Edith Obi-Rufai

My name is Edith Obi-Rufai. I was born into the family of Dennis Orizu Obi and Lucy Abisose Obi on April 18, 1969. My late father was from Ogbunike in the Eastern part of Nigeria, in the Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State. At the same time, my late mother was from Abviosi in Owan West Local Government Area, Edo State. I am from a polygamous family of 15 children. My mother was the fourth wife, and she had six children from my dad, but she lost three. Now, I have two siblings from my mother’s first marriage: my younger sister and my only brother. After she separated from her first husband, she had two more children: a son and a daughter. I attended elementary school and graduated from Grade 12. After completing Grade 12, I got married and later attended the University of Lagos in Nigeria, West Africa. I received my Bachelor of Education in 2004. I completed my

teaching practice in junior and senior high schools at Isashi Grammar School in Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. I also attended the School of Cosmetology, where I earned a Diploma in Cosmetology from Sholly Beauty World in 2001 in Lagos, Nigeria. When I finished, I began working as an event planner, preparing people for weddings and decorating halls for meetings and various other events. I am a wife, sister, aunt, and sister-in-law. I arrived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2015 and worked as a labourer cleaning and packaging fish with Freshwater Fish on Plessis Road, Winnipeg. I worked as a Support Worker at Independent Living Resource. I volunteered at the Health Science Center in the kitchen, the Children’s Ward, the Cancer Unit, and at St. Amant’s daycare autism program. Lastly, I worked at Winnipeg Harvest from 2015 to 2017. In 2017, I moved and joined my husband in Thompson, where he has been working as a Security Officer for Manitoba Justice (Protective Services) since 2016. I work at the Juniper Center in Thompson as a Support Worker while studying for my education degree from the University College of the North.