In My Dreams I Dance
Our October book of the month is “In My Dreams I Dance” By Inspirational Speaker Anne Wafula Strike MBE.
ABOUT THE BOOK
They said it couldn’t be done. But Anne Wafula achieved many remarkable things in her life. This is her incredible story.
Struck down with polio at the age of two and a half, Anne overcame the prejudice rife in her native village in Kenya, where neighbours believed she was cursed and called her a snake because of her disability, which left her paralysed below the waist.
Losing her mother at a tender age, and being sent to a school far away from home, she achieved fantastic academic results, amidst the challenges of a military coup. She went to university and qualified as a teacher, and fell in love with a British man who truly valued her defiant spirit.
She moved from a world with no running water to make a life for herself in modern Britain. Where, against all odds, she bore a child, and went on to be the first East African to compete in her sport internationally
In My Dreams I Dance is a powerful autobiographical account of adversity, endurance, and accomplishment. A natural storyteller with an excellent command of language, Anne’s journey from Kenya to Britain is punctuated with anecdotes of prejudice, friendship, and motherhood, leading to triumph over testing circumstances
ABOUT ANNE WAFULA STRIKE
Anne Wafula Strike, MBE, is an inspirational and motivational speaker who draws on her own life experiences and achievements to inspire her audiences.
Born in Mihu, Kenya, to Nekesa Ruth and Athumani Wafula, Anne was a fit and healthy child before polio struck when she was two years old. She was given the middle name of Olympia at birth, a title of prophetic significance for the future and prescient of hurdles she would face in forthcoming years.
Superstitious villagers believed the family were cursed following Anne’s partial recovery from illness, which forced her family into decisions and acts that would change her life forever
After completing A-levels and graduating from Moi University with a Bachelor of Education degree, Anne taught at Machakos Technical College in Kenya before meeting the man she would marry – which lead her to Britain, motherhood, wheelchair racing, disability advocacy, and charity work.
2004 marked the beginning of an Olympic career when Anne became the first wheelchair racer from Sub-Sahara Africa to compete at the Paralympics in Athens. In 2006 Anne became a British citizen and joined Team GB and in 2007 she was officially recognised by the Queen at a Buckingham Palace reception for her work as a disabled athlete and for her involvement in charity work for people with disabilities.
For more information on her speaking work please visit her webpage or call us on 020 8854 7247. To order a copy of the book please visit Amazon.