"I am a Risen Hero" - A triumphant story of overcoming abuse to attain self-empowerment.

Naggai Powell

20 years old, Media & Communications Major at Northern Caribbean University.

"There is one thing I have learnt about myself - I am a warrior. No not just that, I am a survivor. No, I am a risen hero.

Growing up, I was one of the happiest children you could ever find. I had everything I needed; I had everything I wanted. The world was my playground, and I had persons willing to buy me all the toys I wanted for it. When I was 9, tragedy struck. The happy child with the bright laugh and the shiny eyes became damaged. My life was turned over by someone who was supposed to protect me, and my innocence was taken away way too early.

It took a toll on me, my shine began to rust, and I became bitter. I did not know who I was. I created imaginary people to help me get through my crisis, because I decided I could tell no one. I created people and I began to feel they were real. I talked to them and they were not there. I was going crazy. I began to turn to men for attention, losing pieces of myself that I could not get back. I was trying to find myself, but I lost it even more. I thought I was done for.

When I was 18, my grandmother died. She was one of the most important persons to me in the world, and I thought I could never have lived without her, but I did. I lived even more after her death. It did not ruin me; it fixed me. It made me realize that she died fighting for me to live, and it hit me, I have to mend the broken pieces, and just like that I did. Her memories became my fuel, and I became someone I never knew I could be. I found myself in all the chaos, and I loved the person that I found, she is pretty amazing.

I want to make a change. I want to become a legend. I want to help as much persons as I can. I want to make a difference, and bit by bit I am. I want to help the Jamaican youts' find themselves, and find their paths in this life. I am on a mission to make not only Jamaica better but the whole word, and I can because I no longer limit myself. I try to volunteer in every thing, because I care, sincerely and wholeheartedly.

I am on a mission to succeed, to shine like a diamond and kill the darkness in this world, well at least some of it. I have such big dreams that if I put them on paper they will tear the pages, and if I say them, they will deafen the ears of the small minded. I don't want to be just another person that lived. I want to be the person that helped other persons to live.

I am thankful for my scars because now nothing can bring me down. I am blessed and highly favoured, and now I am happy. God and myself got me through something that would have destroyed many others. I am a warrior. No, I am a risen hero."

"I am Naggai Powell, and I am out to make history."