In a recent interview with Vanguard Allure, Stephanie Okereke Linus disclosed that she was involved in an accident that was so terrible that she actually thought she would lose her legs and face. She said:
“This was several years back when I had a terrible road accident. I thought I was going to lose my legs and my face, and won’t be able to do what I loved anymore. I’m grateful that God saw me through that period and brought me out of it stronger and better.”
On how her movie, DRY, became instrumental to the ban of child marriage in Gambia, the stunning Nollywood actress shares her excitement, “When we created Dry, we had a simple but ambitious goal—to eradicate fistula and end child marriage in Africa.
“I believed the movie would have a positive impact but, I had no idea what form it would take. I’m humbled that it had such a huge impact, and this has motivated us to do even more.Dry has now been translated into different languages and screened across different communities.
“We are taking the film into the nooks and crannies of the African continent, ensuring that community leaders, policymakers, parents, children and everyone who needs the message, hear it. Dry is more than just a film; it’s a movement against injustice, child marriage, gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, rape, poor maternal health care, fistula and much more.
“The message behind Dry will continue to be relevant because it is a timeless piece. So, yes, I’m elated but there’s still a lot of work to be done, and we are not relenting.”
On what actually got her interested in girlchild advocacy and what she enjoys most about it, Stephanie Okereke Linus said:
“The fact that there is so much injustice in the world is enough reason to get anyone interested in advocacy. When I was a student at the University of Calabar, I heard the harrowing stories of some young girls in northern Nigeria who did not have access to education and quality maternal health care. These girls are married off as children, get pregnant and become incontinent after a difficult labour. They end up being rejected by their husbands, family and society. I was distraught by this terrible injustice and knew then that I had to do something about it. That thought never left my mind, and several years later, I was in a better position to use my craft-acting and filmmaking to make a difference. That’s how it started. The greatest fulfilment I get is when I see lives change because of our stories.”
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