Power of One Recipient: Sr. Jacqueline Manyi Atabong
The Power of One Award recognizes her leadership, commitment, dedication and exemplary work in improving the lives of those disenfranchised through poverty, imprisonment and war. She has championed many causes and programs in the health sector, serving in and founding several health centers and hospitals; in micro finance such as the St. Therese Women’s Micro-finance and the Sasse Women’s Micro Finance Groups that have provided start-up loan to over 200 women; and in education with the Sabongari Women’s Center and Vocational School for school drop outs. Of significant impact is her extensive and tireless work within the prison system in Cameroon, implementing a holistic approach to prison care and advocating on behalf of the wrongly incarcerated resulting in the release of over 20,000 prisoners who had been wrongly imprisoned or were serving beyond their sentence. Through her organization Support and Empowerment of Vulnerable Persons (SEV) Foundation, she is “working on restoring the dignity of girls” who have been displaced by the crisis in Cameroon, by rescuing them from pimps who prostitute them, and by offering them education opportunities. Sr. Jackie’s, as she is fondly called, decades long un-quantifiable humanitarian work and immeasurable impact is testament to the power of one individual to impact the world in extraordinary ways.
