An inspiring story

It all started two years ago with a NY Times story about an 8-year-old Nigerian refugee, known as Tani, who was living with his family in a homeless shelter in Manhattan. He had just returned from Saratoga Springs, NY, with a chess trophy “almost as big as he is”.  I don't usually think of chess masters as ADORABLE, but he sure fits the bill.

The teacher who ran the chess program at Tani's elementary school set up a GoFundMe account and that, linked with the NY Times story, really took off. The campaign greatly surpassed the initial goal, but the family has decided not to keep a cent of the $200,000 raised. Tani's parents, the Adewumis have decided that they will take out a 10 percent tithe and donate it to their church, which helped them while they were homeless, and the rest will be channeled through a new Tanitoluwa Adewumi Foundation to help African immigrants who are struggling in the United States the way they were.

Tani continues to climb the rating ladder, as he has recently become a National Master by scoring 4/4 points at the Fairfield County Chess Club Championship in Connecticut. In an NPR interview Tani explains how he views chess: “I say to myself that I never lose, that I only learn, because when you lose, you have to make a mistake to lose that game. So you learn from that mistake, and so you learn [overall]. So losing is the way of winning for yourself.”

Does it strike anyone how different is their approach to life in comparison to the white moneygrabbers that make up a large majority of our country? They would grab the money and run, all the time thinking like Trump and calling us 'SUCKERS” for not doing the same.

Thank you Tani, our broken country needs a huge infusion of families like yours.