Dear friends and family,
Happy New Year to you and hope my mail meets you well.
My gratitude for your support and love both for me and our girls cannot dwindle. I often look back to the memories with fondness. Thank you for your love.
The situation in my country as you all may have seen on CNN is increasingly worrisome. Our girls are still not back over 9 months, more abductions, Boko Haram (BH) have continued to kill Nigerians and commend such acts of violence by other extremists (Isis , Paris). Their most deadly is the killing of about 2000 in Baga few weeks ago. The world has condemned it but not much is being done by my government who puts the death toll at 150 persons. We have about 3 million internally displaced people, a friend started a relief program (I am on the board) called Adopt-A-Camp and we were able to make this past Christmas better for them. It a drop in the ocean but we did it anyway.
A coalition by the neighboring countries is on as BH has increased operations in those regions. We hope for success and an end to BH.
We of the Bring Back Our Girls are still pushing and meeting with elder statesmen. It is often depressing going to the sit out and sometimes I avoid it to purge the air of sadness out of me.
The country is gearing towards the February 14 general elections (this seem to be the only thing of interest of the current president who is hell bent on coming back) and our hope truly lies in the change of government. We are hoping this happens without violence.
I started an NGO on Voter Education to primarily educate my people on the need to exercise their franchise not considering Ethnic and Religious lines. www.vrmnigeria.org
Things will change and 2015 is a year of hope turn reality. This gloom will pass and we can all have a reunion party with lots of laughter.
I look forward to seeing you all soon (I hope you will make it to the Entusi Retreat) and pray the best for you and yours.
Being alive tells us we still have yet more we have to do in our world. I pray we all find strength, inspiration and passion to go on.
I remain thankful for the bond we share and look forward to cheering news from your quarters.
Your Sister, Florence Ozor
