This motivational, inspiring, and breathtaking book, leads the reader through the suspense of how a nine-year-old orphan leaves home in search of the treasure of education through a dense forest, walking on foot for two weeks to a destination unknown to her.
The book highlights how grace, early Christian formation, hard work, providence, Catholic education, and community orientation, intersected to build an enduring character in the woman Dorothy Atabong and made her succeed. Having succeeded, she sought to help others, especially women, to succeed.
In an Interview with Rev Sr Jackie Atabong (SST), she pays homage to her mother for her role in her life. In the interview, Sr crowned her mother as the epitome of God’s grace as the protagonist (Mrs. Dorothy Atabong), moved from an orphan to a global inspiration.
You recently co-authored a book titled “The Legend of a Super Ordinary Woman.” Who is this woman?
Sr Jackie Atabong: Yes, I co-authored the book The Legend of a Super Ordinary Woman, with Emeritus Archbishop Cornelius Fontem Esua, who is my uncle, and a cousin to my late mother. The woman we both wrote about is my mother. The book is a labour of Love. My mother was to me an icon and epitome of womanhood. She was an ardent Christian, a devoted wife, a loving mother, a legendary community leader, and an empowered woman who was selfless in her ways.
She was liberated through education, formed by Christian teachings, and blessed by grace and it culminated in a metamorphosed woman, strong in character, enlightened in her ways and powerful in her deeds, yet humble, simple and ordinary in many ways. That is what makes the rare combination of super and ordinary blend in her. She was a woman who experienced grace and made sure she passed it on to others.
From the landlocked forest of Mbetta, she grew and became a national and international figure that influenced and changed the lives of many women and communities nationally and internationally. From the back roads of Mbetta, she got to walk with kings and queens, without losing her common touch. She lived with grass-root women in the community unleashing the power in them to take control of their lives and their destiny. She led women and the ideas of grass-root women in Cameroon to the UN, Copenhagen, the Vatican and other international forums and influenced the decisions made at international levels to empower women.
Her ideas have been taught to women in different African and other countries around the world. That is the woman we wrote about; a woman who gave her all. She left many legacies which continue to empower women today, that is why we decided to immortalize her and share her inspirational ideas with the world, in the hope that readers would be inspired by her life story and consequently unleash their hidden potential.
Mrs. Dorothy Atabong (Protagonist) in the book wasn’t lucky in her early days. She beats the odds growing up as an orphan in Mbetta to a global figure, later in her life. How did she turn the table around?
Sr Jackie Atabong: This motivational, inspiring, and breathtaking book, leads the reader through the suspense of how a nine-year-old orphan leaves home in search of the treasure of education through a dense forest, walking on foot for two weeks to a destination unknown to her. Her father died after his first visit to her in a boarding primary school and so did her sponsor, the priest who took over her sponsorship after the death of her father.
She was thereafter adopted by reverend sisters and lived in the convent. The nuns who secretly thought she would become a nun were disappointed when she met Fidelis Atabong, her husband and married him. The nuns prepared her marriage, sewed her wedding dress and made her wedding cake. Her solid formation in the convent of hard work, discipline, honesty, and prayer made her an extraordinary wife, woman, Christian and community leader. She eventually became a star that lit up the path of many.
The book highlights how grace, early Christian formation, hard work, providence, Catholic education, and community orientation, intersected to build an enduring character in the woman Dorothy Atabong and made her succeed. Having succeeded, she sought to help others, especially women, to succeed.
Where can our readers get this thrilling and inspirational story?
Sr Jackie Atabong: This must-read book will change your life. The book is available at Amazon and at Barnes and Nobles
What advice will you give to those who are going through life's struggles and think there's no hope, especially the Anglophones in Cameroon?
Sr. Jackie Atabong: Don’t give up. Nothing is impossible with God. Pray, trust in God, and do the right thing and God will make a way where there seems to be no way.
Any last word to readers?
Sr. Jackie Atabong: This is an easy-read, stimulating book that will inspire you and evoke the latent abilities in you. Don’t miss your chance to get inspired.
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