True Story or Scam?

I stumbled upon this extraordinary book while watching one of my favorite YouTubers spin yet more of his classic yarns: Whodunnit-style exposés of scams, crimes and beautiful souls; with lots of humor thrown into the mix.

It’s anybody’s guess which parts of these stories is fact and which are temporary feigned fiction for the purpose of entertaining his audience. Entertaining he is! But educational too. There’s nothing like a good story to transform facts into magic, and at this Ben excels. He has outdone himself this time, with much skill and a hugely compassionate heart.

In a series of five short YouTube videos, Ben Taylor uncovers the story of Chikaordery Vivian Ukabi, a young woman in Cameroon who spent years trying to find a way to fund surgeries to correct a painful and disfiguring condition she has lived with since infancy.

All her pleas fell on deaf ears – assumed, by weary Westerners, to be just another scam out of Africa. And then Ben Taylor heard of it, and true to form, he decided to look a little deeper.

Chicaordery book The result is this book: It Shall Come to Pass, written and illustrated Chikaordery Vivian Ukabi.

Available from bydgraceofgod.com for only $12 USD plus postage.

To meet the fundraising goal, they need to sell 4,222 more copies of the book (at the time of writing this post), or to achieve the equivalent in a mix of sales and donations.

“We have a goal to raise $40,000 to fund Chikaordery’s surgery, travel, and lodging in Miami, Florida. All proceeds from her book It Shall Come to Pass will go towards our goal. We can also reach this goal through donations or with help from individuals who have housing, food, or travel connections in the Miami area. Chikaordery’s family will need to stay in the area for 3-4 months between surgeries.

If you or your organization are interested in supporting the family during their time in Miami, or if you have other ways you can help, please contact us at chikaordery@gmail.com or make a donation” at the website.

Ben changed her life in more ways than one.
He did not simply give her money.
He empowered her with a way to make a living in the future.

You can watch the story of Ben’s investigation at this Pleasant Green YouTube playlist. Make a cup of your favorite bevvy and settle in. Each video is short but, if you’re anything like me, you might also be entertained by the viewers’ comments. Or, if you’re in a hurry today, here’s the last episode:

You can order the book from https://bydgraceofgod.com/products/it-shall-come-to-pass.

The official book blurb:

“Through her own words and illustrations, Chikaordery Vivian Ukabi ecounts her struggles growing up in Cameroon, Central Africa with a stomach disorder that resulted from an erroneous surgery during infancy. She speaks of lessons learned and visualizes a future without pain. Her message of hope will inspire you to face challenges of your own and find beauty in life, even in difficult circumstances.”

40 pages
6″ x 6″
Perfect bound
Paperback

PS: Not sponsored, of course. I’m not affiliated with this project in any way, but I do think it is an important story to share. You too can help Chikaordery by sharing something about her book to increase sales. I include a summary list of the links below, that you can easily copy and paste into your social media.