Story: My grandmother had to flee her town in her twenties with my father and his siblings. Years later, after losing my job, I had to leave the United States. Both of us, although in different conditions, set out to start a new in novel places. At the end of 2022, two months before I lost it all (at least that's what losing my job felt like at the time) I visited my grandmother in Kenya. I had not seen her in 5 years and she had recently been asking about me. Even in my dreams. I stayed with her for a couple of days, listening to her laughs, watching her hands, basking in her presence. It was here that I learnt of my grandmother's past. Her resilience in choosing a new path in an unknown place. At the time of my visit, I was struggling with where my filmmaking fit in my life. I wanted to tell stories but in between the big girl job and fultime adulting, stood the American dream that I, as an African child lucky to study abroad, had to attend to. So filmmaking could wait until I was 30. I told myself. So imagine my shock when I was laid off two months after. I left the country, I decided to pick up my camera again, fully this time. And I leaped into the journey of the unknown. I took this picture of my grandmother on one of our days together, as I watched her leave for her Sunday afternoon meet up with friends. As she walks away, I am reminded that just like my grandmother walked into unchartered waters and thrived, so can I. After all, it is in my DNA.

Creative Field: Filmmaker

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