Tererai Trent

On Friday, May 27, 2010 Oprah aired one of her last shows and did an update on Tererai Trent.  Now, here's a gutsy woman!  Born in rural Zimbabwe she had no future as a young girl.  Her wish was to be able to go to school but instead, her father forced her to marry at age 11.  By age 18 she was a mother of three.  If she told her husband she wanted an education, he beat her. 

In 1991, Jo Luck, from the Heifer International Foundation visited Tererai's village.  She asked every woman about their dreams and Tererai responded by saying she wanted to go to America and get her B.S. degree, then a master's degree followed by a PhD degree.  Jo Luck said, "If you desire those things, it is achievable." 

In 1998 she moved to Oklahoma with her husband and five children.  Just three years later she had earned her B.S. degree in agricultural education.  In 2003, the same year her husband was deported for abuse, she earned her master's degree.  Wanting to earn her PhD and return to her beloved homeland she pressed on and in December, 2009 she earned her PhD.  She is now happily remarried and gearing up to help her village and people in a big way.

Oprah doanted 1.5 million dollars to help Terarai build a school.  She started a fundraiser, selling T-shirts with the name "Tinogona" on them which means, "it is achievable." 

This was such a moving story and Terarai truly is a women who had a dream and let nothing stop her from achieving her goal.  We have so much to learn from her and I look forwarding to following her progress on her blog and website and in her work with Heifer International.  I hope you do too!