Smallest moments in childhood can quietly shape our biggest Missions in life.

Hello World Pulse Community,

My name is Mande Melbourne, and the smallest moments in childhood can quietly shape the biggest missions in a lifetime.

When I was six, I watched a movie with my parents called "I Want Him Back". It featured a female lawyer who stood beside another woman when everything seemed lost, helping her to reclaim her dignity and her property. I remember turning to my parents and saying, “I want to be like her.” I didn’t know then that I was naming a calling rather than a dream.

At seven, my world expanded. My family moved to northern Cameroon, and while my parents ensured we were cared for, my everyday life unfolded among children who had very little. Bare feet on hot soil, drinking water from dry wells, and schools without uniforms were the popular way of life. Those children became my closest friends. We didn’t speak about poverty; we lived in friendship.

We built toy cars from plantain leaves, airplanes from broomsticks, and houses from mud and wood. On my birthdays, my mother will cook a large pot of fried rice and mix a gallon of mint syrup for every child in the dusty field nearby. No one counted what they had or lacked. We were simply children… curious, inventive, and equal.

Looking back, I realize how rare that kind of childhood has become. Today, many children are rushed out of discovery and into survival. That loss stayed with me. It became the seed of Happy Crappy; an initiative where children rediscover learning through art, play, and hands-on creativity. Critical thinking begins not with instruction, but with permission: permission to explore, to imagine, and to fail safely.

My journey into law gave that conviction a sharper edge. During my first year at university, while interning at Me Tofack Alice’s chambers, I took on a pro bono case involving a young girl accused of her father’s murder. She was probably innocent. Unfortunately, I had to move cities before the case was resolved. I lost her name, lost track of her, but I never forgot about her.

That experience still follows me. It taught me that justice abandoned halfway can be just as harmful as justice denied. This single incident has shaped my determination for the better.

Today, I am a pupil magistrate, currently training in the common law courts of the Fako Division in Cameroon. I often describe myself as a people’s magistrate. The courtroom has clarified my duty: to serve women and children not as case numbers, but as lives that ripple outward into families, communities, and generations.

Alongside my legal training, I lead and contribute to initiatives that reflect this commitment. I am a team lead for institutional partnerships at the NGO Be Lead’Her, supporting women’s entrepreneurship and leadership. I am a co-founder of Ed Africa Group, an elite boutique where I'm leading legal research and consulting. And while researching gender-based violence and indecency to minors, I began writing a book series titled “Rising Girl: Know. Do. Become.” It is written for every girl so that they can grow strong from the ground up and thus prepare them for life, leadership, and change.

I joined World Pulse because I believe transformation multiplies when stories meet strategy. I am here to connect, to learn, to support other women’s work, and to build bridges between ideas and action. I am especially interested in spaces where advocacy, creativity, and justice intersect.

What motivates me is not ambition; it is responsibility. On difficult days, I remind myself that choosing not to act, despite knowing what I can do, may cost a child safety somewhere or leave a woman without recourse.

What inspires me is the possibility of a sustainable world shaped by confident children and courageous women.

I live in Yaoundé, Cameroon, though my roots are in farming communities where collective effort is survival. My favorite thing about my country is our food. We have over a hundred traditional dishes, each telling its own story, always meant to be shared.

My name carries my purpose. Mande means mother of Nde. My father says he chose it because he saw in me the instinct to nurture and protect. Melbourne comes from a postcard he once received from Australia; a reminder that our lives are shaped by connections we don’t always see coming.

I must say that I am thrilled to be part of this beautiful community! It's my very first experience, and I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you all.

So I’ll end with a question:

What childhood memory quietly shaped the work you are doing today, even before you had the language for it?