My name is Anyah.

I was raised by my grandparents because my mother and father weren't there. No siblings came after. When my grandparents died, I landed in foster care, where I was treated in ways no child should be. From the time I could understand language, people told me what I couldn't do. Don't apply for that education program. Don't try for that job. You won't be accepted.

I applied. I was accepted. I kept being accepted.

I got married, We struggled financially in ways that taught me what money is and what it isn't. The marriage ended, and I had to learn how to stand on two feet that had been holding up other people for most of my life. I have lived in my car for three months.

So I moved to another country. I rebuilt.

Then I followed my heart to a continent everyone in my life told me not to go to. Africa? Why? What for? I went anyway. That is where I met Jerry.

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I have been told you can't my entire life by people who didn't have the imagination for who I was already becoming. I am building a villa in Tanzania with my own hands, my own husband, and my own money — none of which I was supposed to have.

Discipline is the only thing I wear. Purpose is the only thing I answer to. The path I'm walking — I built.

If you've ever felt the weight of the costume — this is for you.

— Anyah