GAMAID
- July 25, 2025
My name is Emem Abraham. I am twenty eight years old, a law graduate, and I currently live in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Back in 2019, the cost of Law School felt like a mountain I could not climb. My parents tried every plan they could think of, but the figures simply would not add up. On top of that, my work was beginning to demand skills I had never been trained in. Sound engineering was a mystery to me, video editing felt like something only specialists could touch, and the thought of building a website was almost laughable. I also needed somewhere safe and steady to live, close enough to my workplace that I could manage the commute without falling apart financially.
I came to know GAMAID Foundation through my church family at God’s Lighthouse. In November 2019, the CEO of GAMAID Foundation sent me ₦297,000 to settle my Law School fees. He offered it as a loan, with the kind understanding that if my parents could not pay it back, it would simply be forgiven. And true to that word, the debt was eventually written off entirely. That single act took an enormous burden off my family and let me give my full attention to my studies.
The years that followed showed me that GAMAID Foundation’s care does not end at school fees. In 2023, they arranged for me to train under a professional sound engineer, an apprenticeship worth hundreds of thousands of naira, which finally pulled the curtain back on audio systems and gave me real working experience. Around the same time, I picked up the basics of video editing, and those skills have since become a steady part of what I do. Then in June and July of 2025, they organised a full WordPress course for me, and I came out of it able to build websites from scratch. In a world that runs increasingly on digital tools, that has proved priceless.
When I moved back to Uyo and resumed work in early 2023, GAMAID Foundation stepped in again, this time with accommodation. From January to June 2023, and later in a fully serviced flat through to February 2025, they covered both my rent and my feeding. Having a steady home, with light, water and internet that I could rely on, lifted a quiet fear I had been carrying about long commutes home at night and unsafe parts of town.
Looking back, I struggle to imagine where I would be without these interventions. The ₦297,000 for school fees allowed me to finish the Nigerian Law School programme without leaving my family in financial ruin. The training in sound, video and web development gave me a versatile set of skills, so much so that I have been able to step in whenever specialist hands were not available. The accommodation and feeding support protected my health and my peace of mind, and gave me the room to focus on my work and my studies without distraction.
Thank you, GAMAID Foundation, for giving me the means to finish my legal education and the practical skills that now keep me going. What you have given me is far more than temporary relief. You have prepared me for a life of independence and, I hope, of meaningful contribution to others. I am deeply grateful, and I will carry your kindness with me.