MEET THE MAKING NOISE CREW
Okey Nwoke, 28, is graduate student from the University of Maryland University College where he recieved a master’s in Information Technology Management/Project Management. During his undergraduate studies at Morgan State University, Okey served in various community outreach events in Baltimore, Mayrland. In the past two years he has served on missions in Thailand, Egypt, South Africa, Dominican Republic, and Peru.
In 2006, Okey traveled to east Africa on his first mission trip. "Our trip to Uganda and Kenya was a life changing experience. We served children that have been infected by AIDS and orphaned due to civil war. I was heartbroken to see the living conditions of these children." As a young Nigerian, Okey is passionate about serving the less fortunate and victims of social injustice in Africa. His ultimate desire is to fulfill the calling on his life which is to spread the message of hope found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Leslie Oluchi Ibeanusi, 26, is a medical student at Ross University. She received her master's degree in International Public Health Promotions from the the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
In 2005, she was crowned as the inaugural Miss Nigeria in America, where she represented young Nigerian women of the diaspora. This experience increased her passion for global health and social justice issues affecting women and children in African countries.
Leslie Oluchi traveled to Turin, Italy this summer to work with Nigerian sex trafficking victims with an Italian NGO called TAMPEP. Their mission is to provide legal and social assistance to sex trafficking victims and migrant workers.
"While in Italy, I met victims during counseling sessions where they denounced their madams that “owned” them, passed out HIV prevention information to sex workers on the street with the unita d’strada (street units), and accompanied them to medical checkups at the local hospital. Beyond this, I got a chance to just sit and talk with many of them. In my blogs I wrote about a girl named Angel who’d been tricked into coming to Italy. My heart broke as I listened to her emotionally recount her first job with a client- “sex by mouth” for 20 euros."
Since coming back to the States, Leslie Oluchi is making noise about her experience with these women. "I'm so excited about this project, and most especially excited that YOU are interested in 'making noise' with us!
Mayra Garcia, 23, is a recent graduate of Antonelli Institute of Art and Photography in Philadelphia, PA. She graduated with a degree in Specialized Technology and works as a freelance photographer. She is a current employee at McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia where she works with children and is also involved in outreach programs for her community.
Mayra desires to use photography as a means to display the various facets of Africa, both the reality of extreme poverty and injustice, as well as the hope and beauty of its many cultures and people.
Her interest in Africa developed by continuously reading about the struggles that young people her age were forced to face in their countries; from child soldiers in Sierra Leone, The Lost Boys of Sudan, as well as the slave trade of young girls in Sudan.
Mayra's one desire is to travel to Africa and have the opportunity to meet and work with these survivors firsthand. Most importantly, Mayra wants to serve as a witness for them and share the hope that comes through the message of Jesus Christ. Her goal is to impact their lives by simply leaving a footprint behind.