A Message from my heart- Actress Mercy Johnson

Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson Okojie's shares this touching message

on twitter as part of her birthday celebration today. she tagged it

"Message from the heart".....



Today, I thought of many things I

would love to have as birthday

gifts and the many dreams I'm

still pursuing. In all of this I'm not

losing sight of the fact that if not

for God I might have ended up on

the street like the many kids and

young adults begging for food and

some prostituting to make ends

meet. If we know the circumstances that force some of these people on

the street. we would spare a thought for them. I am where I am today

purely by the grace of God and the grace of God

and the grace of people who believed in me from the word go.



Recently, I was at the Boys Reform Oregun,Lagos,the discussion I had

with the principal Mr. Kotun and much later with the Special Adviser

in charge of all remand homes in Lagos set me thinking about the boys

and girls on the street They have dreams

too. Can they fulfill those dreams

on the street? The answer will likely be no because I won't be where I

am today if I had ended up on the street. For this reason Mercy

Johnson Foundation will be doing a lot to get kids off the street. We

are not asking

people for I will do all I can with the

resources God has given me, and

with the support of my husband..... to help get these kids off the

street and set them on the path where they can begin to pursue their

dreams.

I want to plead with people, fans,

friends and colleagues to spare a

thought for the children on the

street. We can begin by educating

people around us, parents, the

children and people in charge of

children (Oga-house help relationship, teacher-student relationship,

and others) on the need to treat every child like the future of

Nigeria depends on it. And truth be told,our future will not be all

that enjoyable if we let the

scourge of 'street-children' fester.

By then, the rich will begin to cry.



I learnt Lagos State Government

has 11 homes where most children

picked from the streets are kept,

reformed and reunited with their

families after counseling.

That is an initiative Mercy Johnson

Foundation will be supporting and

beyond that we will be going

to different states to help spread

the message-Get kids off the

street, save the future. From

tomorrow..I will begin to replay

some of the lessons I learnt at the

boys' reform home and we all can

contribute to getting the kids off

the street. I am grateful to

everyone that has sent in a

birthday message tweet and gifts.

When I get back, let's have a

twitter party. Thank you and God

bless you. Mercy Johnson Okojie