I'M NOT A NURSE

<p>I am called ejechi in Ukwuani meaning to leave and return.</p><p>As a child Jessica's natural ability to tell stories entertained her friends and frightened her</p><p>widowed mother. After being kicked out of every Nigerian home available to her Jessica arrives</p><p>in Ghana where she meets a nurturing man who offers her Mars Bars and an Australian</p><p>marriage. Her new world provides a life of conditional luxury - if she wants to earn her own</p><p>money she must become a cleaner or a nurse. When a kind stranger encourages her to study film</p><p>instead her husband supports her - until he loses his lucrative job and becomes violent. Jessica</p><p>returns to Nigeria convinced that she can make the most of her Australian education there -</p><p>until she remembers that as a Nigerian she can reach her goals anywhere.</p><p>I'm Not a Nurse is the memoir of a displaced storyteller who must survive homelessness</p><p>violence and racism across two continents to come into her own power as a black African</p><p>creator.</p><p>'We make things happen' - that is the sound of Nigerian blood.</p>