From bread seller to top model

Korea.net has launched a new collaborative project with its honorary reporters around the world. Each honorary reporter will write a story on the same topic, but from each of their own home cities. The stories will then be shared with our community of Korea.net readers.

For the first subject in the series, Korea.net asked our honorary reporters to send in a touching story from their home communities. Here's our seventh story on this subject, from Nigeria.

Olajumoke Orisaguna, known as Jumoke, is a bread seller who accidentally photobombed a pop star.

Jumoke had left her husband and one of her children to move to Lagos, Nigeria, with her other child, where she hoped to make money by selling bread. 

While selling bread one day, she was caught in the background of a picture taken by a famous photographer who was photographing a Nigerian-British rapper, Tinie Tempah. While later reviewing and editing the images she had taken, the photographer decided that Jumoke had potential as a model.

After posting on Instagram, the photographer located Jumoke and offered to launch her career. She arranged her portrait to appear on the cover of a fashion magazine and planned to create a documentary about her.

She was later offered a modeling contract, an internship and work, despite not speaking English.

Following her success, her husband and other child moved to Lagos. She was later offered a scholarship at a prestigious finishing school in Nigeria to equip her for life.

By Nnenna Ukandu

Korea.net Honorary Reporter

Photos: Photographer TY Bello

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