This is the story of a village girl who dreamt of flying in aeroplane. From going to school barefoot to flying and living in the diaspora, her dreams had come true.
At the thought of having accomplished oneโs dream, it is mostly excitement that fills our hearts. Mixed emotions we get, tears of joy, prayers of gratitude, and so forth. Hardly do we become anxious about what is next. After all, our dreams have true, right? Well, you guess.
My dream of flying had just come true. There I was, a black in a white manโs land. A completely strange land, strange people, and of course my strange self. It was winter, a cold Russian winter is what greeted me on alighting. My fingers and ear lobes froze, literally instantly. It was unexplainable.
We were received by a very warmly lady, Elena. โGo to me,โ she said. By the time we realized she meant โcome with meโ she was already steps ahead. Well, she was the best English speaker at the faculty to receive foreign students. My colleagues and I were to commence classes the following day, Ukrainian Language!
When I dreamt of being on an aeroplane, I didnโt have it all figured out. I thought flying was ultimate, but I was wrong. I had to learn a foreign language and pursue engineering in the language.
My expectation was an English-Ukrainian translation of the lessons. To our surprise though, the lecturer came and started teaching in Ukrainian. Everyone kept turning to their left and right inquiring about what was being said, but we were all new to the language.
The lecturer knew zero English and we only understood it was language when she scribbled some Cyrillic sounds (ะฐ, ะต, ั, ะธ, ั, ั, ะพ, ั, ั, ั) and read them out (the vowels like -a โe-i โo-u). The first two weeks went like โma-maโ, โta-toโ, โtam-tutโ and it was humbling for adults to chorus the nursery rhymes. I almost gave up.
Just when I thought of giving up, I was reminded of how and why I got to where I was. The flying dream and how it came true. My family, my village and how my making it brought unending joy to their faces.
The chances and risks I was willing to take, the sleepless nights. I couldnโt have come that far to give up, No! What next? I had to learn the language and excel in it.
I was going to pay the price. Did my dream come true? At the end of eight months, I successfully completed my language and introduction course to Engineering, in Ukrainian language.
That was not all. I got admitted into the university, studied with Ukrainians and outperformed a majority of them until my graduation after 5 years! What initially seemed impossible became possible.
The more our dreams come true, the more challenges will follow. If we had the whole picture of how tough it would be getting what we want, maybe we wouldnโt dare.
But the more challenges we overcome, the closer we are to our breakthrough. Our setbacks are the stepping stones to our victories. We must not be overcome by them no matter how difficult. We can soar beyond the impossible if we keep on fighting because Impossible is Nothing!
By Elizabeth Ekakoro Bore: Diaspora Messenger Contributor
Elizabeth is the author of Imagine theย world and create it,ย a powerful book that is an inspiration to all to re-ignite our zeal to dream. whatever you dreams,you can bring itย toย pass.
Elizabeth is a former Diaspora who went back to Kenya after studies in Ukraine. She is a contributor of Diaspora Messenger and now an author of her first book.
From going to School Barefoot in the Village to Living in Diaspora Part-3
