Sa'adatu has big dreams for herself and her family- Melinda Gates on meeting a young Nigerian mother

Wednesday, 8 March 2017

The Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mrs. Melinda Gates took to her official Facebook page to recount her meeting with a young Nigerian mother of two, whose dream is to one day become a teacher.
LIB recalled that Mrs Gates arrived in Nigeria on January 18th, 2017. She was hosted by Mrs Aisha Buhari at the State House, Abuja, to discuss the challenges facing women and children in Africa.

"When I met Sa’adatu at a primary care clinic in Nigeria earlier this year, she’d just received a contraceptive implant. It was the first time she’d used contraceptives—a decision she made in partnership with her husband.

Sa’adatu has big dreams for herself and her family. She wants to become a teacher, and even though her two children are still small—her youngest is four months, and her oldest is three years—she’s already thinking about what it will take to send them to college. She knows that being able to plan her family will make all of these dreams easier to achieve.

Her story filled me with hope. And it echoes what I hear from mothers all over the world: to give our children the very best shot in life, we need access to contraceptives".