Patience Dimka smiles as she remembers her early days with Back2Back as a psychologist. “We didn’t have set offices then,” she explains. “I met with youth when and where I could.” This often meant connections were made beneath a shade tree or at a picnic table, and sometimes, she even drove to their villages and held sessions in her car.
“I’ll never forget the first time I drove to get the girls in my car,” laughs Patience. “They realized it was me driving, and surrounded me. Auntie, auntie, is this your car?!”
It’s common in Nigeria to see cars, but less common in some villages to see them driven by women. So when a trusted female drives her car, a seed is planted to what is fully possible for their own stories. They see a woman strikingly similar to them, and think – I can do this one day.
Patience Dimka is the Assistant Director of Back2Back Nigeria alongside Director Azubike Kalu. Together, they lead a team of 95 Nigerians and one American family. This team serves:
- four different partnering children’s homes,
- A Hope program with young adults working toward university degrees
- And hundreds of students at Great Oaks Academy, Nigeria’s first trauma-informed school.
Back2Back has a vision its locations would be safe places for children and families directed by national leadership.
“During the pandemic of 2020, Back2Back sites were led by mostly national directors (Nigerians, Indians, Haitians, Mexicans, etc). I knew each national leader would wake up and serve the vulnerable with a perspective only they could have. I was honored to serve alongside them as they advocated for their site, and taught us all while innovating on the front lines,” shares Todd Guckenberger, Back2Back Executive Director.
Back2Back desires to empower leaders who match the diversity of the communities we serve. “When I visit international sites, I often say to the site directors, ‘I work for you here. I’ll follow your leadership,’ explains Todd.
“When someone who looks like them is achieving something, like owning and driving a car, it becomes a reachable achievement,” shared Azubike. “A young person sees someone like them doing what they’d only ever seen an American accomplish, and it clicks.”
That’s not to say Azubike and his team take their foreign co-laborers for granted. “Our American staff was vital in moving the national staff forward and growing this team,” shares Patience. In 2006, Jason and Emilee Munafo were the first to arrive in Nigeria, and they leaned in to understand cultural expectations. “We trusted those who were leading in the beginning, and it allowed our team to serve well,” shares Patience.
Today, this flourishing site hosts multiple teams a year, operates a trauma-informed school, invests deeply in nearby communities, and partners with local children’s homes. Some of the first students to graduate from our programs are now leading classrooms at Great Oaks Academy, and it is all because they had safe adults who led the way.
“Our team is rich in diversity, experience, and knowledge,” shares Azubike. “This richness will keep us moving forward as a site and growing our reach.” Hope does not stand still, and thankfully, neither does the Back2Back Nigeria staff team.
