economist, for example.
She has been serving as the director-general of the World Trade Organization since March 2021. She is the first woman and African to ever lead the organisation in that capacity.
The success of women like Terenai and Iweala reminds every girl that your power as a girl amid scars will become your greatest strength as a woman.
It is that girl who will make you that woman you are wishing to become. Remember, the extent of a girl’s expressed strength as a girl determines whether she will get lost in the world or reinvent herself.
The story of Tererai Trent, a Zimbabwean girl with a profound childhood experience, exemplifies the power of tenacity and the limitless potential of determined women.
Deprived of education and married off at 11, she endured domestic abuse and birthed five children by age 18. Undeterred, she taught herself literacy skills, driven by the inspiring words of Jo Luck, the CEO of Heifer International.
Trent eventually moved to the U.S., overcoming all odds to earn multiple degrees, including a PhD.
Her journey symbolizes the broader narrative of African women, often lacking opportunities but prevailing against challenges through determination.
Figures like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and African to lead the World Trade Organization, further highlight this trend.
Together, their stories offer inspiration, proving that a girl’s inner strength, even amid adversity, can be a pillar to her triumph as a woman.
