Mrs. Mary Thomas is 61 years old, a mother of ten and a grandmother of twenty children, with farming as her only occupation.
She lives in a remote farming community of Bakin Kogi located in the southern part of Kaduna state, Nigeria.
Mary and her family are victims of violent extremism and conflict that has continued to plague communities in the southern part of Kaduna state.
She tells her heart wrenching story:
“It was a Sunday… We had just returned from church and I was in the room with some of my daughters-in-law when all of a sudden we started hearing gunshots and we immediately scampered for safety. While we were away, our home was burned to the ground including everything in it. What I am wearing now is the same thing I was wearing that day and that is all I have left now.”
Expressing her hopes for the future, Mary Thomas said, all she wants is to be able to go back to her farm without fear. “My hopes for the future is first of all, for God to grant us Peace in our community, with peace, I can return back to my farm and with that, meet my needs and that of my family. Although some of my children are through with school, I want the others who are yet to complete school to continue. But that is impossible now because I don’t have what I need to give them.”
Hope is not lost. With your help, Global Peace Foundation’s One Family under God campaign is mediating interfaith meetings amongst religious leaders and their communities to end the violence and create a brighter future for children and families in Nigeria.