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‘How can I be a solution?’
One Double Duke’s ‘Beautiful Voyage’ toward advocacy and healing By Jessica Nickels (’21)
On April 14, 2014, in the northeast Nigeria town of Chibok, 276 young girls were kidnapped from their boarding school by the militant group Boko Haram. Today, more than 100 girls are still missing. As Vine Adowei (’17, ’19M) watched the events unfold on television, her idea of what she wanted to pursue as a career was solidified. “This spurred me toward the direction of advocacy and the issue of trauma. It was really eye-opening,” she said. Adowei was born in Nigeria, moved around Europe with her family, and by the age of 9, had resettled in her native country. When she was 19, she applied to the U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, a lottery in which people from other nations can apply to be permanent residents and become U.S. citizens after five years. Adowei was selected and came to JMU as an international student.
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Adowei soon found herself experiencing Vine Adowei (’17, culture shock—and from more than just ’19M) says JMU prepared her to be an the differences in cuisine, attitudes and advocate for change. weather. She learned about human trafficking through a television ad promoted by A21, an organization dedicated to abolishing modern forms of slavery. “I didn’t even know such a thing existed,” Adowei said. “It’s a billion-dollar industry. Women are being sold for sex or to produce porn, and that was so horrifying to me, to find out something like that existed in the 21st century.” This shocking introduction to human trafficking and slavery sparked a passion in Adowei’s soul. “I felt so driven to help this cause in any way I could.”
PH OTO G R A PH S CO U RT E SY O F V I N E A D OW E I ( ’ 17, ’ 1 9 M )
