Kenny Daodu
President of Congress of Black Women of Manitoba
Who is Kenny Daodu?
Kenny is President of Congress of Black Women of Manitoba, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the awareness, education and rights of Black Women and their families in Manitoba. Apart from that she is also a fellow Immigrant and a Mother of two. Kenny came to Canada in early 90’s with her husband and three year old daughter. Before moving to Canada, Kenny was a school teacher in her motherland, Nigeria. Kenny had to face innumerable challenges as a new immigrant. Her struggle motivated her to help other people find success in their lives. Today Kenny Daodu is an independent certified speaker, teacher and coach. She is very passionate about adding value to other people’s lives and believes that “you can dream the impossible dreams and impossible dreams can come true”.
Life Labour & Legacy
Kenny recently published her story in a book she has authored. Life Labour Legacy is a tale of one amongst the millions of lives that are changed each day for the better or worse. Dreams are abandoned every day. But there are some who never let go. Nothing will stop some from holding on to their dream. The world would be a dreary place if not for such brave souls. This story takes you on a journey of one such soul. A single mother who wanted to leave her homeland in search of a better tomorrow. The spirit of the Yoruba shines through the tale of a woman who had a dream for her children. Escape from political turmoil, getting expelled to an unknown land, then finding her way to safe shores…The story opens up on the perspective of an immigrant
Life Labour Legacy is on Amazon, purchase now.
Kenny’s Story
I came to Canada in 1990 from Nigeria. I arrived in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a visitor not as an immigrant. I was pregnant with my second daughter, and was fortunate to deliver her on July 1, which was the Canada Day. My brother who was living in Winnipeg at that time suggested that I should travel to visit him and use the opportunity to have my baby born in Canada when he travelled to Nigeria for a visit himself. It was a great opportunity for me and I was very excited as I planned to make the move. My brother Bob did the paperwork to obtain my visiting visa. It took less than two months before we left Nigeria as I was very close to delivering my baby. Click below to read more.
Kenny’s Story
So here came the opportunity to move to Canada to fulfill our dreams…Raising our children abroad and getting educated. Going to school and getting well educated is one of the biggest things for us in Nigeria. Parents strive to be formally educated, and always wish that the children even get better educated than themselves. Before I agreed to leave my husband in Nigeria and travelled to Winnipeg, Nigerian politics was getting very though and dirty. The political leaders were not doing too well about the education of the children. Life was becoming tougher for common people while the rich kept getting richer and the poor were worsening off.
People were facing a lot of hardship to feed their families and many people were struggling to make ends meet. I was not feeling too comfortable with the economic situations in Nigeria though I was not seriously affected. I had a teaching job and a small business on the side. Life was becoming a struggle for common people and some were dying poorly.
When I arrived in Canada on this sunny afternoon in 1990 with my three-year old daughter, heavily pregnant with my second baby, I found peace and love in the whole environment. Weather was pleasant, people were very friendly. Right from then, I told myself that I was not going back. I wanted to stay and live here. People were very warm and respectful. We settled to stay with my brother and family. I found a good church to attend close to the house we were living and the members welcomed us with open arms and made us part of their church family.
My impression after arriving in Winnipeg is like ‘Yes, I am home!’
My visitor VISA expired after six months after my arrival. Since my daughter was born, the desire to continue to extend our stay became powerful. She is a CANADIAN…so I believed. I did not realize that I had to renew my visa in order to keep staying in Canada. I had personally thought that because I had my second daughter born in Canada, will make it easier for me to obtain my permanent residency PR and I could start looking for jobs. That was not true. I had walked into the immigration office one day to ask if I could process my PR and I can start to work. I took my daughters birth certificate along and there I was told that I was a visitor and my visa had expired and I had to leave Canada with my firstborn daughter immediately….
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