While growing up I read and heard stories of different people in history that did great things for their people and country. Some people fought hard for human rights, but never lived to see how much of an impact they really made. When I think of those people in history that were pioneers and fighters I wish that I could have marched alongside them. I wish I could have been one of the people in the crowd that marched to the sound of their words as they echoed into people’s hearts. I wish I could have been there when Martin Luther King did his famous dream speech. I wish I could have been there when Harriet Tubman brought people through the underground railroad. I wish I could have been at an event where Corrie Ten Boom gave her life story. I live in times where things are not as they used to be and it seems as though those prominent heroes are far in-between. But, is that really the case? Are there less people raising their voices against injustice? Are people being silenced from speaking up for those that are never heard or seen? Maybe there are people that are still doing it, but we just never realized. Living in Tchad has made me want to be one of those women marching in the streets declaring that women are people also. I have heard of people that are here fighting for the injustice of children and woman, while others are trying to silence them. I wanted to meet some of these women that fight against what society calls normal.
I have had the privilege of meeting one of those dynamic women. I heard many great stories about Michelene Tchungli through word of mouth and the internet. After I heard so much about her I knew that I had to meet this lady. Upon meeting her I was honored just to be able to sit in her home and speak with her. She has a very humble and gentle spirit that transpires through her eyes. She is the person that will always greet you on the street and invite you in if you have nothing to eat. She is the one who works hard to provide for her family and many other children who are not even her own. She is a woman that has rose from the ashes of despair to the mountain of victory. She has come so far, but she is still reaching for the highest mountain top. Michelene lives in a city fifteen minutes away called Laï. She has been the director for the rehabilitation center for children for over a decade. She lives in a comfortable home with her kids and orphans that she has accepted as her own along the way. If you had met her more than fifteen years ago you would have seen her in a totally different state. She was married to a man that decided that he wanted her for his own, so he had his friends capture her for himself. When she was sick for over 6 months he just ignored her and took away for things. She was having one child after the next and running to the safety of her parents home in between her second and third child. One day you may have seen her lying down beaten and left to die in the streets by the same man who claimed to be her husband. If it weren’t for some neighbors who rescued her from the streets and provided nutrients for her till she awoke, she might not be here today. After fighting so hard for the injustice her husband brought upon her she was finally able to get divorced from him. He took all that was hers and left her to defend for herself. One of the priests at the local Catholic Church heard of how much she helped woman in the area, so he requested for her to get training to work with the handicapped children. Ever since that day she has worked at the Talità Kum Center in Laï. The center helps those who have polio or are handicapped for other reasons. There are some girls that are there because they were so badly raped that they are unable to walk normal anymore. The center teaches them how to become more independent, cook, crochet, garden, and sew clothing. On the weekend they take the items that they made and sell them at the local market. The center is also a safe haven for these kids because they live there till they are old enough to go out on their own. The children attend classes in the daytime at a local school and have trainings at the center in the evening. At this time there are about fifteen boys and girls that are living there in dorm style rooms. Michelene has a rice field that she works in all summer in order to get earn extra money from the rice she sells to pay for the children to go to school and their hospital bills. She also helps people in the community that need medicine or hospital bills to be paid.
Helping the elderly, women, and children is the burden that she feels that she needs to fill. She speaks out on the radio regularly about the rights of these undermined populations. In the past she organized a march for girls that were raped and needed justice. At times she will call the police to arrest a man that has abused a girl. When I speak with her I am in just complete awe in all of the things that she does. She is always willing to give all that she has because she knows that God will provide for her tomorrow. If I could be just half of the woman that she is then I know that I have done a lot for society. Meeting people like her creates a fire within to surge and thirst to go out and create a movement or change in people’s lives. I don’t want to be just another person that looks at others to be the leaders, but I would rather be the one in the front leading the way. I don't know what activism I will lead one day, whether it be woman’s rights, trafficking, abuse, or poverty, but I know one day I will be out there with people like Michelene. We don’t have to wait for a big march to occur, we can look around our neighborhoods for people that need care. We can volunteer at a center or help at a foster care. There are many voices crying out for love, attention, and care and we can be the very answer to their cries.
Michelene is someone that I have given a couple of small donations to in the past to help with the work that she is doing. I would love to help her even more, but that requires help from people like you. I want to give her money to help with school fees, hospital bills, and whatever things she finds necessary. If you are interested in helping with a few to possibly hundreds of dollars please don’t hesitate to donate through my Paypal. If you want money to go to the center specifically then indicate that with your transaction. Anything can help and will make a difference.
“What God gives me in my mind to think of to do for people, I will do.”
Michelene Tchungli
