My QUEEN was gone 30 years ago and my KING 25 years ago.

Hardly had I started my journey through the magnificent labyrinth of life than the universe checkmated me. 

I can describe the situation as a Fool's Mate, the fastest checkmate possible in chess that occurs after only two moves.

At 14 years old, I had already made the two bad moves of life in a row. My mum, the QUEEN was gone in 1995 and my dad, the KING left us in the year 2,000.

However, my mum the QUEEN proved to be the most powerful and iconic piece on the chessboard of my life. 

As if she knew I would face all forms of fires of life, she taught me and made sure that I master the poem If by Rudyard Kipling. Excerpts read: If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same; If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, and lose, and start again at your beginnings and never breathe a word about your loss; yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

I was 8 years then and in primary school. Such a poem was too difficult for my age. But my mum would insist that I master each word. 

I ultimately understood the reason why she did that when we lost our dad too. I had to drop out of school. I joined other street kids. I would assist travelers cross with their luggage at borders. I would cross the border from Cotonou to Lagos in Nigeria, Lome in Togo, Accra in Ghana and Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire for jobs on construction sites. I was exposed to child trafficking. 

My life became a chess game. I started applying the wise words in the poem my mum taught me to all aspects of the strategic moves I started making on the chessboard of life. 

I was fortunate to resume school. I had big dreams, that of making my family name known around the world by traveling everywhere. 

I had already played the chess of life before learning to play the game itself. Thus, I was already a good sportsman. I analyzed the game of life with the difficulties and incertainties which are my opponents. I enjoyed psychological recovery when in my last year at university in 2011, I was selected by the US Embassy as the first ever youth under 25 to travel to the United States for the first time as a State Department IVLP @StateIVLP. I started moving on, representing my country in annual international events, using my experiences to change lives.

Being the Ambassador of @thegiftofchess in my country Benin Republic is strengthening my life mission as I am using chess, art and football to reclaim street and migrant children and youth from despair and contribute to their community reinsertion. I achieve this through cross-border and transnational collaboration as an International Consultant on Community Reinsertion of Street and Migrant Children for Global Peace and Security.

In case you are into children and youth programmes, I am open for opportunities.

@titilopegb @AbiodunEssiet @venusakingba @AmbAllBenin @AKakanfo @arthealsearth @TheDimejiLateef @Lord_Of_Warri @realmercyaigbe @Tunde_OD @SimisadeKelly @KoffiSodokin @Naboufall @chesswitivie @FIDESocialChess @moremiojudu