Becoming Visible

A black baby girl fostered by a white family at the tender age of 5 weeks old, shares her moving story of the search for identity and acceptance, whilst experiencing the power of resilience and forgiveness.The opportunity to seemingly create a better life for themselves and their children by moving from Nigeria to the UK in the '60s and 70s could not be missed. Thousands of Nigerian children were privately fostered, whilst their parents, studied to become doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, etc, these skills would be taken back to Nigeria when complete, along with the children. Sometimes referred to as &quote;The Invisible&quote; children&quote; at that time there were no formal records of the number of Nigerian children in private foster care and no vetting procedures in place. Returning to Nigeria upon completion of educational studies as a family was the plan for many.Abi was one of those children, however, her parents did not take her back to Nigeria, Abi lived all of her years in Hastings with her white foster Mum Irene and her family until she decided to move away. This was a time when &quote;no dogs, no blacks, no Irish&quote; was the order of the day. This is a moving story of self-rejection, a search for belonging and acceptance. Ultimately through years of embracing resilience and forgiveness, it was only in her more recent years that she was able to fully accept both her UK and Nigerian heritage, Abi was ready to speak her truth, shine her light, and finally become visible to the world.