In 2017, I met many people living in Lagos, Nigeria. I listened to stories and was given a glimpse into the life of everyday people of Lagos. All of them were different but connected to the special place I was visiting, Lagos, Nigeria. They had different faces, names, experiences, backgrounds, lives, but they all shared something in common, which was their resilience and love for their country.
Some may describe resilience as not giving up others may say it’s finding a way in a space that doesn’t offer many options. Some say it’s not allowing defeat and some describe it as navigating through to reach your goal. Some saw it as opportunities to create and to do something new. Also, resilience to claim a space as home even when it didn’t feel like one anymore. And finding a way to survive daily, to thrive, and to be.
I’ve learned that there is much more than what appears on the surface. As I’ve come to the end of this project, I realize that everything comes to an end for new chapters to begin, for new things to flourish.
My hope is for those who participated in this project to see that their stories are worth hearing and that they impact their countries in many different ways. I do my work not only to shed light on everyday remarkable people but also to show that a place would be nothing without the efforts and lives of the people. I specifically focused on people who migrated to Lagos to show how movements are a part of all our journeys and our growth. Some people have left Lagos since I began this project, and some people have stayed. We continuously are moving in our lives, whether it is physically, spiritually, mentally, intellectually, etc. And as we move, we subtly shape our environments.
Keep going, growing, sharing, learning, thriving, and living.
—-Helen Gebregiorgis