A Pair of Shoes Changed My Life

Going back in time to as far as I can remember, life in Nigeria was a mixture of hardship and hunger. By the time I was 8 years old, I was used to eating only once or twice a day. My daily routine was to wake up every morning wondering if there was going to be breakfast waiting on the table. The feeling of looking to your mom and dad and realizing that as much as they love you, they can do nothing for you was one I got acquainted with as a kid. By the time I was nine years old, I was already sent off to a foster/boarding school where I ended up spending most of my childhood. We barely had any good water to drink. I was hungry all the time; and being just one of the 10,000 kids out there only made me feel as one of many –nothing special, just one of 10,000. As kids we are born to be optimistic –to believe that we can grow up to be anything we want. But my reality would not afford me this privilege. Where others dreamt of growing up to becoming doctors, engineers, or even professional athletes, all I cared about was to have food on my table. To one day become a celebrated college athlete with an engineering degree is nothing short of a miracle to me. My life changed the moment I picked up a basketball. There was a foundation —Timeout for Africa— that was having a shoe giveaway: like our Project-0. I was 15 at the time and just a few months into playing basketball. I had heard about kids getting shoes, but I had to see for myself. Jomirota, the founder of Timeout for Africa, on this wonderful day, gave me my first pair of new basketball shoes. This was definitely the changing point in my life. I am forever grateful to God for all His blessings, but without those shoes, I would have stopped playing basketball. My new pair of shoes ignited belief in my heart, gave me hope for a better future, and allowed me the courtesy of dreaming for the first time in my life. Through friends, families, numerous good Samaritans, and so many amazing opportunities life has brought me, I am today the first basketball player to earn an engineering degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, USA. There is no way I can look back at my journey thus far and not feel obligated to give back. If just a pair of shoes could help a kid like me become a beacon of hope and a movement for change, imagine what GRAB Foundation can do with your support.

-Mubarak Muhammed.