Daily Inspiration Quote by Jaha Dukureh

The power in Jaha Dukureh's line is how casually it refuses the myth of the self-made survivor. "I figure" lands like deliberate understatement: not a grand proclamation, but a plainspoken admission that rescue is often social, not solitary. That modesty matters. It keeps the focus off heroics and onto a chain of responsibility.

The sentence is built like a relay baton. "Saved by someone" is both personal and political, hinting at the infrastructure behind survival: a teacher who noticed, an advocate who listened, a system that (finally) made room. Dukureh, known for her activism against FGM and forced marriage, is speaking from a context where "saving" isn't abstract. It's legal protection, community confrontation, safety planning, and the emotional labor of being believed. The quote quietly acknowledges that liberation rarely arrives as a clean break; it arrives through people who intervene, and institutions that can be pushed to act.

Then comes the pivot: "and I can do the same". It's not "I will" or "I must". It's capability framed as obligation. The subtext is a model of justice that's contagious: aid isn't charity, it's repayment with interest. There's also a strategic humility here. By casting herself as one link in a chain, she invites participation. You don't need sainthood to help; you need to accept that you, too, are accountable to the next person in line.